Diploma thesis deals with preparation of multilayered organic-inorganic nanostructures via PECVD technology and analysis of optical properties of these layers by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The theoretical part handles the definition of thin layers, layered and gradient nanostructures, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and principles of spectroscopic ellipsometry. In the experimental part, used materials and chemicals are described, afterwards follow a complete description of the apparatus used for sample preparation and a description of the sample preparation procedure. The results part consists of methodology of preparing material models necessary for ellipsometric measurements and evaluation of optical properties of deposited nanolayers.

Práca sa zaoberá spojeniami medzi štatistickou fyzikou a strojovým učením s dôrazom na základné princípy a ich dôsledky. Ďalej sa venuje obecným vlastnostiam spektroskopických dát a ich zohľadnení pri pokročilom spracovaní dát. Začiatok práce je venovaný odvodeniu partičnej sumy štatistického systému a štúdiu Isingovho modelu pomocou "mean field" prístupu. Následne, popri základnom úvode do strojového učenia, je ukázaná ekvivalencia medzi Isingovým modelom a Hopfieldovou sieťou - modelom strojového učenia. Na konci teoretickej časti je z Hopfieldovej siete odvodený model Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM). Vhodnosť použitia RBM na spracovanie spektroskopických dát je diskutovaná a preukázaná na znížení dimenzie týchto dát. Výsledky sú porovnané s bežne používanou Metódou Hlavných Komponent (PCA), spolu so zhodnotením prístupu a možnosťami ďalšieho zlepšovania.

This thesis contains glossary topic of spectroscopic measurement methods in broad bands of frequency. There is designed experimental measurement method for simple samples and biological samples measurements for noise spectroscopy in frequency range of 0,1 – 6 GHz, using broadband noise generator. There is realized the workplace and the measurement method is verified by measuring on selected samples. Measurements a displayed and analyzed.

Theoretical part of this master thesis was focused on literature recherché dealing with the formation of thin films, plasma, plasma analyses using mass spectrometry and plasma polymerization. Further, this section describes the analysis of thin films using optical methods such as spectroscopic ellipsometry and FT-IR spectrometry. Experimental part describes the materials which are used for the preparation of thin films as well as a description of the equipment for preparation of thin films using a technology of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD). Control of deposition conditions and monitoring of plasma with its products result in high reproducibility of thin films. The last part of the thesis describes the results of measurement of the first group of samples and their ellipsometric, mass spectrometry and FT-IR evaluation with respect to the deposition conditions.

Diploma thesis deals with ageing process of thin films of Co and Cu on Si substrate, prepared by the IBAD method. The process of film ageing, which depends on time of exposition to the atmosphere at room conditions, was investigated with spectroscopic ellipsometry (VIS+UV) and atomic force microscopy. In case of thin Co films, approximately four days long incubation period was observed. During this time period, a change in the optical parameters of the film occurs without a measurable change of the film topography. Using non-contact atomic force microscopy, a growth of the transitional film in the island growth regime was observed. During the ageing of thin Cu films, two stages of growth of the transitional layer were observed - nucleation stage and growth stage. Both of these time periods of the transitional layer growth show direct logarithmic dependence. Using non-contact atomic force microscopy, the growth of the transitional film was observed. Using atomic force microscopy in non-contact regime, time dependent measurement was done and the process of forming of one monolayer of the transitional layer was documented. Within the diploma thesis, a series of experiments on ultra high vacuum system were performed in order to investigate phase transformation of thin Fe films (22 monolayers) on Cu(100) stabilized by CO absorption. The transformation from fcc phase to bcc phase was induced by Ar+ ion beam bombardment with the ion energy in the range (0.5-4) keV. The process of phase transformation was observed by surface magneto-optic Kerr effect, Auger electron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction.

This thesis deals with guided self-assembly of gold nanoparticles from their colloidal solutions onto silicon substrates and possible employment of nanoparticles for detection of biomolecules. It was found that by adjustment of solution pH and surface chemistry modification by means of electron beam irradiation it is possible to facilitate nanoparticle deposition to patterns with almost single particle precision. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was then employed in analysis of self-assembled layers of nanoparticles and its combination with a theory of effective medium approximation has proven the ability to assess nanoparticle dimensions and volume fractions. By experiments with thiolated oligonucleotides it has been shown that using ellipsometry one can detect even with very subtle changes in nanoparticle environment caused by biomolecules, thus promising its possible use in the field of biodetection.

Antioxidant properties and some other characteristics of selected organic and conventional products (wine, spelt flours) were evaluated in view of their potential utilization as markers suitable for food unambiguous differentiation according to the affiliation to production system. Beside these, study of fruit juices stability during storage in dependence on different technological procedures of juice processing was performed. In both cases, combination of dominantly EPR and UV/VIS spectroscopy but also other methods (e.g., HPLC, AAS, electrophoresis) was applied to evaluate the stability and antioxidant properties of selected samples. Statistical methods, especially methods of multivariate statistics were used to assess the influence of production and technological-processing operations on antioxidant status of foods and their selected characteristics. Qualitative analysis of Slovak and foreign organic and conventional wines proved that their antioxidant properties are influenced by production system, vintage and variety. On the basis of statistical analysis, descriptors of AAE, kTEMPOL and %RS were selected as the most powerful markers for Slovak organic and conventional wines discrimination. The discrimination of white and red organic and conventional wines possessed 100% and 95.2% correctness, respectively. High correctness of differentiation of Slovak and foreign wines was also achieved. Monitored descriptors of antioxidant activity of spelt flours varied in dependence on season, origin, variety, production system and depend also on way of spelt treatment, although this effect is not so significant. It was also confirmed that the type of extraction agent substantially affects the composition of extracts including polyphenols and flavonoids concentration, affecting thus also their antioxidant activity. Mixture of 50% ethanol/water was selected as the most promising extraction system. Although the results of individual spectroscopic assays revealed high variability and often ambiguous trends, the differences found were sufficient for successful differentiation of both wines and spelt flour samples according to the selected criteria by multivariate statistical processing of the data. Influence of changes in technological procedures of fruit juice processing (nitrogen atmosphere application, utilization of caps with oxygen scavengers) on radical-scavenging properties of 100% pineapples juices with pieces of pineapple and 100% orange juices with pulp was assessed as well. Results obtained proved that antioxidant activity of juices varied in dependence on storage conditions (temperature, storage time, light exposure) and depends also on origin, variety and quality of fruit used. However, the application of nitrogen atmosphere and active packaging materials is not sufficient enough to eliminate the oxidation reactions in juices, but changes in antioxidant activity are better predictable. It can be concluded that EPR spectroscopy could be effectively applied for wines and spelt flours differentiation according to the way of production and to assess the stability of food products, either alone or in combination of UV/VIS spectroscopy and the other methods, utilizing multivariate statistics for processing of experimental data.

Modification of interfaces in nanostructures can significantly influence their overall properties. Magneto-optical spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry are ideal for studying these phenomena thanks to their in-depth sensitivity and contactless measurements. Two methods of nonreversible modification of magnetic properties, especially the magnetic anisotropy, are investigated. The measured spectral dependence of magneto-optical Kerr effect is compared to a theoretical calculation in order to determine the profile of the samples for different levels and methods of modification. In addition to this, ellipsometric measurements are performed on a device whose optical properties change by voltage application.

The dissertation work focuses on the whole route of material development starting from the investigations of properties of the initial (raw) HBPs to their applications. Each research step is given in a separate chapter to enhance attention to various aspects of the aim of the work. Thus, every chapter is started with an introduction. After that, the methods applied and experimental procedure are described. Next part tries to give the comprehensive description of the results obtained. At the end of the chapter, the main points are summarized. The Chapter 1 gives the theoretical description of the main experimental techniques used in this work. In Chapter 2 the chemical (chemical composition, purity, typical structure elements) and physical (glass transition temperature, the temperature of the maximum decomposition, the thermal stability at the high temperatures, molar mass, polydispersity and possible aggregation in solution) properties examined by different techniques of polymer analysis are described. The Chapter 3 is divided into three separate parts: In Chapter 3.1 the description of the formation and modification of inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds of hydroxyl terminated HBP is presented to reveal the information of hydroxyl groups re- and/or association due to the high temperatures applied. In Chapter 3.2 the nature of the solid-liquid interface of HBP thin films have been studied by different surface sensitive techniques with respect to further protein adsorption investigations. In Chapter 3.3 the strategy for the fabrication of surface attached carboxyl terminated HBP using "grafting to" technique is developed. The Chapter 4 consists of two parts: The first (theoretic) part outlines the basic principles of protein chemistry, factors influencing on the protein molecule stability in aqueous medium, the mechanism of protein adsorption and forces involved in the adsorption process. In the second part the combination of different in situ techniques was applied to obtain a comprehensive description of complex adsorption processes of protein molecules on different polymer surfaces.

La recherche sur le photovoltaïque vise à réduire le prix par watt de puissance électrique générée. Des efforts considérables sont menés pour rechercher de nouveaux matériaux et des conceptions qui repoussent les limites des cellules solaires existantes. Le développement récent de matériaux et nanostructures complexes pour les cellules solaires nécessite des efforts plus importants pour mener à bien leur caractérisation et leur modélisation. Cette thèse porte sur la caractérisation optique, la modélisation et l'optimisation de la conception d'architectures de cellules solaires de pointe.Les mesures optiques sont utilisées pour la caractérisation rapide et non destructive des échantillons texturés pour les applications photovoltaïques. Les textures de surface améliorent le piégeage de la lumière et sont donc souhaitées pour améliorer les performances des cellules solaires. D'autre part, ces textures rendent la caractérisation optique plus difficile et des efforts plus importants sont nécessaires non seulement pour la mesure optique elle-même mais également pour la modélisation et l'interprétation ultérieure des données obtenues. Dans ce travail, nous démontrons que nous sommes en mesure d'utiliser des méthodes optiques pour étudier les textures pyramidales très répandues ainsi que les réseaux de nanofils de silicium à orientation aléatoire dont l'analyse est très difficile.Premièrement, nous nous sommes concentrés sur l'étude optique de diverses surfaces pyramidales et de leur impact sur les performances des cellules silicium à hétérojonction. Nous avons constaté que les angles au sommet des pyramides, préparées à l'aide de différentes conditions de texturation, diffèrent de la valeur théorique de 70.52° attendue pour le silicium cristallin. Cette modification de l'angle au sommet est expliquée par la présence, sur les facettes pyramidales, de terrasses monoatomiques régulières, observées par microscopie électronique à transmission de résolution atomique. L'impact d'une variation de l’angle au sommet sur les épaisseurs des couches minces déposées est étudié et les conséquences sur l'efficacité des cellules solaires résultantes sont discutées. Un modèle optique développé pour le calcul de la réflectance et de l'absorption des couches minces en multicouches sur surfaces pyramidales a permis l’optimisation de la conception de la cellule solaire pour un angle au sommet pyramidal donné.L'ellipsométrie matricielle Mueller a été utilisée in-situ pour caractéiser le processus de croissance - par méthode vapeur-liquide-solide activée par plasma - des nanofils de silicium. Nous avons développé un modèle optique facile à utiliser, qui, à notre connaissance, est le premier modèle utilisant des données ellipsométriques expérimentales pour contrôler le procédé de croissance, en phase vapeur-liquide-solide assisté par plasma, des nanofils. La dépendance linéaire observée du dépôt de matériau de silicium avec le temps de dépôt nous permet de suivre le processus de fabrication in situ et de contrôler la qualité du matériau. / Research in photovoltaics aims at lowering the price per watt of generated electrical power. Substantial efforts aim at searching for new materials and designs which can push the limits of existing solar cells. The recent development of complex materials and nanostructures for solar cells requires more effort to be put into their characterization and modeling. This thesis focuses on optical characterization, modeling, and design optimization of advanced solar cell architectures.Optical measurements are used for fast and non-destructive characterization of textured samples for photovoltaic applications. Surface textures enhance light-trapping and are thus desired to improve the solar cell performance. On the other hand, these textures make optical characterization more challenging and more effort is required for both, the optical measurement itself and subsequent modeling and interpretation of obtained data. In this work, we demonstrate that we are able to use optical methods to study the widely used pyramidal textures as well as very challenging randomly oriented silicon nanowire arrays.At first, we focused on the optical study of various pyramidal surfaces and their impact on the silicon heterojunction solar cell performance. We have found that vertex angles of pyramids prepared using various texturing conditions vary from the theoretical value of 70.52° expected from crystalline silicon. This change of the vertex angle is explained by regular monoatomic terraces, which are present on pyramid facets and are observed by atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy. The impact of a vertex angle variation on the thicknesses of deposited thin films is studied and the consequences for resulting solar cell efficiency are discussed. A developed optical model for calculation of the reflectance and absorptance of thin film multi-layers on pyramidal surfaces enabled a solar cell design optimization, with respect to a given pyramid vertex angle.In-situ Mueller matrix ellipsometry has been applied for monitoring the silicon nanowire growth process by plasma-enhanced vapor-liquid-solid method. We have developed an easy-to-use optical model, which is to our knowledge a first model fitting the experimental ellipsometric data for process control of plasma-assisted vapor-liquid-solid grown nanowires. The observed linear dependence of the silicon material deposition on the deposition time enables us to trace the fabrication process in-situ and to control material quality.