A new high-k dielectric material, i.e., zirconium-doped tantalum oxide (Zr-doped TaOx), in the form of a sputter-deposited thin film with a thickness range of 5-100 nm, has been studied. Important applications of this new dielectric material include the gate dielectric layer for the next generation metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). Due to the aggressive device scaling in ultra-large-scale integrated circuitry (ULSI), the ultra-thin conventional gate oxide (SiO2) is unacceptable for many practical reasons. By replacing the SiO2 layer with a high dielectric constant material (high-k), many of the problems can be solved. In this study, a novel high-k dielectric thin film, i.e., TaOx doped with Zr, was deposited and studied. The film’s electrical, chemical, and structural properties were investigated experimentally. The Zr dopant concentration and the thermal treatment condition were studied with respect to gas composition, pressure, temperature, and annealing time. Interface layer formation and properties were studied with or without an inserted thin tantalum nitride (TaNx) layer. The gate electrode material influence on the dielectric properties was also investigated. Four types of gate materials, i.e., aluminum (Al), molybdenum (Mo), molybdenum nitride (MoN), and tungsten nitride (WN), were used in this study. The films were analyzed with ESCA, XRD, SIMS, and TEM. Films were made into MOS capacitors and characterized using I-V and C-V curves. Many promising results were obtained using this kind of high-k film. It is potentially applicable to future MOS devices.

Organic molecules such as porphyrins and alkanethiols are currently being investigated for applications such as sensors, light-emitting diodes and single electron transistors. Porphyrins are stable, highly conjugated compounds and the choice of metal ion and substituents bound to the macrocycle as well as other effects such as chemical surrounding and cluster size modulate the electronic and photonic properties of the molecule. Porphyrins and their derivatives are relatively non-toxic and their very rich photo- and electro-chemistry, and small HOMO-LUMO gaps make them outstanding candidates for use in molecularly-enhanced electronic applications. For these studies, self-assembled tri-pyridyl porphyrin thiol derivatives have been fully characterized on Au(111) surfaces. A variety of surface characterization techniques such as Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) have been implemented in order to obtain information regarding the attachment orientation based on the angle and physical height of the molecule, conductivity which is determined based on the apparent height and current-voltage (I-V) measurements of the molecule, conductance switching behavior due to conformational or other effects as well as the stability of the molecular ensembles. Specifically, the transport properties of free base and zinc coordinated tri-pyridyl porphyrin thiol molecular islands inserted into a dodecanethiol matrix on Au(111) were investigated using STM and cross-wire inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS). The zinc porphyrin thiol islands observed by STM exhibited reversible bias induced switching at high surface coverage due to the formation of Coulomb islands of ca. 10 nm diameter driven by porphyrin aggregation. Low temperature measurements (~ 4 K) from crossed-wire junctions verified the appearance of a Coulomb staircase and blockade which was not observed for single molecules of this compound or for the analogous free base. Scanning probe lithography via nanografting has been implemented to directly assemble nanoscale patterns of zinc porphyrin thiols and 16-mercapotohexadecanoic acid on Au surfaces. Matrix effects during nanopatterning including solvent and background SAMs have been investigated and ultimately ~ 10 nm islands of zinc porphyrins have been fabricated which is the optimal size for the observed switching effect.

A new high-k dielectric material, i.e., zirconium-doped tantalum oxide (Zr-doped TaOx), in the form of a sputter-deposited thin film with a thickness range of 5-100 nm, has been studied. Important applications of this new dielectric material include the gate dielectric layer for the next generation metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). Due to the aggressive device scaling in ultra-large-scale integrated circuitry (ULSI), the ultra-thin conventional gate oxide (SiO2) is unacceptable for many practical reasons. By replacing the SiO2 layer with a high dielectric constant material (high-k), many of the problems can be solved. In this study, a novel high-k dielectric thin film, i.e., TaOx doped with Zr, was deposited and studied. The film’s electrical, chemical, and structural properties were investigated experimentally. The Zr dopant concentration and the thermal treatment condition were studied with respect to gas composition, pressure, temperature, and annealing time. Interface layer formation and properties were studied with or without an inserted thin tantalum nitride (TaNx) layer. The gate electrode material influence on the dielectric properties was also investigated. Four types of gate materials, i.e., aluminum (Al), molybdenum (Mo), molybdenum nitride (MoN), and tungsten nitride (WN), were used in this study. The films were analyzed with ESCA, XRD, SIMS, and TEM. Films were made into MOS capacitors and characterized using I-V and C-V curves. Many promising results were obtained using this kind of high-k film. It is potentially applicable to future MOS devices.

Quantum dots exhibit strongly size-dependent optical and electrical properties. The ability to join the dots into complex assemblies creates many opportunities for scientific discovery. This motivated our present research work on QDIPs, DWELLs, and graphene like QDs. The intention of this research was to study the size dependent achievements of QDIPs, DWELLs, and graphene like QDs with those of competitive technologies, with the emphasis on the material properties, device structure, and their impact on the device performance. In this dissertation four research studies pertaining to optical properties of quantum dot and dot-in-a-well infrared photodetectors, I-V characteristics of graphene quantum dots, and energy and spin texture of germanene quantum dots are presented. Improving self-assembled QD is a key issue in the increasing the absorption and improving the performance. In the present research work, an ideal self-assembled QD structure is analyzed theoretically with twenty-hole levels (Intraband optical transitions within the valence band) and twenty-electron energy levels (DWELL). Continuing the efforts to study self-assembled QDs we extended our work to graphene like quantum dots (graphene and germanene) to study the electronic transport properties. We study numerically the intraband optical transitions within the valence band of InxGa1-xAs/GaAs pyramidal quantum dots. We analyze the possibility of tuning of corresponding absorption spectra by varying the size and composition of the dots. Both ‘x ’ and the size of the quantum dot base are varied. We have found that the absorption spectra of such quantum dots are more sensitive to the in-plane incident light. We present numerically obtained absorption optical spectra of n-doped InAs/In0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs quantum dot-in-a-well systems. The absorption spectra are mainly determined by the size of the quantum dot and have weak dependence on the thickness of the quantum well and position of the dot in a well. The dot-in-a-well system is sensitive to both in-plane and out-of-plane polarizations of the incident light with much stronger absorption intensities for the in-plane-polarized light. We also present theoretically obtained I-V characteristics of graphene quantum dots, which are realized as a small piece of monolayer graphene. We describe graphene within the nearest-neighbor tight-binding model. The current versus the bias voltage has typical step-like shape, which is due to discrete energy spectrum of the quantum dot. The current through the dot system also depends on the position of the electrodes relative to the quantum dot. In relation to graphene quantum dots, we present our study of buckled graphene-like materials, like germanene and silicene. We consider theoretically germanene quantum dot, consisting of 13, 27, and 35 germanium atoms. Due to strong spin-orbit interaction and buckled structure of the germanene layer, the direction of the spin of an electron in the quantum dot depends on both the electron energy and external perpendicular electric field. With variation of energy, the direction of spin changes by approximately 4.50. Application of external electric field results in rotation of electron spin by approximately 0.50, where the direction of rotation depends on the electron energy.

<p>The purpose of this study is to develop a flexible computer tool to predict the power produced by a photovoltaic (PV) panel. The performance of the PV panel is dependent on the incident solar radiation and the cell temperature. The computer tool predicts voltage-current curves, power-voltage curves, and maximum power point values. Five different models are implemented to predict the temperature of the panel, and comparison between the different thermal models is good. A thermal capacitance approach that uses a simple relationship for the forced convection heat transfer coefficient is used to predict the cell temperature. Both the electrical and temperature models are verified through comparisons using PVWatts and validated by comparisons to measured values. The model is flexible in the sense that it can be applied to PV arrays of any size, at any location, and of different cell types. After being verified and validated, the model is used to investigate the effects of cooling on the photovoltaic panel to improve the panel efficiency and increase its power output. Typical results show that for every degree Celsius rise in temperature, the efficiency of the solar panel is reduced by 0.5%. The effect of cooling and the resulting increase in energy production in two different climatic zones are studied and discussed. </p>

In mentioned theses there are described the basic tenets of the photovoltaic panels operation. There is described the progress of the photovoltaic panels. Theses is focused on the theoretical knowledges about the equivalent circuits and their aplication in the proposed simulation system. The goal of theses is to create the surroundings in the program Agilent VEE Pro 8.0 and to create the program for the simulation of the serial and paralel conjunction of the photovoltaic panels. The resultant program enables the simulation of the I – V and P – V characteristics of the real photovoltaic panels.

In dieser Arbeit wurden die Strom-Spannungs- und Kapazitäts-Spannungs-Kennlinien von Ag/n-GaAs(100) Schottky-Dioden untersucht, wobei die Kennlinien durch organische Zwischenschichten verschiedener Dicke modifiziert werden. Dazu wird der organische Halbleiter 3,4,9,10- Perylentetracarboxyldianhydrid (PTCDA) verwendet. Die PTCDA-Schichten werden mittels Organischer Molekularstrahldeposition (OMBD) hergestellt. Die Charakterisierung der Ag/PTCDA/GaAs-Dioden erfolgte sowohl in situ als auch ex situ.

Metamorphosis of Space Models of space in the Czech and Russian lyrical poetry of the late 19th and early 20th century The work deals with the representation of space in lyrical poetry by artistic imagery. Based on the analysis of the texts of the decadent poets I. Annensky, V. Bryusov, K. Hlaváček, O. Březina describes their individual models of space.

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Le ribozyme VS de Neurospora catalyse des réactions de clivage et de ligation d’un lien phosphodiester spécifique essentielles à son cycle de réplication. Il est formé de six régions hélicales (I à VI), qui se divisent en deux domaines, soit le substrat (SLI) et le domaine catalytique (tiges II à VI). Ce dernier comprend deux jonctions à trois voies qui permettent de reconnaître le substrat en tige-boucle de façon spécifique. Ce mode de reconnaissance unique pourrait être exploité pour cibler des ARN repliés pour diverses applications. Bien que le ribozyme VS ait été caractérisé biochimiquement de façon exhaustive, aucune structure à haute résolution du ribozyme complet n’a encore été publiée, ce qui limite la compréhension des mécanismes inhérents à son fonctionnement. Précédemment, une approche de divide-and-conquer a été initiée afin d’étudier la structure des sous-domaines importants du ribozyme VS par spectroscopie de résonance magnétique nucléaire (RMN) mais doit être complétée. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, les structures de la boucle A730 et des jonctions III-IV-V et II-III-VI ont été déterminées par spectroscopie RMN hétéronucléaire. De plus, une approche de spectroscopie RMN a été développée pour la localisation des ions divalents, tandis que diverses approches de marquage isotopique ont été implémentées pour l’étude d’ARN de plus grandes tailles. Les structures RMN de la boucle A730 et des deux jonctions à trois voies révèlent que ces sous-domaines sont bien définis, qu’ils sont formés de plusieurs éléments structuraux récurrents (U-turn, S-turn, triplets de bases et empilement coaxial) et qu’ils contiennent plusieurs sites de liaison de métaux. En outre, un modèle du site actif du ribozyme VS a été construit sur la base des similarités identifiées entre les sites actifs des ribozymes VS et hairpin. Dans l’ensemble, ces études contribuent de façon significative à la compréhension de l’architecture globale du ribozyme VS. De plus, elles permettront de construire un modèle à haute résolution du ribozyme VS tout en favorisant de futures études d’ingénierie. / The Neurospora VS ribozyme catalyzes the cleavage and the ligation of a specific phosphodiester bond, which is essential for its replication cycle. It is formed of six helical regions (I to VI) that are divided in two domains: the substrate (SLI) and the catalytic domain (stems II-VI). The latter contains two three-way junctions that allow recognition of the stem-loop substrate in a specific manner. This unique mode of substrate recognition could be exploited to target folded RNAs for diverse applications. Even though the VS ribozyme has been extensively characterized biochemically, no high-resolution structure of the complete ribozyme has been published yet and this limits our mechanistic understanding. A divide-and-conquer approach was previously initiated to study the structure of the important subdomains of the VS ribozyme by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but this approach needs to be completed. In this thesis, the structures of the A730 loop, the III-IV-V junction and the II-III-VI junction were determined by heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. Moreover, a unique NMR approach was developed for localizing divalent metal ions, whereas several isotope-labeling strategies were implemented to facilitate the study or large RNA molecules. The NMR structures of the A730 loop and the two three-way junctions reveal that these subdomains are well defined, that they are formed by several recurrent structural elements (U-turn and S-turn motifs, base triples and coaxial stacking) and that they contain several metal-binding sites. Interestingly, structural similarities were identified between the VS and hairpin ribozymes, which allowed the modeling of the VS ribozyme active site. In summary, these studies significantly contribute to a better understanding of the global architecture of the VS ribozyme. In addition, they will allow the construction of a high-resolution model of the complete VS ribozyme and facilitate future engineering studies.