This thesis investigates the reactive formation of Ni mono-gernanosilicide, NiSi1-uGeu, for contact metallization of future CMOS devices where Si1-xGex can be present in the gate, source and drain of a MOSFET. Although the investigation has been pursued with a strong focus on materials aspects, issues related to process integration in MOSFETs both on conventional bulk Si and ultra-thin body SOI have been taken into consideration. The thesis work has taken a balance between experimental studies and theoretical calculations. The interaction between Ni films and Si1-xGex substrates, polycrystalline (poly) as in the gate or single-crystal (sc) as in the source/drain, leads to the formation of a ternary solid solution NiSi1-uGeu with the MnP structure in a wide range of temperature from 450 to 850oC. A linear variation of the lattice parameters of the NiSi1-uGeu with u is determined. A number of key observations are made: (1) the agglomeration of NiSi1-uGeu on Si1-xGex at a lower temperature compared to that of NiSi on Si, (2) the absence of NiSi2 up to 850 oC when Ge is present, and (3) a substantial Ge out-diffusion from the NiSi1-xGex and a precipitation of Ge-richer SiGe around the NiSi1-uGeu grains. These observations are interpreted referring to the ternary phase diagram for the Ni-Si-Ge system presented in this work. Possible factors influencing the morphological stability of NiSi1-uGeu films on Si1-xGex are discussed: (1) mechanical strain in the epitaxial Si1-xGex, (2) the favorable formation of NiSi at the expense of NiGe, (3) grain growth in poly-Si1-xGex, and (4) grain grooving in NiSi1-uGeu on sc-Si1-xGex. Energetically, the former two factors have been found to play a comparable, yet major role in the morphological instability of NiSi1-uGeu. The inter-diffusion of Si and Ge in NiSi1-uGeu and Si1-xGex provides the kinetic pathway for the morphological evolution. On Si1-xGex epitaxially grown on Si(100), a strong preferential orientation of the resulting NiSi1-uGeu film is found; NiSi films formed on Si show no specific film texturing. Furthermore, layer sequence and layer thickness of Si/SiGe or SiGe/Si are found to strongly affect the film texture in the resulting NiSi1-uGeu. Epitaxy of NiSi on NiSi1-uGeu, and vice versa, occurs across the compositional boundary, which confirms Ni as the dominant diffusion species during germanosilicide formation. The presence of Ge reduces the contact resistivity for NiSi1-uGeu on p-tyep Si1-xGex, as expected. For poly-Si1-xGex doped by B to 1020cm-3, a contact resistivity of 9x10-8 Ωcm2, 5 times lower than for the corresponding NiSi/Si contact, is obtained. On n-type Si1-xGex doped by As to 1020 cm-3, the opposite is true regarding the effect of Ge and a contact resistivity of 2x10-5 Ωcm2, 20 times higher than for the corresponding NiSi/Si contact, is obtained. When formed in the source/drain regions of a MOSFET fabricated on ultra-thin body SOI, a severe lateral growth of NiSi and Ni2Si into the channel region is revealed if the initial Ni thickness is too thick and if the silicidation conditions are not carefully controlled. This leads to a Schottky contact S/D MOSFET due to the consumption of the entire source/drain. In order to realize a low source/drain resistance for MOSFETs on ultra-thin SOI, satisfying the Roadmap recommendation for the 45-nm technology node, simplified calculations have been performed and an elevated source/drain structure is clearly shown to be advantageous. / QC 20101005

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:59:10Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 bruno_jc_me_araiq.pdf: 3796594 bytes, checksum: e4b765c9a1ed1eb7ed9759943001d22b (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho propõe o estudo da influência dos métodos de síntese na obtenção da cerâmica (1-x)PMN-xPT, com x = 0,10; 0,28 e 0,35. Foram investigados muitos aspectos envolvidos em cada uma das metodologias de síntese, como quantidade de fases, reatividade superficial, homogeneidade química, densidade, perda de massa e propriedades elétricas. As metodologias de síntese abordam métodos químicos, físicos e mistos, de forma a mostrar suas aplicabilidades nas propriedades de algumas composições cerâmicas do sistema, incluindo x= 0,10, onde a propriedade é relaxora, x= 0,35 com propriedade ferroelétrica, e x= 0,28 com propriedade intermediária entre as duas. Os métodos químicos atuaram favoravelmente na obtenção de pós cerâmicos mais homogêneos e com maior reatividade superficial. Para os métodos mistos, a etapa de inserção do chumbo por via química durante a síntese dos pós de PMN-PT levou a melhores resultados do que a obtenção do pó via reação de estado sólido. Por fim, a associação da composição com a aplicação do material pôde ser estabelecida, sendo demonstrado que as cerâmicas PMN-PT 28 são melhores ferroelétricos e as cerâmicas PMN-PT 35, melhores piezoelétricos. / This work aims at studying the influence of the synthesis method in the attainment of (1-x) PMN-xPT ceramics, with x = 0.10; 0.28 and 0.35. Many aspects related to each one of the synthesis methodologies had been investigated, as phase amount, superficial reactivity, chemical homogeneity, density, weigh loss and electrical properties. The synthesis methodologies concerned chemical, physical and mixed methods, in a manner of showing its applicability in the properties of some ceramic compositions of such system, including x = 0.10, for relaxor property, x = 0.35 for ferroelectric property, and x = 0.28 with an intermediate property between the two. The chemical methods have shown to be very favorable at getting more homogeneous ceramic powders and with higher superficial reactivity. For mixed methods, the stage of lead insertion via chemical method during PMN-PT powder synthesis led to better results if compared to the solid state reaction. Finally, the association between composition and material application could be established, being demonstrated that PMN-PT 28 ceramic exhibits better ferroelectric properties, while PMN-PT 35 ceramic, piezoelectric one.

Orientador: José Arana Varela / Resumo: Este trabalho propõe o estudo da influência dos métodos de síntese na obtenção da cerâmica (1-x)PMN-xPT, com x = 0,10; 0,28 e 0,35. Foram investigados muitos aspectos envolvidos em cada uma das metodologias de síntese, como quantidade de fases, reatividade superficial, homogeneidade química, densidade, perda de massa e propriedades elétricas. As metodologias de síntese abordam métodos químicos, físicos e mistos, de forma a mostrar suas aplicabilidades nas propriedades de algumas composições cerâmicas do sistema, incluindo x= 0,10, onde a propriedade é relaxora, x= 0,35 com propriedade ferroelétrica, e x= 0,28 com propriedade intermediária entre as duas. Os métodos químicos atuaram favoravelmente na obtenção de pós cerâmicos mais homogêneos e com maior reatividade superficial. Para os métodos mistos, a etapa de inserção do chumbo por via química durante a síntese dos pós de PMN-PT levou a melhores resultados do que a obtenção do pó via reação de estado sólido. Por fim, a associação da composição com a aplicação do material pôde ser estabelecida, sendo demonstrado que as cerâmicas PMN-PT 28 são melhores ferroelétricos e as cerâmicas PMN-PT 35, melhores piezoelétricos. / Abstract: This work aims at studying the influence of the synthesis method in the attainment of (1-x) PMN-xPT ceramics, with x = 0.10; 0.28 and 0.35. Many aspects related to each one of the synthesis methodologies had been investigated, as phase amount, superficial reactivity, chemical homogeneity, density, weigh loss and electrical properties. The synthesis methodologies concerned chemical, physical and mixed methods, in a manner of showing its applicability in the properties of some ceramic compositions of such system, including x = 0.10, for relaxor property, x = 0.35 for ferroelectric property, and x = 0.28 with an intermediate property between the two. The chemical methods have shown to be very favorable at getting more homogeneous ceramic powders and with higher superficial reactivity. For mixed methods, the stage of lead insertion via chemical method during PMN-PT powder synthesis led to better results if compared to the solid state reaction. Finally, the association between composition and material application could be established, being demonstrated that PMN-PT 28 ceramic exhibits better ferroelectric properties, while PMN-PT 35 ceramic, piezoelectric one. / Mestre

No description available.

The work presented in this thesis deals with experimental and theoretical studies related to the growth of crystalline alumina thin films. Alumina, Al2O3, is a polymorphic material utilized in a variety of applications, e.g., in the form of thin films. Many of the possibilities of alumina, and the problems associated with thin film synthesis of the material, are due to the existence of a range of different crystalline phases. Controlling the formation of the desired phase and the transformations between the polymorphs is often difficult. In the experimental part of this work, it was shown that the thermodynamically stable alpha phase, which normally is synthesized at substrate temperatures of around 1000 °C, can be grown using reactive sputtering at a substrate temperature of 500 °C by controlling the nucleation surface. This was done by predepositing a Cr2O3 nucleation layer. Moreover, it was found that an additional requirement for the formation of the α phase is that the depositions are carried out at low enough total pressure and high enough oxygen partial pressure. Based on these observations, it was concluded that energetic bombardment, plausibly originating from energetic oxygen, is necessary for the formation of α alumina (in addition to the effect of the chromia nucleation layer). Further, the effects of impurities, especially residual water, on the growth of crystalline films were investigated by varying the partial pressure of water in the ultra high vacuum (UHV) chamber. Films deposited onto chromia nucleation layers exhibited a columnar structure and consisted of crystalline α-alumina if deposited under UHV conditions. However, as water to a partial pressure of 1x10-5 Torr was introduced, the columnar growth was interrupted. Instead, a microstructure consisting of small, equiaxed grains was formed, and the gamma-alumina content was found to increase with increasing film thickness. When gamma-alumina was formed under UHV conditions, no effects of residual water on the phase formation was observed. Moreover, the H content was found to be low (< 1 at. %) in all films. Consequently, this shows that effects of residual gases during sputter deposition of oxides can be considerable, also in cases where the impurity incorporation in the films is found to be low. In the modeling part of the thesis, density functional theory based computational studies of adsorption of Al, O, AlO, and O2 on different alpha-alumina (0001) surfaces have been performed. The results give possible reasons for the difficulties in growing the α phase at low temperatures through the identification of several metastable adsorption sites, and also provide insights related to the effects of hydrogen on alumina growth. / Report code: LiU-TEK-LIC-2007:1.

<p>The work presented in this thesis deals with experimental and theoretical studies related to the growth of crystalline alumina thin films. Alumina, Al₂O₃, is a polymorphic material utilized in a variety of applications, e.g., in the form of thin films. Many of the possibilities of alumina, and the problems associated with thin film synthesis of the material, are due to the existence of a range of different crystalline phases. Controlling the formation of the desired phase and the transformations between the polymorphs is often difficult.</p><p>In the experimental part of this work, it was shown that the thermodynamically stable alpha phase, which normally is synthesized at substrate temperatures of around 1000 °C, can be grown using reactive sputtering at a substrate temperature of 500 °C by controlling the nucleation surface. This was done by predepositing a Cr₂O₃ nucleation layer. Moreover, it was found that an additional requirement for the formation of the <em>α</em> phase is that the depositions are carried out at low enough total pressure and high enough oxygen partial pressure. Based on these observations, it was concluded that energetic bombardment, plausibly originating from energetic oxygen, is necessary for the formation of <em>α</em> alumina (in addition to the effect of the chromia nucleation layer). Further, the effects of impurities, especially residual water, on the growth of crystalline films were investigated by varying the partial pressure of water in the ultra high vacuum (UHV) chamber. Films deposited onto chromia nucleation layers exhibited a columnar structure and consisted of crystalline <em>α</em>-alumina if deposited under UHV conditions. However, as water to a partial pressure of 1x10^-5 Torr was introduced, the columnar growth was interrupted. Instead, a microstructure consisting of small, equiaxed grains was formed, and the gamma-alumina content was found to increase with increasing film thickness. When gamma-alumina was formed under UHV conditions, no effects of residual water on the phase formation was observed. Moreover, the H content was found to be low (< 1 at. %) in all films. Consequently, this shows that effects of residual gases during sputter deposition of oxides can be considerable, also in cases where the impurity incorporation in the films is found to be low.</p><p>In the modeling part of the thesis, density functional theory based computational studies of adsorption of Al, O, AlO, and O2 on different alpha-alumina (0001) surfaces have been performed. The results give possible reasons for the difficulties in growing the <em>α</em> phase at low temperatures through the identification of several metastable adsorption sites, and also provide insights related to the effects of hydrogen on alumina growth.</p> / Report code: LiU-TEK-LIC-2007:1.

Glassy Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) precursors were prepared by different melt-quenching methods to investigate the melt properties of the BSCCO system before the crystallization investigations were started. In order to fabricate superconductors having high critical temperature and current density using the glass-ceramic route, it is necessary to clarify the total chemical composition of the quenched precursor. For the first time the total chemical composition of such precursors has been directly measured by the direct element analysis and correlated with the taken process steps. The results from the element analysis demonstrated significant chemical deviations in composition with respect to the starting composition and strong chemical inhomogeneities of the sample. The crystallization dependence was investigated on numerous parameters for the BSCCO system such as initial composition, atmosphere, Sr:Ca ratio, average valence state of the glassy precursor and the dependence of Bi substitution by Pb. It could be demonstrated that the copper valence dependence on the phase formation and crystallization of the high-TC phase plays an important role in the BSCCO system. It could also be demonstrated that the smallest chemical deviation could strongly influence the phase formation in dependence of melt temperature, influencing not only the average copper valence but also the different cation concentrations. From literature there are barely any results or conclusions drawn of the chemical composition of the quenched glassy precursors that however is critical to control the crystallization behavior and understanding the influences on the superconductive properties as demonstrated in this work. / Amorphe Precursoren von dem Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) System wurden durch verschiedene Methoden des Rascherstarrens hergestellt, um deren Schmelzeigenschaften vor dem Prozess der Kristallisation zu untersuchen. Um Supraleiter mit hoher kritischer Temperatur und Stromdichte mit der glas-keramischen Route anfertigen zu können, ist es notwendig, die chemische Zusammensetzung dieser amorphen Precursoren zu kennen. Erstmalig wurde die totale chemische Zusammensetzung der Precursoren durch die direkte Elementanalytik im Zusammenhang mit den jeweiligen Prozessschritten gemessen. Bei den Probeuntersuchungen zeigten sich wesentliche chemische Abweichungen von der nominalen Zusammensetzung und starke chemische Inhomogenitäten. In Abhängigkeit der Parameter nominale Zusammensetzung, Atmosphäre, Sr:Ca-Verhältnis, mittlerer Kupfervalenzzustand (für die Percursoren) und Bi Substitution mit Pb, ist die Kristallation ermittelt wurden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Kupfervalenzzustand eine wichtige Rolle in dem BSCCO System bei der Kristallisation von der Hoch-TC Phase spielt. Es hat sich auch herausgestellt, dass die kleinste chemische Abweichung stark die Phasenbildung beeinflussen kann. Diese Abweichung ist abhängig von der Schmelztemperatur, welche nicht nur den Kupfervalenzzustand sondern auch die Kationenkonzentrationen beeinflusst. In der Literatur finden sich wenig Veröffentlichungen oder Schlussfolgerungen zu dieser Thematik obwohl es die Kristallisationseigenschaften der Precursoren stark beeinflussen wird, wie es durch die vorliegende Arbeit bestätigt wurde.

Glassy Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) precursors were prepared by different melt-quenching methods to investigate the melt properties of the BSCCO system before the crystallization investigations were started. In order to fabricate superconductors having high critical temperature and current density using the glass-ceramic route, it is necessary to clarify the total chemical composition of the quenched precursor. For the first time the total chemical composition of such precursors has been directly measured by the direct element analysis and correlated with the taken process steps. The results from the element analysis demonstrated significant chemical deviations in composition with respect to the starting composition and strong chemical inhomogeneities of the sample. The crystallization dependence was investigated on numerous parameters for the BSCCO system such as initial composition, atmosphere, Sr:Ca ratio, average valence state of the glassy precursor and the dependence of Bi substitution by Pb. It could be demonstrated that the copper valence dependence on the phase formation and crystallization of the high-TC phase plays an important role in the BSCCO system. It could also be demonstrated that the smallest chemical deviation could strongly influence the phase formation in dependence of melt temperature, influencing not only the average copper valence but also the different cation concentrations. From literature there are barely any results or conclusions drawn of the chemical composition of the quenched glassy precursors that however is critical to control the crystallization behavior and understanding the influences on the superconductive properties as demonstrated in this work. / Amorphe Precursoren von dem Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) System wurden durch verschiedene Methoden des Rascherstarrens hergestellt, um deren Schmelzeigenschaften vor dem Prozess der Kristallisation zu untersuchen. Um Supraleiter mit hoher kritischer Temperatur und Stromdichte mit der glas-keramischen Route anfertigen zu können, ist es notwendig, die chemische Zusammensetzung dieser amorphen Precursoren zu kennen. Erstmalig wurde die totale chemische Zusammensetzung der Precursoren durch die direkte Elementanalytik im Zusammenhang mit den jeweiligen Prozessschritten gemessen. Bei den Probeuntersuchungen zeigten sich wesentliche chemische Abweichungen von der nominalen Zusammensetzung und starke chemische Inhomogenitäten. In Abhängigkeit der Parameter nominale Zusammensetzung, Atmosphäre, Sr:Ca-Verhältnis, mittlerer Kupfervalenzzustand (für die Percursoren) und Bi Substitution mit Pb, ist die Kristallation ermittelt wurden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Kupfervalenzzustand eine wichtige Rolle in dem BSCCO System bei der Kristallisation von der Hoch-TC Phase spielt. Es hat sich auch herausgestellt, dass die kleinste chemische Abweichung stark die Phasenbildung beeinflussen kann. Diese Abweichung ist abhängig von der Schmelztemperatur, welche nicht nur den Kupfervalenzzustand sondern auch die Kationenkonzentrationen beeinflusst. In der Literatur finden sich wenig Veröffentlichungen oder Schlussfolgerungen zu dieser Thematik obwohl es die Kristallisationseigenschaften der Precursoren stark beeinflussen wird, wie es durch die vorliegende Arbeit bestätigt wurde.

Die Motivation zur Untersuchung ternärer und quaternären CuZr-Legierungen bestand in der Annahme, dass die Zugabe von Kobalt den Stabilitätsbereich von B2 CuZr bis zur Raumtemperatur erweitert und Aluminium einen signifikanten Effekt auf die Glasbildungsfähigkeit des CuZr-Systems hat. Die vorliegende Dissertation befasst sich mit der Herstellung und Charakterisierung von Cu50-xCoxZr50 (0 ≤ x ≤ 20) und Cu50-xCoxZr45Al5- (x = 2, 5, 10 und 20) Legierungen. Hierbei wurden die Phasenbildung, die thermische Stabilität, die Mikrostruktur, die Martensitbildung und die mechanischen Eigenschaften der Legierungen untersucht. Die Abhängigkeit der Phasenbildung von der Erstarrungsrate und der thermodynamischen Stabilität von Cu-Co-Zr-Legierungen zeigte, dass die Zugabe von Kobalt die Glasbildungsfähigkeit von Cu-Co-Zr-Legierungen absenkt und die stabilen kristallinen Produkte des Systems von Cu10Zr7 + CuZr2 zu (Cu,Co)Zr Phase mit einer B2 Struktur verändert. Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass bei den schmelzgesponnene Bänder mit wenigstens 5 Atom-% Co das Glas direkt in B2 (Cu,Co)Zr kristallisiert, während Massivproben mit Co-Gehalten zwischen 0 ≤ x < 5 die monokline (Cu,Co)Zr Phase und Cu10Zr7 sowie CuZr2 beinhalten, wobei für x ≥ 10 die B2 (Cu,Co)Zr Phase bei Raumtemperatur im Gleichgewicht ist. Des Weiteren werden mit steigendem Co-Gehalt die Martensitumwandlungstemperaturen zu niedrigeren Werten verschoben. Die Phasenbildung im ternären System wird im pseudo-binären (Cu,Co)Zr-Phasendiagramm zusammengefasst, welches die Entwicklung neuer Formgedächtnislegierungen sowie metallischer Glas-Komposite bei Zugabe des Glasbildungselementes Aluminium vereinfacht. In den Vierstofflegierungen erhöht Al die Glasübergangs- und Kristallisationstemperaturen und verbessert dadurch die Glasbildungsfähigkeit des Systems. Die röntgenographische Analyse zeigte, dass die Kristallisationsprodukte der schmelzgesponnenen Bänder variieren: von Cu10Zr7 + CuZr2 + AlCu2Zr zu (Cu,Co)Zr + AlCu2Zr, wenn Co ≤ 5 und Co ≥ 10. Die Herstellung von Massivproben mit unterschiedlichen Durchmessern führte zu einem vollständig amorphen Gefüge, einem metallischen Glas-Komposit oder einem vollständig kristallinen Gefüge. Für Co ≤ 5 tritt neben (Cu,Co)Zr und AlCu2Zr ebenfalls Cu10Zr7 auf. Mittels Rasterelektronen (REM)- und Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (TEM) erfolgte die Analyse des Einflusses von Al- und Co-Zugaben auf die Mikrostruktur von CuZr-Legierungen. Für die Cu-Co-Zr-Al-Legierungen sowie Cu30Co20Zr45Al5 (ø = 4 mm) und Cu45Co5Zr45Al5 (ø = 2 mm) wurden mikrostrukturelle Untersuchungen mittels TEM durchgeführt. Nachfolgend wurde die Heterogenität der Mikrostruktur in der Cu40Co10Zr45Al5 (ø = 2 mm) untersucht. Der Einfluss von Co auf die mechanischen Eigenschaften von rascherstarrten Cu50-xCoxZr50 (x = 2, 5, 10 und 20 Atom-%) Legierungen zeigt, dass das Verformungsverhalten der Stäbe unter Druckbeanspruchung stark von der Mikrostruktur der (Cu,Co)Zr Phase und somit von der Legierungszusammensetzung abhängt. Kobalt beeinflusst die Bruchfestigkeit der Gussproben. Weiterhin zeigen Proben mit martensitischem Gefüge eine Kaltverfestigung. Neben der Kaltverfestigung zeigen die Legierungen mit hohem Co-Gehalt eine verformungsinduzierte Martensitumwandlung und weisen zwei Streckgrenzen auf. Für die Vierstofflegierungen wurde der Einfluss der Kühlrate und der chemischen Zusammensetzung auf die mechanischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Für Cu48Co2Zr45Al5 (ø = 1.5, 2, 3 und 4 mm) und Cu45Co5Zr45Al5 (ø = 3 mm) wurde der Einfluss der Kühlrate und der Heterogenität diskutiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die mechanischen Eigenschaften der Cu50-xCoxZr45Al5-Legierungen stark von der Makrostruktur und dem Volumenanteil der amorphen und kristallinen Phase abhängen. Die verformungsinduzierte Martensitumwandlung in Cu40Co10Zr50- und Cu40Co10Zr45Al5-Gussstäben wurde mittels hochenergetischer Röntgenstrahlung durchgeführt. Die In-situ- Druckversuche erfolgten weg- und kraftkontrolliert. Das makroskopische und mikroskopische Spannung-Dehnungs-Verhalten sowie die Phasenumwandlungskinetik wurden dabei betrachtet. Die relativen Veränderungen der vollständig integrierten Intensität der ausgewählten B2- und Martensitreflexe, die auf die Veränderungen der Volumenanteile der entsprechenden Phasen unter Verformung hinweisen, wurden als Phasenumwandlungsvolumen M/M+B2 beschrieben. / The fact that the presence of Co extends the stability range of B2 CuZr to room temperature, together with the significant effect of Al on improving the glass forming ability of the CuZr system was the motivation to investigate the ternary and quaternary CuZr alloys with the aim of synthesizing BMG composites containing B2 (Cu,Co)Zr crystals. This PhD thesis deals with preparation and characterization of Cu50-xCoxZr50 (0 ≤ x ≤ 20) and Cu50-xCoxZr45Al5 (x = 2, 5, 10 and 20) alloys. The phase formation, thermal stability, microstructure, martensitic transformation and mechanical properties of these alloys were investigated. The dependence of phase formation on solidification rate and the thermodynamically stability of Cu-Co-Zr alloys reveals that the addition of Co decreases the glass forming ability (GFA) of the Cu-Co-Zr alloys and changes the stable crystalline products of the system from Cu10Zr7 + CuZr2 to (Cu,Co)Zr phase with a B2 structure. The results indicate that for the melt-spun ribbons with at least 5 % Co, the glass crystallizes directly into B2 (Cu,Co)Zr, while in the case of bulk specimens, compositions with 0 ≤ x < 5 of Co contain the monoclinic (Cu,Co)Zr phase and Cu10Zr7 and CuZr2, whereas, for x ≥ 10, the B2 (Cu,Co)Zr phase is the equilibrium phase at room temperature. Furthermore, increasing the cobalt content decreases the martensitic transformation temperatures to lower temperatures. The phase formation in the ternary system is summarized in a pseudo-binary (Cu,Co)Zr phase diagram, that helps for designing new shape memory alloys, as well as bulk metallic glass composites with the addition of glass former elements. In the quaternary alloys, Al increases the glass transition and crystallization temperatures and hence improves the GFA of the system. The X-ray analysis illustrates that for the melt-spun ribbons, the crystallization products vary from Cu10Zr7 + CuZr2 + AlCu2Zr to (Cu,Co)Zr + AlCu2Zr when Co ≤ 5 and Co ≥ 10, respectively. Depending on the cooling rates, the bulk samples represent a fully amorphous structure or BMG composites or a fully crystalline structure. For Co ≤ 5, beside (Cu,Co)Zr and AlCu2Zr, Cu10Zr7 exists as well. Scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy investigations were done to investigate the effect of Al and Co addition to the microstructure of CuZr alloys. In the case of Cu-Co-Zr-Al alloys, Cu30Co20Zr45Al5 (ɸ = 4 mm) and Cu45Co5Zr45Al5 (ɸ = 2 mm) compositions were selected for the microstructure verification using TEM. Later, the heterogeneity of the microstructure in Cu40Co10Zr45Al5 (ɸ = 2 mm) alloy was considered. The effect of Co on the mechanical properties of rapidly solidified Cu50-xCoxZr50 (x = 2, 5, 10 and 20 at.%) alloys depict that the deformation behavior of the rods under compressive loading strongly depends on the microstructure, and as a results, on the alloy composition. Cobalt affects the fracture strength of the as-cast samples; and deformation is accompanied with two yield stresses for high Co-content alloys, which undergo deformation-induced martensitic transformation. Instead samples with a martensitic structure show a work-hardening behavior. For quaternary alloys, the effects of cooling rate and chemical composition on mechanical properties of the alloys were investigated. Cu48Co2Zr45Al5 (ɸ= 1.5, 2, 3 and 4 mm) and Cu45Co5Zr45Al5 (ɸ = 3 mm) compositions were selected to discuss the effect of cooling rate and heterogeneity, respectively. The results depict that the mechanical properties of Cu50-xCoxZr45Al5 alloys strongly depend on the microstructure and the volume fraction of the amorphous and crystalline phases. The deformation-induced martensitic transformation of Cu40Co10Zr50 and Cu40Co10Zr45Al5 as-cast rods, was studied by means of high-energy X-rays. The in situ compression measurements were performed in track control and load control modes. The macroscopic and microscopic stress-strain behavior, as well as the phase transformation kinetics were considered. The relative changes in the fully integrated intensity of the selected B2 and martensite peaks, which indicate the changes in volume fraction of the corresponding phases under deformation, was described as phase transformation volume, M/M+B2.

<p>Mixing excipients is a common way to produce pharmaceutical materials with suitable properties for drug formulation. An understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in the formation and transformation of the structures of solid state mixtures is crucial if one is to be able to produce materials with the desired properties in a reliable way. </p><p>In the first part of the thesis, the atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique was used to visualise the re-crystallisation of spray-dried amorphous particles comprised of lactose and PVP. The transformation was quantified on a single particle level and analysed with a common kinetic model, the JMAK-equation. The way in which the PVP was incorporated into the particles and the impact this had on their physical stability on exposure to increasing levels of humidity was investigated. The amount and, to a certain extent, the molecular weight of the PVP affected the moisture induced crystallisation of the particles. The inhibition was further discussed in terms of nucleation and growth. </p><p>In the second part of the thesis, the formation of phases in solid dispersions of monoolein (MO) in PEGs was studied by the use of SAXS and DSC. Upon solidification of a melt, the components phase separated, resulting in a PEG-rich phase and an MO phase. MO was intercalated into the amorphous domains of the lamellar structure of PEG. A second MO phase appeared in the mixtures where the average molecular weight of PEG was 1500 and 4000 g/mol. It was hypothesised that this second phase was formed in conjunction with the expulsion of MO as the PEG unfolded. </p><p>This thesis describes the application of two relatively unexplored solid state techniques on two different solid mixtures of pharmaceutical interest and, in so doing, contributes to the knowledge of phase formation and transformations in the solid state.</p>