The plasmonic properties of silver-based alloy thin films were studied. Silver-ytterbium (Ag-Yb) and silver-magnesium (Ag-Mg) prepared by thermal co-evaporation were investigated extensively for various thin film properties. The optical properties were intensively analyzed and discussed because the dielectric response of a material is particularly significant in terms of its plasmonic properties. The study of silver-based alloy thin films has been mostly about Ag alloying with other transition metals, but the results of Ag-Yb and Ag-Mg in this work showed that the intensity of plasma resonance is tunable, in which the idea may also apply to other silver-rich binary alloy thin films regardless of the kind of second metal components. In our research, the Ag plasma resonance was weakened with respect to the concentration of Yb and Mg in the alloy thin films. The change in the optical characteristics around Ag plasma resonance frequency was attributed to an increase in “resonance damping. This is confirmed from modeling using classical free-electron theory. The increase in the damping was experimentally corroborated by the concentration dependence of electrical conductivity and estimated average crystallite size of Ag-Yb and Ag-Mg thin films. The reduction in electrical conductivity was not only caused by introducing less conductive Yb or Mg but also through disturbing the Ag lattice structure to promote additional electron scattering at grain boundaries. The Ag-Yb and Ag-Mg alloys carried intermediate properties between their pure components despite the presence of Yb or Mg oxides. Besides optical and electrical properties, changes in the electronic work function were also assessed since it is also important in applications. Plasmonic nanostructures and transparent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated to demonstrate their potential applications. Two-dimensional disc-arrays nanostructures composed of pure Ag and Ag-Yb were implemented to evaluate the plasmonic properties. The damping loss in Ag-Yb caused weakened coupling of incident photons and surface plasmons when compared to pure Ag without altering the coupling wavelengths, suggesting potential plasmonic materials for tuning the coupling strength of surface plasmons by controlling the concentration of Yb which may also apply to Ag-Mg. Ultrathin Ag-Yb and Ag-Mg films were used as cathodes in transparent OLEDs for demonstration, which was beneficial by virtue of overall device transmittance though sacrificing electrical conduction leading to poor light emission unless inserting additional ultrathin lithium fluoride to modify the ultrathin cathodes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Dr. C. P. Wong; Committee Member: Dr. Boris Mizaikoff; Committee Member: Dr. Rigoberto Hernandez; Committee Member: Dr. Z. John Zhang; Committee Member: Dr. Z.L. Wang.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Multidisciplinary Program in Materials Science and Engineering, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

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Energy efficient purification of hydrogen is an important technological challenge with broad applications in the chemical, petrochemical, metallurgical, pharmaceutical, textile and energy industries. Palladium-alloy membranes are particularly suited to this problem due to their high hydrogen permeability, thermal stability, and virtually infinite selectivity. In current systems hydrogen flux is observed to be inversely proportional to membrane thickness which is indicative of the interstitial diffusion mechanism of hydrogen permeation. This observation, along with the high cost of palladium, has motivated continuous efforts to decrease membrane thickness. Theoretical modeling of membrane performance predicts that as membrane thickness continues to decrease, eventually the permeation rate will no longer be limited by diffusion through the bulk Pd but will become limited by desorption from the permeate surface. If it exists, this is a vital transition to pinpoint due to the fact that below this thickness membrane operating conditions will have a drastically different effect on hydrogen permeation behavior and no additional performance enhancements will result from further decreasing thickness. A handful of experimental results in the open literature contradict these modeling predictions. A new model is developed in this work to explain these contradictions by considering the non-ideal behavior of hydrogen solution into metals which has been neglected in previous models. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that hydrogen permeation through bulk Pd depends on membrane microstructure, making deposition conditions and post-deposition thermal treatment important issues for repeatable performance. The interplay of these issues on the performance of ultra-thin, Pd-Ag alloy hydrogen separating membranes is experimentally investigated. It is demonstrated that the hydrogen permeation behavior of sub-micrometer thick Pd-Ag alloy membranes exhibits diffusion-limited behavior in the context of the new model. The microstructure evolution during annealing is characterized and a correlation is drawn with the observed transient hydrogen permeation behavior during initial testing of a new membrane. In addition, two distinct failure modes of the microfabricated membranes are observed and the implications for future Pd-based membrane research are discussed.

No description available.

This study investigates the reliability of SnPb and SnAg solder joints in semiconductor packages subjected to thermal cycling. More specifically, solder joint crack growth and life are experimentally measured, and FEM models are run to explain the test results. Ultimately a life-prediction model is proposed for both SnPb and SnAg solder joint packages. Motorola 357-plastic ball grid array packages on printed wiring boards were thermal cycled with the following test parameters: SnPb and SnAg solders, three post-process conditions (aged, aircooled and quenched), four package layouts on the printed circuit boards (singledense, single-sparse, double-alternating, and double-dense), three accelerated thermal cycling protocols (0°C to 100°C, -40°C to 125°C, and -55°C to 125°C), and tests run at Motorola and the University of Texas. At predetermined thermal cycles, packages were removed from the environmental chambers, dyepenetrated, packages removed to expose the solder joints, and optical images taken. Images were processed to measure crack area, shape, orientation and length to show crack growth. Selected joints were sectioned and polished to investigate microstructure and failure modes. Selected boards were connected to an ANATECH event detector to monitor life from joint failures. FEM crack initiation and propagation models were developed to better understand failure mechanisms. Major experimental results are: 1) SnPb joints have about 50% faster crack growth rates than SnAg joints, subsequently SnPb joints have half the life of SnAg joints, 2) air-cooled and quenched packages had similar failure characteristics, but aged SnPb joints had lower life and aged SnAg joints had significantly longer life than the comparable nonaged joints, 3) double-dense package layout significantly decreased life (by 75%) over the other package layouts, which were similar to each other, 4) the test results at the two locations (UT and Motorola) were similar for SnPb solder joints, but significantly different for SnAg solder joints, and 5) the largest cracks occurred at the corners of joints just under the die edge. Major FEM simulation results are: 1) the crack initiation life of SnAg joints is approximately 100% longer than SnPb joints, 2) shear load is a major cause of crack growth, but the contribution of tensile load increases as the cracks grow, 3) primary cracks at the board interface appear to reduce the propagation rate of the primary crack on the package interface, 4) secondary cracks are suppressed when compressive stresses prevent voids from nucleating, 5) the double-dense configuration shows no PWB warping due to symmetry, and its stresses are larger than for the other package layouts, and (6) the stresses and strains for single-dense, single-sparse, and double-alternating package layouts are similar because the stresses/strains are dominated by local effects due to the CTE mismatch between the die and board. Based upon the experimental results and FEM simulations, a lifeprediction model based upon a severity metric was proposed. The metric estimates damage to the solder joints and links material properties and parameters associated with package layout and thermal test conditions to the time-dependent creep, time-independent plastic deformation, and a time-dependent and geometric effective stress of the solder. The severity metric predicted life very well for most of the data tested and was more accurate than the industry-standard life-prediction models for SnPb solder joints.