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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2004. / At head of title: City University of Hong Kong, Department of Physics and Materials Science, Master of Science in materials engineering & nanotechnology dissertation. Title from title screen (viewed on Sept. 1, 2006) Includes bibliographical references.

Conventional liquid lubricants are faced with limitations under extreme cyclic operating conditions, such as in applications that require lubrication when changing from atmospheric pressure to ultrahigh vacuum and ambient air to dry nitrogen (e.g., satellite components), and room to elevated (>500°C) temperatures (e.g., aerospace bearings). Alternatively, solid lubricant coatings can be used in conditions where synthetic liquid lubricants and greases are not applicable; however, individual solid lubricant phases usually perform best only for a limited range of operating conditions. Therefore, solid lubricants that can adequately perform over a wider range of environmental conditions are needed, especially during thermal cycling with temperatures exceeding 500°C. One potential material class investigated in this dissertation is lubricious oxides, because unlike other solid lubricant coatings they are typically thermodynamically stable in air and at elevated temperatures. While past studies have been focused on binary metal oxide coatings, such as ZnO, there have been very few ternary oxide and no reported quaternary oxide investigations. The premise behind the addition of the third and fourth refractory metals Ti and Zr is to increase the number of hard and wear resistant phases while maintaining solid lubrication with ZnO. Therefore, the major focus of this dissertation is to investigate the processing-structure-tribological property relations of composite ZnO, TiO2 and ZrO2 phases that form ternary (ZnTi)xOy and quaternary (ZnTiZr)xOy nanocrystalline coatings. The coatings were processed by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using a selective variation of ALD parameters. The growth structure and chemical composition of as-deposited and ex situ annealed ternary and quaternary oxide coatings were studied by combined x-ray diffraction/focused ion beam microscopy/cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy/Auger electron spectroscopy, respectively. It was determined that the structure varied from purely nanocrystalline (ternary oxides) to composite amorphous/nanocrystalline (quaternary oxides) depending on ALD parameters and annealing temperatures. In particular, the ZnTiO3 ilmenite phase with (104) textured nanocolumnar grains, exhibiting high stacking fault/partial dislocation densities >1012/cm2, was responsible for the excellent tribological behavior. Steady-state sliding friction coefficients down to 0.12 in humid air and 0.2 in dry nitrogen were measured along with sliding and fretting wear factors in the range of 10-6 to 10-7 mm3/N·m, even after ex situ annealing to 550°C. Additionally, the quaternary oxide phase Zn(Ti,Zr)O3 in solid solution exhibited a low fretting wear rate of 1x10-6 mm3/N·m. In contrast, certain phases, such as Zn2TiO4 cubic spinel, that form at annealing temperatures >550°C were responsible for high friction and wear. Mechanistic studies using the above techniques revealed low friction and wear-reducing surfaces and subsurfaces were due to different velocity accommodation modes (VAM). In the case of the ternary system, sliding-induced plastic deformation was possible when ZnTiO3 (104) stacking faults, bordered by partial dislocations, serve as a pathway for the dislocations to glide parallel to the sliding direction and hence achieve low friction and wear via an intrafilm shear VAM. It was evident that the individual nanocolumnar ZnTiO3 grains were plastically sheared as opposed to being fractured during wear. Conversely for the quaternary system, an interfacial sliding VAM between the counterface and a mechanically mixed layer (tribofilm) composed of the refined coating and counterface material, that also served as a source for the formation of cylindrical rolls, was responsible for wear reduction. Therefore, these lubricious oxides are a potential candidate for solid lubrication at high temperatures (up to 550 °C) and in space environments.

The reactions of atomically clean, titanium film surfaces with oxygen, deuterium, and water have been investigated. Auger Electron Spectroscopy was utilized to monitor the formation 9f a surface oxide in the case of oxygen exposure, and to characterize the deuteride which formed upon deuterium absorption, and its subsequent oxidation. Quantification of surface oxide stoichiometries was facilitated by novel data acquisition and treatment schemes. The quartz crystal microbalance was used to measure the mass of adsorbed oxygen or deuterium with submonolayer sensitivity. Electron energy loss spectroscopy was sensitive to the presence of Ti⁺³ in the surface oxide. The initial oxidation of the titanium surface was characterized by the dissociative adsorption of three mono1ayers of oxygen atoms at a constant rate. The oxide formed during this reaction stage was a Ti₂0₃/Ti0₂ mixture with a total thickness of 13 A. The rate of oxygen adsorption then decreased such that oxide growth was logarithmic with time. When the oxide had attained a total thickness of 20 A, the initial suboxide was converted to Ti0₂, and subsequent oxide formed was purely Ti0₂. Oxide growth occurred by oxygen anion migration under the influence of an electrostatic field, set up across the oxide layer by electron transfer from the metal to adsorbed oxygen species. The pressure dependence of the oxide growth rate and terminal thickness suggested a constant field growth mechanism. Clean titanium films reacted with deuterium to form a bulk deuteride TiDₓ (x<2). The oxide layer which resulted from oxygen exposure was characterized by the above techniques. Oxide layers greater than 20 A completely inhibited deuterium absorption by prohibiting 02 dissociation, but did not act as a diffusional barrier when additional dissociation sites were provided. Iron adlayers were found to accelerate the D₂ absorption reaction. Removal of the titanium films from the vacuum chamber to an isolable electrochemical reaction chamber, without exposure to the atmosphere, allowed a determination of the effect of the various gas/solid reactions on the subsequent electrochemical oxidation processes.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

A cathode structure was demonstrated that utilizes aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to improve the thermionic electron emission by increasing the field enhancement of the cathode surface. Aligned CNTs were grown on the surface of a tungsten substrate by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The tungsten-CNT structure was further coated with a thin film of low work function emissive materials by magnetron sputtering. Numerous cathodes with varying CNT morphology and oxide layer thickness were created. The field and thermionic emission of the cathodes were tested in order to study the effects of the surface properties on the emission characteristics. It was observed that the introduction of CNTs into an oxide cathode structure improves both the thermionic and field emission, even in cathodes with relatively low field enhancement factors. Because of the high field enhancement factors that are available for CNTs, there remains a potential for dramatically improved electron emission. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 1998. / Title from document title page. "November 13, 1998." Document formatted into pages; contains x, 121 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-110).

Thesis (doctoral)--Helsinki University of Technology, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.