The goal of this dissertation is to develop a model relating LENSâ„¢ process parameters to deposited thickness, incorporating the effect of substrate heating. A design review was carried out, adapting the technique of functional decomposition borrowed from axiomatic design. The review revealed that coupling between the laser path and laser power caused substrate heating. The material delivery mechanism was modeled and verified using experimental data. It was used in the derivation of the average deposition model which predicted deposition based on build parameters, but did not incorporate substrate heating. The average deposition model appeared capable of predicting deposited thickness for single line, 1- layer and 2-layer builds, performing best for the 1- layer builds which were built under essentially isothermal conditions. This model was extended to incorporate the effect of substrate heating, estimated using an energy partition approach. The energy used for substrate heating was modeled as a series of timed heating events from an instantaneous point heat source along the path of the laser. The result was called the spatial deposition model, and was verified using the same set of experimental data. The model appeared capable of predicting deposited thickness for single line, 1- layer and 2- layer builds and was able to predict the characteristic temperature rise near the borders as the laser reversed direction.

The layered iridates such as Sr2IrO4 and Sr3Ir2O7, have attracted substantial attention due to their novel electronic states originating from strong spin-orbit coupling and electron-correlation. Recent studies have revealed the possibilities of novel phases such as topological insulators, Weyl semimetals, and even a potential high-Tc superconducting state with a d-wave gap. However, there are still controversial issues regarding the fundamental electronic structure of these systems: the origin of the insulating gap is disputed as arising either from an antiferromagnetic ordering, i.e. Slater scheme or electron-correlation, i.e. Mott scheme. Moreover, it is a formidable task to unveil the physics of layered iridates due to the limited number of available materials for experimental characterizations. One way to overcome this limit and extend our investigation of the layered iridates is using metastable materials. These materials which are far from their equilibrium state, often have mechanical, electronic, and magnetic properties that different from their thermodynamically stable phases. However, these materials cannot be synthesized using thermodynamic equilibrium processes. One way to synthesize these materials is by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). PLD is able to generate nonequilibrium material phases through the use of substrate strain and deposition conditions. Using this method, we have synthesized several thermodynamically metastable iridate thin-films and have investigated their electronic and optical properties. Synthesizing and investigating metastable iridates opens a path to expand the tunability further than the ability of the bulk methods. This thesis consists of four studies on metastable layered iridate thin film systems. In the first study, three-dimensional Mott variable-range hopping transport with decreased characteristic temperatures under lattice strain or isovalent doping has been observed in Sr2IrO4 thin films. Application of lattice strain or isovalent doping exerts metastable chemical pressure in the compounds, which changes both the bandwidth and electronic hopping. The variation of the characteristic temperature under lattice strain or isovalent doping implies that the density of states near the Fermi energy is reconstructed. The increased density of states in the Sr2IrO4 thin films with strain and isovalent doping could facilitate a condition to induce unprecedented electronic properties, opening a way for electronic device applications. In the second study, the effects of tuning the bandwidth via chemical pressure (i.e., Ca and Ba doping) on the optical properties of Sr2IrO4 epitaxial thin films has been investigated. Substitution of Sr by Ca and Ba ions exerts metastable chemical pressure in the system, which changes both the bandwidth and electronic hopping. The optical conductivity results of these thin films suggest that the two-peak-like optical conductivity spectra of the layered iridates originates from the overlap between the optically-forbidden spin-orbit exciton and the inter-site optical transitions within the Jeff = ½ band, which is consistent with the results obtained from a multi-orbital Hubbard model calculation. In the third study, thermodynamically metastable Ca2IrO4 thin- films have been synthesized. Since the perovskite structure of Ca2IrO4 is not thermodynamically stable, its bulk crystals do not exist in nature. We have synthesized the layered perovskite phase Ca2IrO4 thin- films from a polycrystalline hexagonal bulk crystal using an epitaxial stabilization technique. The smaller A-site in this compound compared to Sr2IrO4 and Ba2IrO4, increases the octahedral rotation and tilting, which enhance electron-correlation. The enhanced electron-correlation is consistent with the observation of increased gap energy in this compound. This study suggest that the epitaxial stabilization of metastable-phase thin-films can be used effectively for investigating complex-oxide systems. Finally, structural, transport, and optical properties of tensile strained (Sr1-xLax)3Ir2O7 (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05) thin-films have been investigated. While high-Tc superconductivity is predicted in the system, all of the samples are insulating. The insulating behavior of the La-doped Sr3Ir2O7 thin-films is presumably due to disorder-induced localization and ineffective electron-doping of La, which brings to light the intriguing difference between epitaxial thin films and bulk single crystals of the iridates. These studies thoroughly investigate a wide array of novel electronic and optical phenomena via tuning the relative strengths of electron correlation, electronic bandwidth, and spin-orbit coupling using perturbations such as chemical doping, and the stabilization of metastable phases in the layered iridates.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Feb. 3, 2010). Additional advisors: Derrick R. Dean, Sergey B. Mirov, Sergey Vyazovkin, Mary Ellen Zvanut. Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-145).

<p>An explosion in the growth of organic materials used for optoelectronic devices is linked to the promise that they have demonstrated in several ways: workable carrier mobilities, ease of processing, design flexibility to tailor their optical and electrical characteristics, structural flexibility, and fabrication scalability. However, challenges remain before they are ready for prime time. Deposition of these materials into ordered thin films requires that they be cast from solutions of organic solvents. Drawbacks of solution-casting include the difficulty of producing layered films without utilizing orthogonal solvents (or even with orthogonal solvents), the difficulty in controlling domain sizes in films of mixed materials, and the lack of parameter options used to control the final properties of thin films. Emulsion-based, resonant infrared, matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) is a thin film deposition technique that is demonstrated to provide solutions to these problems.</p><p>This work presents fundamental research into the RIR-MAPLE process. An investigation of the molecular weight of deposited materials demonstrates that emulsion-based RIR-MAPLE is capable of depositing polymers with their native molecular weights intact, unlike other laser deposition techniques. The ability to deposit multilayer films with clearly defined interfaces is also demonstrated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy imaging of a layered polymer/quantum dot nanocomposite film. In addition, trade-offs related to the presence of surfactant in the target, required to stabilize the emulsion, are articulated and investigated by x-ray diffraction, electrical, optical, and surface characterization techniques. These studies show that, generally speaking, the structural, optical and electrical properties are not significantly affected by the affected by the presence of surfactant, provided that the concentration within the target is sufficiently low. Importantly, the in-plane mobility of RIR-MAPLE devices, determined by organic field effect transistor (OFET) characterization, rivals that of spin-cast devices produced under similar conditions. </p><p>This work also presents results of emulsion-based RIR-MAPLE deposition applied to optical coatings (gradient-refractive index antireflection coating based on porous, multilayer films) and optoelectronic devices (organic photovoltaics based on the polymer, P3HT, and small molecule, PC61BM, bulk heterojunction system). The optical coating demonstrates that RIR-MAPLE is capable of producing nanoscale domain sizes in mixed polymer blends that allow a film to function as an effective medium relevant to devices in the visible spectrum. Moreover, bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices that require nanoscale domains to function effectively are achieved by co-deposition of P3HT and PC61BM, achieving a power conversion efficiency of 1.0%, which is a record for MAPLE-deposited devices. </p><p>Results of these studies illuminate unique capabilities of the RIR-MAPLE process. Multilayer films are readily fabricated to create true bilayer OPV structures. Additionally, true gradient thin films are created by varying the ratio of two materials, including two-polymer films and a film consisting of a polymer and a small molecule, over the course of a single deposition.</p> / Dissertation

Les films minces luminescents dopés terres rares offrent des propriétés intéressantes pour la conversion spectrale UV-bleu, en particulier pour une meilleure adaptation du spectre solaire aux cellules solaires en silicium. Deux matériaux luminophores ont été étudiés dans cette thèse : Y2O3 dope Eu3+ et CaYAlO4 codopé Ce3+, Pr3+. L'utilisation de ces luminophores pour les applications sous forme de films minces est limitée car ils possèdent un faible coefficient d'absorption. Deux pistes ont été examinées pendant cette thèse pour pallier ce problème : (i) l'effet plasmonique a été étudié en réalisant des films avec une architecture multicouche couplant les films luminophores et des nanostructures métalliques d'aluminium et d'argent qui possèdent une résonnance plasmon dans la gamme UV et bleu respectivement ; (ii) l'effet photonique a été évalué en réalisant une structuration du film luminophore via une croissance sur des membranes macro-poreuses. La méthode de synthèse choisie est le dépôt par ablation laser pulsé / Rare earth luminescent thin film offers attractive properties for down shifting application, particularly for a better adaptation of the solar spectrum to silicon solar cells. In this thesis, we studied two phosphor materials : Y2O3 doped Eu3+ and CaYAlO4 codoped Ce3+, Pr3+. One issue identified for the use of these phosphors as thin films is their low absorption coefficient. We examined two tracks during this thesis to meet these needs : (i) the plasmonic effect was studied by making films with a multilayer architecture coupling the phosphor films and aluminium or silver metallic nanostructures which have a plasmon resonance in the UV range and blue respectively ; (ii) the photonic effect was evaluated by structuring the phosphor layer by self-organization growth on macroporous membranes. We did the syntheses by pulsed laser deposition

Cette thèse présente l'élaboration et l'étude de nanofils ferromagnétiques de cobalt, nickel et d'alliages cobalt-nickel épitaxiés en matrice de titanate de strontium et de baryum. Les fils sont élaborés par auto-assemblage lors de dépôts séquentiels par ablation laser pulsé. Tout d'abord, les paramètres de croissance permettant de contrôler le diamètre des fils et leur densité sont mis en évidence en modélisant la croissance de l'hétéro-structure par simulations Monte-Carlo cinétique. Ensuite, on montre que les fils sont dilatés axialement et relaxés radialement. L'origine de l'état dilaté est expliquée en adaptant le modèle de Frenkel-Kontorova à notre situation et les inhomogénéités de déformation des nanofils sont décrites en analysant des cartographies de l'espace réciproque. La dilatation crée une anisotropie magnétique, par couplage magnéto-élastique, qui, dans le cas du nickel, peut compenser l'anisotropie de forme des fils. Enfin, pour des fils de Co0.4Ni0.6 de diamètre supérieur à quatre nanomètres, la température de blocage de l'assemblée de fils est supérieure à la température ambiante et la barrière d'énergie du renversement magnétique est de l'ordre d'un électronvolt, ce qui est intéressant pour d'éventuelles applications, par exemple en enregistrement de données. / In this PhD thesis, we study the growth and the properties of ferromagnetic nanowires made of cobalt, nickel and cobalt-nickel, embedded in a matrix made of of strontium and baryum titanate. The nanowires are grown taking advantage of self-assembly processes occurring during sequential pulsed laser deposition. First, we model the growth with a kinetic Monte-Carlo code to highlight the parameters that control the diameter and the density of the nanowires. Then, it is shown that the nanowires are strained along their axis, and relaxed perpendicular to it. The origin of the strained state is explained in the framework of the Frenkel-Kontorova model, and its inhomogeneities are described through analysis of mappings of the reciprocal space. Furthermore, it is shown that the strain is high enough to shift the magnetic easy axis of the nickel nanowires, through magneto-elastic coupling. Finally, for Co0.4Ni0.6 nanowires with a diameter greater than four nanometers, the blocking temperature of the assembly is above room temperature and the energy barrier for the magnetic reversal of the nanowires is of the order of one electronvolt. This is interesting for potential applications in data storage, for example.

This thesis deals with the synthesis and characterization of Ge-Te-Sb (GST) thin films. The films were deposited using a Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) method and mainly characterized with XRD, SEM, AFM and TEM. For amorphous and polycrystalline films, un-etched Si(100) was used. The amorphous films showed a similar crystallization behavior as films deposited with sputtering and evaporation techniques. When depositing GST on un-etched Si(100) substrates at elevated substrate temperatures (130-240°C), polycrystalline but highly textured films were obtained. The preferred growth orientation was either GST(111) or GST(0001) depending on if the films were cubic or hexagonal. Epitaxial films were prepared on crystalline substrates. On KCl(100), a mixed growth of hexagonal GST(0001) and cubic GST(100) was observed. The hexagonal phase dominates at low temperatures whereas the cubic phase dominates at high temperatures. The cubic phase is accompanied with a presumed GST(221) orientation when the film thickness exceeds ~70 nm. Epitaxial films were obtained with deposition rates as high as 250 nm/min. On BaF2(111), only (0001) oriented epitaxial hexagonal GST films are found, independent of substrate temperature, frequency or deposition background pressure. At high substrate temperatures there is a loss of Ge and Te which shifts the crystalline phase from Ge2Sb2Te5 towards GeSb2Te4. GST films deposited at room temperature on BaF2(111) were in an amorphous state, but after exposure to an annealing treatment they crystallize in an epitaxial cubic structure. Film deposition on pre-cleaned and buffered ammonium fluoride etched Si(111) show growth of epitaxial hexagonal GST, similar to that of the deposition on BaF2(111). When the Si-substrates were heated directly to the deposition temperature films of high crystal-line quality were obtained. An additional heat treatment of the Si-substrates prior to deposition deteriorated the crystal quality severely. The gained results show that PLD can be used as a method in order to obtain high quality epitaxial Ge-Sb-Te films from a compound target and using high deposition rates.

UV and deep-UV selective photodiodes from visible-blind to solar-blind were realized based on a Si-doped (InxGa1–x)2O3 thin film with a monotonic lateral variation of 0.0035<x<0.83. Such layer was deposited by employing a continuous composition spread approach relying on the ablation of a single segmented target in pulsed-laser deposition. The photo response signal is provided from a metal-semiconductor-metal structure upon backside illumination. The absorption onset was tuned from 4.83 to 3.22 eV for increasing x. Higher responsivities were observed for photodiodes fabricated from indium-rich part of the sample, for which an internal gain mechanism could be identified. VC 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

In recent years, ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors have increasingly moved into scientific focus due to their outstanding material properties, making them promising candidates for future applications within high-power electronics or solar-blind photo detectors. The group-III-sesquioxides can appear in various polymorphs, which influences, for instance, the energy of the optical bandgap. In gallium oxide, the optical bandgap ranges between 4.6 and 5.3 eV depending on the polymorph. For each polymorph it can be increased or decreased by alloying with aluminum oxide (8.8 eV) or indium oxide (2.7–3.75 eV), respectively, enabling bandgap engineering and thus leading to an extended application field. For this purpose, an overview of miscibility limits, the variation of bandgap and lattice constants as a function of the alloy composition are reviewed for the rhombohedral, monoclinic, orthorhombic and cubic polymorph. Further, the effect of formation and desorption of volatile suboxides on growth rates is described with respect to chemical trends of the discussed ternary materials.

In dieser Arbeit werden das Wachstum und die Charakterisierung der Heterostruktur eines FeFET auf der Grundlage von BaSnO3, LaInO3 und (K,Na)NbO3 Schichten untersucht. Für jedes Material wurden die Wachstumsbedingungen bestimmt und im Hinblick auf die strukturellen und elektrischen Eigenschaften optimiert. Epitaktische BaSnO3 Filme, die auf SrTiO3 Substraten gewachsen sind, weisen eine hohe Dichte an Versetzungen auf, die ihre elektrischen Eigenschaften beeinträchtigen. Die Verwendung von NdScO3 Substraten und Einführung einer SrSnO3 Pufferschicht verbesserten die strukturellen und elektrischen Eigenschaften der BaSnO3 Schichten. Dies ermöglichte schließlich Untersuchungen an der LaInO3/BaSnO3 Grenzfläche. Schon eine geringe La-Dotierung der BaSnO3 Schicht von 0,3 % führte zur Bildung eines 2DEG nach der Grenzflächenbildung und damit zum Einschluss von Elektronen an der Grenzfläche. Dies konnte durch C-V, Van-der-Pauw und Hall-Effekt-Messungen eindeutig nachgewiesen werden. Eine deutliche Verbesserung der strukturellen und elektrischen Eigenschaften der BaSnO3 Schichten wurde durch die Verwendung von LaInO3:Ba Substraten erreicht. Diese sind gitterangepasst an BaSnO3, sodass zum ersten Mal vollständig verspannte Schichten ohne Versetzungen gewachsen werden konnten. Strukturelle und elektrische Eigenschaften von (K,Na)NbO3 Schichten wurden auf SrRuO3/DyScO3 und SrTiO3:Nb-Substraten untersucht. Auf diese Weise wurden der Einfluss der Gitterdehnung auf die kritische Schichtdicke und die Prozesse der plastischen Relaxation des Gitters bestimmt. Die elektrische Charakterisierung ergab einen hohen Leckstrom, der durch strukturelle Defekte verursacht wird. Die gesamte FeFET Heterostruktur wurde auf LaInO3:Ba Substraten gewachsen und untersucht. BaSnO3 und LaInO3 Schichten wuchsen kohärent, während (K,Na)NbO3 Schichten eine plastische Gitterrelaxation aufwiesen. Das führte zur Bildung von Strukturdefekten und zu einer Verschlechterung der ferroelektrischen Eigenschaften. / In this thesis, the design, growth and characterisation of the heterostructure of a FeFET based on BaSnO3, LaInO3 and (K,Na)NbO3 thin films are investigated. For each material, the growth conditions were determined and optimised with respect to their structural and electrical properties. Epitaxial BaSnO3 thin films grown on SrTiO3 substrates exhibit a high density of threading dislocations, which degrade their electrical properties. The use of NdScO3 substrates and the introduction of a SrSnO3 buffer layer improved the structural and electrical properties of the BaSnO3 thin films. This finally allowed investigations on the LaInO3/BaSnO3 heterointerface. Even a low La doping of the BaSnO3 layer of 0.3 % led to the formation of a 2DEG after interface formation and thus to the confinement of electrons at the interface. This could be clearly demonstrated by C-V, Van-der-Pauw and Hall effect measurements. A significant improvement of the structural and electrical properties of the BaSnO3 thin films was achieved by using LaInO3:Ba substrates. These are lattice-matched to BaSnO3 so that, for the first time, fully strained thin films could be grown without dislocations. Structural and electrical properties of (K,Na)NbO3 thin films were investigated on SrRuO3/DyScO3 and SrTiO3:Nb substrates. In this way, the influence of lattice strain on the critical film thickness and plastic lattice relaxation were determined. Their electrical characterisation revealed a high leakage current caused by structural defects. Therefore, the entire FeFET heterostructure was grown and investigated on LaInO3:Ba substrates. The BaSnO3 and LaInO3 thin films were grown coherently, while the (K,Na)NbO3 thin films exhibited plastic lattice relaxation. This led to the formation of structural defects and consequently to a deterioration of their ferroelectric properties.