abstract: This dissertation research has involved microscopic characterization of magnetic nanostructures using off-axis electron holography and Lorentz microscopy. The nanostructures investigated have included Co nanoparticles (NPs), Au/Fe/GaAs shell/core nanowires (NWs), carbon spirals with magnetic cores, magnetic nanopillars, Ni-Zn-Co spinel ferrite and CoFe/Pd multilayers. The studies have confirmed the capability of holography to describe the behavior of magnetic structures at the nanoscale. The phase changes caused by the fringing fields of chains consisting of Co NPs were measured and calculated. The difference between chains with different numbers of Co NPs followed the trend indicated by calculations. Holography studies of Au/Fe/GaAs NWs grown on (110) GaAs substrates with rotationally non-uniform coating confirmed that Fe was present in the shell and that the shell behaved as a bar magnet. No fringing field was observed from NWs with cylindrical coating grown on (111)B GaAs substrates. The most likely explanation is that magnetic fields are confined within the shells and form closed loops. The multiple-magnetic-domain structure of iron carbide cores in carbon spirals was imaged using phase maps of the fringing fields. The strength and range of this fringing field was insufficient for manipulating the carbon spirals with an external applied magnetic field. No magnetism was revealed for CoPd/Fe/CoPd magnetic nanopillars. Degaussing and MFM scans ruled out the possibility that saturated magnetization and sample preparation had degraded the anisotropy, and the magnetism, respectively. The results suggested that these nanopillars were not suitable as candidates for prototypical bit information storage devices. Observations of Ni-Zn-Co spinel ferrite thin films in plan-view geometry indicated a multigrain magnetic domain structure and the magnetic fields were oriented in-plane only with no preferred magnetization distribution. This domain structure helps explain this ferrite's high permeability at high resonance frequency, which is an unusual character. Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) of CoFe/Pd multilayers was revealed using holography. Detailed microscopic characterization showed structural factors such as layer waviness and interdiffusion that could contribute to degradation of the PMA. However, these factors are overwhelmed by the dominant effect of the CoFe layer thickness, and can be ignored when considering magnetic domain structure. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Engineering 2015

abstract: Photocatalytic water splitting is a promising technique to produce H2 fuels from water using sustainable solar energy. To better design photocatalysts, the understanding of charge transfer at surfaces/interfaces and the corresponding structure change during the reaction is very important. Local structural and chemical information on nanoparticle surfaces or interfaces can be achieved through characterizations on transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Emphasis should be put on materials structure changes during the reactions in their “working conditions”. Environmental TEM with in situ light illumination system allows the photocatalysts to be studied under light irradiation when exposed to H2O vapor. A set of ex situ and in situ TEM characterizations are carried out on typical types of TiO2 based photocatalysts. The observed structure changes during the reaction are correlated with the H2 production rate for structure-property relationships. A surface disordering was observed in situ when well-defined anatase TiO2 rhombohedral nanoparticles were exposed to 1 Torr H2O vapor and 10suns light inside the environmental TEM. The disordering is believed to be related to high density of hydroxyl groups formed on surface oxygen vacancies during water splitting reactions. Pt co-catalyst on TiO2 is able to split pure water producing H2 and O2. The H2 production rate drops during the reaction. Particle size growth during reaction was discovered with Z-contrast images. The particle size growth is believed to be a photo-electro-chemical Ostwald ripening. Characterizations were also carried out on a more complicated photocatalyst system: Ni/NiO core/shell co-catalyst on TiO2. A decrease of the H2 production rate resulting from photo-corrosion was observed. The Ni is believed to be oxidized to Ni2+ by OH• radicals which are intermediate products of H2O oxidation. The mechanism that the OH• radicals leak into the cores through cracks on NiO shells is more supported by experiments. Overall this research has done a comprehensive ex situ and in situ TEM characterizations following some typical TiO2 based photocatalysts during reactions. This research has shown the technique availability to study photocatalyst inside TEM in photocatalytic conditions. It also demonstrates the importance to follow structure changes of materials during reactions in understanding deactivation mechanisms. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Materials Science and Engineering 2015

Les conduites primaires des centrales nucléaires REP (304L et 316L) sont protégées contre la corrosion par une couche d'oxyde. Ces conduites, qui forment une barrière entre le milieu primaire et l'extérieur, subissent des phénomènes liés à la corrosion sous contrainte (assisté ou non par irradiation) pouvant entrainer des dommages. L'objectif de cette étude est de comprendre les phénomènes régissant les stades initiaux de formation des couches d'oxydes sur ces alliages en tenant compte de l'orientation cristallographique des grains sous-jacents. En utilisant des techniques de caractérisation avancées comme GIXRD, spectroscopie Raman, XPS, MEB et MET (BF, HRTEM, Astar, EELS et HREELS), sur les toutes premières étapes de l'oxydation, une séquence d'oxydation a été proposée pour l'alliage 316L. / PWR primary pipes (304L & 316L) are protected against corrosion by an oxide layer. Pipes, which are forming a barrier between the PWR environment and outside, undergo stress corrosion cracking phenomena (assisted or not by irradiation) which can lead to damages. The purpose of this study is to understand the phenomena governing the first steps of the oxide layers formation on these alloys by taking acount the cristallographic orientation of the underlying grains. Using advanced caracterisations methods as GIXRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, SEM, TEM (BF, HRTEM, Astar, EELS and HREELS, on the very beginning of the oxidation, an oxidation process have been proposed for 316L alloy.

Annotation: Human cells of neuronal origin represent an excellent tool for the investigation of neuropathogenesis of TBE. The maturation, replication process of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and ultrastructural changes induced by infection in the neuroblasts cell line (UKF-NB-4) was studied by electron microscopy. I compared electron microscopical aspects (appearance) of TEM images of neuroblasts cells prepared by (1) conventional chemical fixation, resin-embedding and sectionig; (2) rapid freezing of cell monolayers at high pressure and sectioning of freeze substituted samples. The most interesting fact, however, is that vitrification preserves the cell in close to native state, whereas chemical fixation and dehydration can not take place without extensive intra- and intermolecular cross-linking and aggregation. The appearance of the cytoplasm and nucleoplasm of neu-roblasts cells were different in conditions (1) and (2). The excellent ultrastructure of the cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes and organels of neuroblasts cells processed by (2) confirmed the potentional of the method for preservation of cellular fine structures. The infection of neuroblastoma cells was associated with number of major morphological changes, including proliferation of membranes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and rearrangement of cytoskeletal structures. The viral particles were located mainly in the cisterna´s of ER but also in the cytoplasm. In the cytoplasm I observed virions in the asso-ciations with microtubules and neurosecretory dense core vesicles. The transport of viral particles inside of the transport vesicles was obsereved from ER to Golgi apparatus. Free nucleocapsids were not confirmed. The observed pattern corresponded to both trans and cis type of maturation. The TBEV-infected neuroblasts cells exhibited either apoptotic or necrotic morphological changes. I observed the apoptotic signs (condensation, margination and fragmentation of chromatin in nucleus) and other alterations, such as disorganisation of cytoplasm, presence of the vacuoles and high density of cytoplasm. This report also de-scribes scanning electron microscope study of the surface features of neuroblasts cells. We observed virus-mediated cytopathic effect. The cells infected with TBEV were rounded with rough and rugged topography.

abstract: HgCdTe is currently the dominant material for infrared sensing and imaging, and is usually grown on lattice-matched bulk CdZnTe (CZT) substrates. There have been significant recent efforts to identify alternative substrates to CZT as well as alternative detector materials to HgCdTe. In this dissertation research, a wide range of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and analytical techniques was used in the characterization of epitaxial HgCdTe and related materials and substrates for third generation IR detectors. ZnTe layers grown on Si substrates are considered to be promising candidates for lattice-matched, large-area, and low-cost composite substrates for deposition of II-VI and III-V compound semiconductors with lattice constants near 6.1 Å. After optimizing MBE growth conditions including substrate pretreatment prior to film growth, as well as nucleation and growth temperatures, thick ZnTe/Si films with high crystallinity, low defect density, and excellent surface morphology were achieved. Changes in the Zn/Te flux ratio used during growth were also investigated. Small-probe microanalysis confirmed that a small amount of As was present at the ZnTe/Si interface. A microstructural study of HgCdTe/CdTe/GaAs (211)B and CdTe/GaAs (211)B heterostructures grown using MBE was carried out. High quality MBE-grown CdTe on GaAs(211)B substrates was demonstrated to be a viable composite substrate platform for HgCdTe growth. In addition, analysis of interfacial misfit dislocations and residual strain showed that the CdTe/GaAs interface was fully relaxed. In the case of HgCdTe/CdTe/ GaAs(211)B, thin HgTe buffer layers between HgCdTe and CdTe were also investigated for improving the HgCdTe crystal quality. A set of ZnTe layers epitaxially grown on GaSb(211)B substrates using MBE was studied using high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) measurements and TEM characterization in order to investigate conditions for defect-free growth. HRXRD results gave critical thickness estimates between 350 nm and 375 nm, in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Moreover, TEM results confirmed that ZnTe layers with thicknesses of 350 nm had highly coherent interfaces and very low dislocation densities, unlike samples with the thicker ZnTe layers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering 2012

abstract: This dissertation is on the study of structural and optical properties of some III-V and II-VI compound semiconductors. The first part of this dissertation is a study of the deformation mechanisms associated with nanoindentation and nanoscratching of InP, GaN, and ZnO crystals. The second part is an investigation of some fundamental issues regarding compositional fluctuations and microstructure in GaInNAs and InAlN alloys. In the first part, the microstructure of (001) InP scratched in an atomic force microscope with a small diamond tip has been studied as a function of applied normal force and crystalline direction in order to understand at the nanometer scale the deformation mechanisms in the zinc-blende structure. TEM images show deeper dislocation propagation for scratches along <110> compared to <100>. High strain fields were observed in <100> scratches, indicating hardening due to locking of dislocations gliding on different slip planes. Reverse plastic flow have been observed in <110> scratches in the form of pop-up events that result from recovery of stored elastic strain. In a separate study, nanoindentation-induced plastic deformation has been studied in c-, a-, and m-plane ZnO single crystals and c-plane GaN respectively, to study the deformation mechanism in wurtzite hexagonal structures. TEM results reveal that the prime deformation mechanism is slip on basal planes and in some cases, on pyramidal planes, and strain built up along particular directions. No evidence of phase transformation or cracking was observed in both materials. CL imaging reveals quenching of near band-edge emission by dislocations. In the second part, compositional inhomogeneity in quaternary GaInNAs and ternary InAlN alloys has been studied using TEM. It is shown that exposure to antimony during growth of GaInNAs results in uniform chemical composition in the epilayer, as antimony suppresses the surface mobility of adatoms that otherwise leads to two-dimensional growth and elemental segregation. In a separate study, compositional instability is observed in lattice-matched InAlN films grown on GaN, for growth beyond a certain thickness. Beyond 200 nm of thickness, two sub-layers with different indium content are observed, the top one with lower indium content. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Physics 2013

abstract: ABSTRACT Along with the fast development of science and technology, the studied materials are becoming more complicated and smaller. All these achievements have advanced with the fast development of powerful tools currently, such as Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Focused Ion Beam (FIB), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and so on. SiTiO3 thin film, which is grown on Si (100) single crystals, attracts a lot of interest in its structural and electronic properties close to its interface. Valence EELS is used to investigate the Plasmon excitations of the ultrathin SrTiO3 thin film which is sandwiched between amorphous Si and crystalline Si layers. On the other hand, theoretical simulations based on dielectric functions have been done to interpret the experimental results. Our findings demonstrate the value of valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy in detecting a local change in the effective electron mass. Recently it is reported that ZnO-LiYbO2 hybrid phosphor is an efficient UV-infrared convertor for silicon solar cell but the mechanism is still not very clear. The microstructure of Li and Yb co-doped ZnO has been studied by SEM and EDX, and our results suggest that a reaction (or diffusion) zone is very likely to exist between LiYbO2 and ZnO. Such diffusion regions may be responsible for the enhanced infrared emission in the Yb and Li co-doped ZnO. Furthermore, to help us study the diffusion zone under TEM in future, the radiation damage on synthesized LiYbO2 has been studied at first, and then the electronic structure of the synthesized LiYbO2 is compared with Yb2O3 experimentally and theoretically, by EELS and FEFF8 respectively. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering 2013

abstract: Titanium oxide (TiO2), an abundant material with high photocatalytic activity and chemical stability is an important candidate for photocatalytic applications. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 varies with its phase. In the current project, phase and morphology changes in TiO2 nanotubes were studied using ex-situ and in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy studies were also performed to understand the phase and morphology of the nanotubes. As prepared TiO2 nanotubes supported on Ti metal substrate were amorphous, during the heat treatment in the ex-situ furnace nanotubes transform to anatase at 450 oC and transformed to rutile when heated to 800 oC. TiO2 nanotubes that were heat treated in an in-situ environmental TEM, transformed to anatase at 400 oC and remain anatase even up to 800 oC. In both ex-situ an in-situ case, the morphology of the nanotubes drastically changed from a continuous tubular structure to aggregates of individual nanoparticles. The difference between the ex-situ an in-situ treatments and their effect on the phase transformation is discussed. Metal doping is one of the effective ways to improve the photocatalytic performance. Several approaches were performed to get metal loading on to the TiO2 nanotubes. Mono-dispersed platinum nanoparticles were deposited on the TiO2 nanopowder and nanotubes using photoreduction method. Photo reduction for Ag and Pt bimetallic nanoparticles were also performed on the TiO2 powders. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Materials Science and Engineering 2014

abstract: The research described in this dissertation involved the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to characterize II-VI and III-V compound semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and dilute-nitride alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and intended for photovoltaic applications. The morphology of CdTe QDs prepared by the post-annealing MBE method were characterized by various microscopy techniques including high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and high-angle annular-dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). Extensive observations revealed that the of QD shapes were not well-defined, and the QD size and spatial distribution were not determined by the amount of CdTe deposition. These results indicated that the formation of II-VI QDs using a post-annealing treatment did not follow the conventional growth mechanism for III-V and IV-IV materials. The structural properties of dilute-nitride GaAsNx films grown using plasma-assisted MBE were characterized by TEM and HAADF-STEM. A significant amount of the nitrogen incorporated into the dilute nitride films was found to be interstitial, and that fluctuations in local nitrogen composition also occurred during growth. Post-growth partial relaxation of strain resulted in the formation of {110}-oriented microcracks in the sample with the largest substitutional nitrogen composition. Single- and multi-layered InAs QDs grown on GaAsSb/GaAs composite substrates were investigated using HR-TEM and HAADF-STEM. Correlation between the structural and optoelectronic properties revealed that the GaAsSb barrier layers had played an important role in tuning the energy-band alignments but without affecting the overall structural morphology. However, according to both XRD measurement and electron microscopy the densities of dislocations increased as the number of QD layers built up. An investigation of near-wetting layer-free InAs QDs incorporated with AlAs/GaAs spacer layers was carried out. The microscopy observations revealed that both embedded and non-embedded near-wetting layer-free InAs QDs did not have well-defined shapes unlike conventional InAs QDs. According to AFM analysis and plan-view TEM characterization, the InAs QDs incorporated with spacer layers had smaller dot density and more symmetrical larger sizes with an apparent bimodal size distribution (two distinct families of large and small dots) in comparison with conventional InAs QDs grown without any spacer layer. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering 2014

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T23:16:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo9109_1.pdf: 1934754 bytes, checksum: f3080d901ca360e85410f630939f04ef (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004 / A tese apresentada trata das políticas de assistência social e das desigualdades so-ciais de gênero na contemporaneidade, na perspectiva da divisão social e sexuada hierárquica do trabalho e dos tempos sociais sexuados. Nosso interesse foi conhe-cer a condição do sujeito feminino nos programas de assistência social de renda mí-nima, instigada pelas questões dos tempos sociais femininos enquanto mediação da ampliação da jornada de trabalho das mulheres-mães-donas-de-casa-profissionais e do processo de empoderamento que sua participação nesses programas poderia propiciar. A unidade empírica de estudo foi o Programa de Erradicação do Trabalho Infantil PETI, implementado em municípios das Zonas da Mata Norte, Mata Sul e Região Metropolitana de Recife, no estado de Pernambuco, com ênfase no municí-pio do Cabo de Santo Agostinho.O objetivo do estudo era identificar e analisar a condição das mulheres no PETI e as possibilidades de uma ação emancipatória de gênero em decorrência de sua participação no referido Programa. Partimos do pres-suposto de que a reestruturação capitalista e a reforma do Estado, além do caráter de classe, têm, também, um caráter sexuado cuja imbricação determina a reprodu-ção das relações desiguais de gênero, da divisão social e sexuada do trabalho e dos tempos sociais sexuados, segundo os pertencimentos de classe, raça e etnia das mulheres e dos homens nas sociedades concretas. Outro pressuposto referia que a participação coletiva das mulheres no PETI criaria condições para um empodera-mento das mesmas, permitindo inflexionar, em nível local, o poder patriarcal do Es-tado sexista e de classe, mas somente teria dimensões emancipatórias na medida em que mudassem as relações de serviço do trabalho e os tempos sexuados da re-produção da família. A pesquisa desvelou que a participação da família-mulher no PETI, nas condições de extrema pobreza que as caracteriza, não tem proporcionado uma participação empoderada. Em função das responsabilidades sociais das mulhe-res com a reprodução social do grupo doméstico-familiar, o Estado utiliza a partici-pação das mulheres no Programa mediante o usufruto gratuito dos tempos femininos da reprodução. Enquanto co-responsáveis pelo Programa, a presença dessas mu-lheres não tem representado uma inflexão do Estado, em termos da ideologia patri-arcal e do sexismo, nem tampouco manifesta mudanças nas relações de serviços e nos tempos sexuados da reprodução da família. Assim sendo, as tendências dessa participação das mulheres nos Programas de Assistência e Renda Mínima não con-figuram ações emancipatórias da subordinação de gênero das mulheres