Al–O monolayers embedded in ultrathin SiO₂ were shown previously to contain Al-induced acceptor states, which capture electrons from adjacent silicon wafers and generate a negative fixed charge that enables efficient Si-surface passivation. Here, we show that this surface passivation is just in part attributed to field-effect passivation, since the electrically active interface trap density Dit itself at the Si/SiO₂ interface is reduced by the presence of the acceptor states. For sufficiently thin tunnel-SiO₂ films between the Si-surface and the Al–O monolayers, Dit is reduced by more than one order of magnitude. This is attributed to an interface defect deactivation mechanism that involves the discharge of the singly-occupied dangling bonds (Pb0 defects) into the acceptor states, so that Shockley-Read-Hall-recombination is drastically reduced. We demonstrate that the combined electronic and field-effect passivation allows for minority carrier lifetimes in excess of 1 ms on n-type Si and that additional H₂-passivation is not able to improve that lifetime significantly.

[pt] Dicalcogenetos de metais de transição, como dissulfeto de molibdênio, disseleneto de tungstênio, entre outros exibem muitas propriedades interessantes que fazem os materiais desta família boas perspectivas para aplicações futuras, especialmente em diversas applicações da optoeletrônica, desde telecomunicações até medicina, devido à interessante transição de gap de banda indireta para direta que ocorre quando se isola uma única camada destes materiais. Um dos objetivos desta tese é: explorando essa propriedade e modificando a estrutura da dissulfeto de tungstênio usando um método simples e confiável de modificação estrutural, pode-se aprimorar as propriedades dos materiais de forma eficiente, bem como desenvolver novas maneiras de caracterizar esse material e suas modificações, em particular, a determinação de um parâmetro chave para aplicações de WS2, o número de camadas, usando espectroscopia Raman. Neste caso, o tratamento de plasma melhorou a intensidade de fotoemissão em 34 por cento além de p-dopar os cristais monocamada, abrindo portas para a realização de dispositivos baseados em WS2. Além disso, desenvolvemos um método de discriminação de monocamadas que é independente de tensão aplicada, modificação strutural ou dopagem. / [en] Transition metal dichalcogenides, such as molybdenum disulfide, tungsten disulfide, and others exhibit many interesting properties. Such properties make them good prospects for future applications, especially in optoelectronics. From telecommunication to medicine, due to the interesting indirect-to-direct band-gap transition, one isolates a single layer of the material. One of the goals of this thesis is to modify the structure of tungsten disulfide using a simple, reliable, structural modification approach, i.e., plasma treatment. In this way, we were able to enhance the materials luminescence emission intensity up to 34 percent. Also, this treatment pdoped the monolayer structures, opening doors for the realization of devices. Another objective of this work is to develop new ways to characterize this material, particularly the determination of a critical parameter for WS2 applications, the number of layers, using Raman spectroscopy, where we developed a efficient method to discriminate monolayers independently of induced strain, structure modification and doping.

Cerium oxide (ceria)-based materials in the nanoscale regime are of significant fundamental and technological interest. Nanoceria in pure and doped forms has current and potential use in solid oxide fuel cells, catalysis, UV- screening, chemical mechanical planarization, oxygen sensors, and bio-medical applications. The characteristic feature of Ce to switch between the +3 and + 4 oxidation states renders oxygen buffering capability to ceria. The ease of this transformation was expected to be enhanced in the nanoceria. In most the practical scenarios, it is necessary to have a stable suspension of ceria nanoparticles (CNPs) over longer periods of time. However, the existing literature is confined to short term studies pertaining to synthesis and property evaluation. Having understood the need for a comprehensive understanding of the CNP suspensions, this dissertation is primarily aimed at understanding the behavior of CNPs in various chemical and physical environments. We have synthesized CNPs in the absence of any surfactants at room temperature and studied the aging characteristics. After gaining some understanding about the behavior of this functional oxide, the synthesis environment and aging temperature were varied, and their affects were carefully analyzed using various materials analysis techniques such as high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). When the CNPs were aged at room temperature in as-synthesized condition, they were observed to spontaneously assemble and evolve as fractal superoctahedral structures. The reasons for this unique polycrystalline morphology were attributed to the symmetry driven assembly of the individual truncated octahedral and octahedral seed of the ceria. HRTEM and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analyses were used to explain the agglomeration behavior and evolution of the octahedral morphology. Some of the observations were supported by molecular dynamic simulations. Poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) were used to control the kinetics of this morphology evolution. The ability to control the agglomeration of CNPs in these media stems from the lower dielectric constant and an increased viscosity of the EG and PEG based solvents. CNPs when synthesized and aged in frozen conditions, i.e. in ice, were found to form one dimensional, high aspect ratio structures. A careful analysis has provided some evidence that the CNPs use the porous channels in ice as a template and undergo oriented attachment to form nanorods. When the aging treatment was done near freezing temperature in solution, the nanorods were not observed, confirming the role of channels in ice. When synthesized in aqueous media such as DI water, PEG and EG; CNPs were observed to exhibit a reversible oxidation state switching between +3 and +4. Band gap values were computed from the optical absorption data. The changes in the band gap values observed were attributed to the changes in the oxidation state of CNPs as opposed to the quantum confinement effects, as expected in other nanoparticle systems. The work presented in this dissertation demonstrates, with evidence, that in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the properties of nanoscale materials it is of paramount importance to monitor their behavior over relatively longer periods of time under various ambient environments. While the solution based techniques offer a versatility and low cost route to study the fundamental properties of nanomaterials, they suffer some inherent problems such as precursor contamination and uncontrolled chemical reactions. Especially when analyzing the behavior of ceria-based materials for applications like solid oxide fuel cells, a great control in the density and crystalline quality are desired. In order to achieve this, as a first step pure ceria thin films were synthesized using oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (OPA-MBE). The ceria films were analyzed using various in situ and ex situ techniques to study the crystal structure, growth mode and epitaxial quality of the films. It was observed that the epitaxial orientation of the ceria films could be tuned by varying the deposition rate. When the films were grown at low deposition rate (< 8 Å/min) ceria films with epitaxial (200) orientation were observed where as the films grown at high deposition rates (up to 30 Å/min) showed (111) orientation. Theoretical simulations were used to confirm some of the experimental facts observed in both nanoparticles and thin films.

In dieser Doktorarbeit untersuchen wir den Einfluss von Elektron-Phonon-Wechselwirkungen (EPW) auf die Bandlueckenrenormierung in kristallinen Festkoerpern bei endlichen Temperaturen. Das Hauptziel besteht darin, den Einfluss der Kernbewegung und der thermischen Ausdehnung des Gitters auf die Bandstruktur in einer Vielzahl von Materialien zu quantifizieren. Zu diesem Zweck wird der Temperatureinfluss auf das EPW in harmonischen Naeherungen unter Verwendung der stochastischen Abtastmethode und vollstaendig anharmonisch durch Durchführung von ab initio Molekulardynamiksimulationen (aiMD). Die Bandluecke bei endlichen Temperaturen wird aus der thermodynamisch gemittelten Spektralfunktion extrahiert, die unter Verwendung der Bandentfaltungstechnik berechnet wird. Waehrend die Verwendung von aiMD bereits fuer Berechnungen von EPW verwendet wurde, wurde die Kombination von aiMD und Bandentfaltung zur Behandlung der Bandluecken renormalisierung erst kuerzlich verwendet. In dieser Doktorarbeit haben wir eine verbesserte Bandentfaltungstechnik verwendet, um die Berechnung effektiv zu verwalten. Diese verbesserte Methode enthaelt mehrere methodische Neuerungen, die dazu dienen, den Rechenaufwand zu verringern und das statistische Rauschen in den Endergebnissen zu minimieren. Die aktualisierte Methode wurde gruendlich bewertet, dokumentiert und mit einer benutzerfreundlichen Oberflaeche gestaltet. Wir praesentieren eine umfassende Untersuchung der numerischen Aspekte der thermodynamischen Mittelung, der Schaetzung von Fehlerbalken und der Bewertung der Konvergenz in Bezug auf die Groesse der Simulationssuperzelle. Unser etabliertes Protokoll ermoeglicht die Berechnung der Bandlückenrenormierung bei endlichen Temperaturen, was in guter Uebereinstimmung mit frueheren theoretischen Studien und experimentellen Daten steht. / In this thesis, we investigate the influence of electron-phonon interactions (EPI) on the band gap renormalization in crystalline solids at finite temperatures. The main goal is to identify the impact of the nuclear motion and the lattice thermal expansion on the band structure in a wide range of materials. For this purpose, the temperature influence on the EPI is calculated in the harmonic approximations by utilizing the stochastic sampling methodology and fully anharmonically, by performing ab initio molecular dynamics simulations (aiMD). The band gap at finite temperatures is extracted from the thermodynamically averaged spectral function, which is calculated using band-unfolding technique. While utilization of aiMD was already used for calculations of EPI the combination of aiMD and band-unfolding to treat the band gap renormalization was used only recently. In this thesis, we employed an improved band unfolding technique in order to effectively manage the calculations. This improved method incorporates several methodological innovations that serve to mitigate computational cost and minimize statistical noise in the final results. The updated method was thoroughly benchmarked, documented, and designed with a user-friendly interface. We present a comprehensive examination of the numerical aspects of thermodynamic averaging, the estimation of error bars, and the evaluation of convergence with respect to the size of the simulation supercell. Our established protocol enables the calculation of band gap renormalization at finite temperatures, which is in good agreement with prior theoretical studies and experimental data.

The main objective of this research is to design, model and implement several antenna geometries using electromagnetic band gap (EBG) material and a defected ground plane. Several antenna applications are addressed with the aim of improving performance, particularly the mutual coupling between the elements. The EBG structures have the unique capability to prevent or assist the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a specific band of frequencies, and have been incorporated here in antenna structures to improve patterns and reduce mutual coupling in multielement arrays. A neutralization technique and defected ground plane structures have also been investigated as alternative approaches, and may be more practical in real applications. A new Uni-planar Compact EBG (UC-EBG) formed from a compact unit cell was presented, giving a stop band in the 2.4 GHz WLAN range. Dual band forms of the neutralization and defected ground plane techniques have also been developed and measured. The recorded results for all antenna configurations show good improvement in terms of the mutual coupling effect. The MIMO antenna performance with EBG, neutralization and defected ground of several wireless communication applications were analysed and evaluated. The correlation coefficient, total active reflection coefficient (TARC), channel capacity and capacity loss of the array antenna were computed and the results compared to measurements with good agreement. In addition, a computational method combining Genetic Algorithm (GA) with surface meshing code for the analysis of a 2×2 antenna arrays on EBG was developed. Here the impedance matrix resulting from the meshing analysis is manipulated by the GA process in order to find the optimal antenna and EBG operated at 2.4 GHz with the goal of targeting a specific fitness function. Furthermore, an investigation of GA on 2×2 printed slot on DGS was also done. / Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)

No description available.

There are more connected wireless devices than everbefore and with the rise of new smart systems such as self-drivingcars and smart cities new antenna solutions for transmittingsignals are needed. One important part of these systems is thefilters which filter out all the unwanted signals. In this report,we present a solution for manufacturing such a filter with apassband from 26-29 GHz and a stopband from 29-60 GHz usinga fully metallic glide-symmetric structure. Ideas of combiningmultiple unit cell designs to achieve wider stopbands and higherattenuation are explored using dispersion engineering wherethe advantages and the disadvantages of using this method arepresented. Furthermore, ways of combining the filter to standardconnections using a coaxial cable to waveguide transition areproposed and designed. The usage of multiple unit cell designsis proven to be a solution for achieving wider stopbands withminimum coupling between modes. / Det finns fler trådlösa enheter uppkoppladeän n°agonsin tidigare och med ökningen av nya smarta systemsom självkörande bilar och smarta städer finns ett behov av nyaantennlösningar för överföring av information. En viktig del avdessa system är filtren som filtrerar bort alla oönskade signaler.I denna rapport presenterar vi en lösning för att konstrueraett sådant filter med ett passband från 26-29 GHz och ettstoppband från 29-60 GHz med en helt metallisk glidsymmetriskstruktur. Id´eer att kombinera flera enhetscellsdesigner för attuppnå bredare stoppband och högre attenuering undersöks medhjälp av dispersionsteknik, där fördelarna och nackdelarna medatt använda denna metod presenteras. Dessutom föreslås ochutformas sätt att kombinera filtret till standardanslutningar meden koaxialkabel till vågledarövergång. Användningen av fleraenhetscell designer visar sig vara en lösning för att skapa bredastoppband med minimal koppling mellan ”modes”. / Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2021, KTH, Stockholm

The main goals of this thesis are to design and examine heterogeneous antennas for different wireless applications of a wide variety of EM spectrum requirements: which includes WLAN 5.0 GHz, WLAN (2.45 GHz), UMTS (1.92-2.17 GHz), 2G, UMTS, LTE, ultra-wideband (UWB) applications, and MBAN applications (2.4 GHz). Various techniques for expanding bandwidth, enhancing performance, and balancing the operation have been examined through comprehensive simulated and physically fabricated models. Thereafter, a compact DRA, for UWB applications is examined. The combined resultant effects of asymmetric positioning of DRs (2, 3 and 4 Cylindrical elements), defected ground technique, dimensions, and profile of the aperture give RF designers detailed scope of the optimization process. More resonances are achieved, and the bandwidth is improved. The obtained results show that, an impedance bandwidth of 133.0%, which covers the Ultra­ Wideband band (3.6GHz - 18.0GHz), with a maximum power gain of 9dBi attained. In addition, a compact conformal wearable CPW antenna using EBG-FSS for MBAN applications at 2.4GHz is proposed. They are designed using fabric materials suitable for daily clothing. The performance of the antenna is investigated in free space, on a layered biological tissue model, and on a real human body to evaluate SAR. When the antenna is combined with an EBG-FSS structure, isolation between the antenna and the human body is introduced. The results show that the FBR is enhanced by 13 dB, the gain by 6.55dBi, and the SAR is lowered by more than 94%. The CPW antenna demonstrated here is appropriate for future MBAN wearable systems. The design, investigation, and application of water level monitoring utilizing subsurface wireless sensor are covered in this thesis. A wideband double inverted-F antenna is designed and examined to overcome signal attenuation issues. The obtained result is feasible, which has an operating bandwidth of 0.8 to 2.17GHz, with a reflection coefficient better than 10 dB. Moreover, a field trial is conducted to evaluate the robustness of the antenna under extreme conditions. A very good efficiency was also demonstrated, with losses of under 20%. Further, the results from the field experiment established that the antenna is a reliable contender for wireless communication in such challenging environments. / Libyan Ministry of Higher Education / The full text will be available at the end of the embargo: 19th June 2025

All DC/DC converter products include power electronic circuits for power conversion.It is important to find an efficient way for power conversion to reduce power losses and reduce the need for cooling and achieve environmentally friendly solutions.The use of semiconductor switches of wide band gap type is a solution to the problem.Therefore, the investigation of the SiC MOSFET in DC/DC converters is of crucial importance for the reduction of power losses.The thesis investigates the SiC MOSFET in three different tests.The efficiency test, the temperature test and the double pulse test.In the efficiency, the MOSFET STC3080KR and NTH4L022N120M3S are compared with their respective simulation made on PLECS.While in the temperature test the STC3080KR is investigated at different frequencies.In Double Pulse Test the MOSFET STC3080KR with 4-pin (TO-247 4L) package is compared with the MOSFET SCT3080KLHRC11 with 3-pin package (TO-247 N).The efficiency test shows that the MOSFET SCT3080KR in the practical test gives an efficiency in the range of 96,5-96,1% at 110kHz, 96-95,4% at 150kHz and 95,8-94,2% at 180kHz.While, the NTH4L022N120M3S gives an efficiency in the range of 98,1-97,1% at 110kHz, 96,3-96,2% at 150kHz and 96,1-95,5% at 180kHz.The efficiency given by the simulation is higher than the actual efficiency for both MOSFETs.However, the shape of the curves in the practical part matches the simulated one.The efficiency is not the same since the simulation do not consider all the losses present in the practical part.The temperature test shows that the temperature for the high side and low side increases when the frequency and the load current increases.However, some results show that when the load current increases at some point the low-side MOSFET will reach the temperature of the high-sided MOSFET and at the end it will exceed its value. This is due to the increment of the conduction losses since the low side MOSFET is basically the body diode incorporated in the MOSFET.Finally, the Double Pulse Test shows that the TO-247 N (3-pin) package switches with less source inductance compared to the TO-247 4L (4-pin) package.Therefore, the MOSFET SCT3080KLHRC11 (TO-247 N package) needs more time during the switching and which means that the switching power losses will be higher in comparison to the SCT3080KR as shown in Table 5.2 and Table 5.1. / Alla DC/DC-omvandlarprodukter inkluderar kraftelektroniska kretsar för effektomvandling. Detta gör att det är viktigt att hitta ett effektivt sätt för effektomvandlingen för att minska effektförlusterna och minska behovet av kylning och uppnå miljövänliga lösningar.Användningen av halvledaromkopplare med ett stort bandgap är en lösning på problemet.Därför är undersökningen av SiC MOSFET i DC/DC-omvandlare av avgörande betydelse för att minska effektförlusterna. Detta examensarbete undersöker SiC MOSFET i tre olika tester vilket är; Effektivitetstestet, temperaturen testet och double pulse testet.I effektivitets testet jämförs MOSFET STC3080KR och NTH4L022N120M3S med deras respektive simulering gjorda på PLECS.Medan i temperaturtestet undersöks STC3080KR vid olika frekvenser.I double pulse testet jämförs MOSFET STC3080KR med ett 4-stifts (TO-247 4L)-paket med MOSFET SCT3080KLHRC11 med ett 3-stiftspaket (TO-247 N).Effektivitetstestet visar att MOSFET SCT3080KR i det praktiska testet ger en verkningsgrad i intervallen 96,5-96,1% vid 110kHz, 96-95,4% vid 150kHz och 95,8-94,2% och vid 180kHz.Medan NTH4L022N120M3S visar en effektivitet i intervallet av 98,1-97,1% vid 110kHz, 96,3-96,2% vid 150kHz och 96,1-95,5% vid 180kHz.Verkningsgraden som ges av simuleringen är högre än den praktiska för båda MOSFET:erna.Formen på kurvorna i den praktiska delen matchar den simulerade.Verkningsgraden är inte densamma eftersom simuleringen inte tar hänsyn till alla förluster som finns i den praktiska delen.Temperaturtestet visar att temperaturen för den höga sidan och lågsidan ökar när frekvensen och belastningsströmmen ökar.Vissa resultat visar att när belastningsströmmen ökar lågsidans MOSFET når temperaturen hos den högsidiga MOSFET:en och i slutet kommer den att överstiga dess värde.Detta beror på ökningen av ledningsförlusterna eftersom MOSFET på lågsidan i grunden är kroppsdioden som ingår i MOSFET.Slutligen, visar double pulse testet att TO-247 N (3-stifts)-paketet växlar med mindre källinduktans jämfört med till TO-247 4L (4-stifts)-paketet.Därför behöver MOSFET SCT3080KLHRC11 (TO-247 N-paket) mer tid under växlingen och därför blir växlingseffektförlusterna högre jämfört med SCT3080KR, detta visas i Tabell 5.2 och Tabell 5.1.

This work presents a 6.5-kV 1-kA SiC bipolar diode module for megawatt-range medium voltage converters. The study comprises a review of SiC devices and bipolar diodes, a description of the die and module technology, device characterization and modelling and benchmark of the device at converter level. The effects of current change rate, temperature variation, and different insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules for the switching cell, as well as parasitic oscillations are discussed. A comparison of the results with a commercial Si diode (6.5 kV and 1.2 kA) is included. The benchmark consists of an estimation of maximum converter output power, maximum switching frequency, losses and efficiency in a three level (3L) neutral point clamped (NPC) voltage-source converter (VSC) operating with SiC and Si diodes. The use of a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm to achieve higher efficiency levels is also discussed. The analysed diode module exhibits a very good performance regarding switching loss reduction, which allows an increase of at least 10 % in the output power of a 6-MVA converter. Alternatively, the switching frequency can be increased by 41 %.