No description available.

Electron transport in vacuum deposited a-Se films has been investigated by Interrupted-Field Time-of-Flight (IFTOF) transient photoconductivity experiments to examine the effect of sample temperature (T) and applied electric field (F) on X-ray induced changes in the electron lifetime. Upon exposure to x-rays, the electron lifetime decreases. The decrease in normalized lifetime is almost linearly proportional to the absorbed dose, and is more significant at higher temperatures. Upon the cessation of x-ray irradiation, the lifetime recovers towards its equilibrium value through a structural relaxation process, and is characterized by a structural relaxation time. The structural relaxation time decreases with temperature in an Arrhenius fashion, and exhibits an activation energy that is roughly 1.4 eV. The structural relaxation time at room temperature (21 C) is 2 – 4 hrs whereas at 35 C, 6 – 10 mins. These measurements are important in characterizing the charge collection efficiency of a-Se based x-ray detectors, and its dependence on x-ray exposure and temperature. The results indicate that the rate of change of electron lifetime per unit exposure is less than 2%/Gy.

<p> This study is on the thermodynamics, electrical and diffusion properties of five bulk metal glasses, new materials of great importance in technology, and on a longstanding problem of the residual entropy of the glassy state. It describes (i) an investigation of spontaneous structural relaxation, (ii) discovery of memory effect, and (iii) an investigation of crystallization kinetics both isothermally and on rate heating of bulk metallic glasses by measurements of their enthalpy change with time, temperature, and annealing conditions. Furthermore, it provides a real-time electrical resistivity study of structural relaxation effects, and an electron microscopy study of the interdiffusion kinetics of atoms across a junction interface, i.e., the so-called Kirkendall effect. </p> <p> It is shown that structural relaxation occurs according to a stretched exponential kinetics and distribution of relaxation times leads to memory effect for a glass sample of complex thermal history. This mechanism is confirmed by real time electrical resistivity measurements at different temperatures and explained in terms of the Ziman model. Crystallization of ultraviscous melts occurs in several steps but the first and major step follows the Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami kinetics based upon the Poisson distribution of nucleation sites. Several other processes also occur including a possible spinodal decomposition with one phase remaining in the rigid glassy state. Thermally activated interdiffusion of atoms across a junction interface is inconsistent with the vacancy diffusion model. Finally, it is shown that contrary to the recent arguments based upon the Boltzmann equation, a glass has residual entropy. </p> <p> Seven papers based upon this study have been published in Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Thermochimica Acta, and Philosophical Magazine. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Submitted by Alison Vanceto (alison-vanceto@hotmail.com) on 2017-03-20T12:19:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseCBB.pdf: 8155829 bytes, checksum: 9a5289c818bd72bed1bf08cb0aecbd14 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-04-20T12:57:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseCBB.pdf: 8155829 bytes, checksum: 9a5289c818bd72bed1bf08cb0aecbd14 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-04-20T12:57:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseCBB.pdf: 8155829 bytes, checksum: 9a5289c818bd72bed1bf08cb0aecbd14 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-20T13:11:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseCBB.pdf: 8155829 bytes, checksum: 9a5289c818bd72bed1bf08cb0aecbd14 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Ionic conductivity in glasses was first discovered and demonstrated by Warburg in 1884, but although it has been studied for over a century, the mechanisms underlying ionic conduction in glasses are not yet entirely clear. Glasses are commonly known to be electrical insulators, but some of them may present high conductivity and be candidates for different applications. The more conductive glasses result from the dissolution of halogenated salts in the glassy matrix, causing its ionic conductivity to increase by several orders of magnitude. Our approach proposes that glass can be compared to a solution in which a dissolved halogenated salt (solute) is weakly dissociated in the glassy matrix (solvent). This approach, called the weak electrolyte model, was initially proposed in the 70s to explain the almost exponential increase in the ionic conductivity of glasses in response to increasing concentrations of network modifiers (alkaline oxides). Our work proposes to expand this approach, correlating the increase in ionic conductivity with the increase in the thermodynamic activity of AgI. In addition, experiments were carried out at different temperatures in various glass compositions to confirm this correlation, using electromotive force (EMF) measurements to determine the thermodynamic activity and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements to determine the ionic conductivity of these glasses. Ionic transport was also used to examine the structural relaxation of AgPO3 glass. The glass was heated to another fictive temperature in the glass transition range and its ionic conductivity measured in situ by EIS. The kinetic parameters of the structural relaxation process, i.e., structural relaxation time ( ) and stretching parameter (β), were determined as a function of time by fitting the experimental data to KWW equations. / A condutividade iônica em vidros foi observada e demonstrada pela primeira vez por Warburg em 1884, mas apesar de mais de um século dessa descoberta, os mecanismos pelos quais se dá essa condutividade iônica não são totalmente claros. Vidros, em geral, são conhecidos como isolantes elétricos, mas alguns deles podem apresentar uma alta condutividade e portanto bons candidatos para diferentes aplicações. Os vidros com os valores mais elevados de condutividade iônica resultam da dissolução de sais halogenados em uma matriz vítrea, resultando em um aumento de várias ordens de grandeza na propriedade. Nossa proposta é a de que vidros podem ser comparados com uma solução em que um sal halogenado dissolvido (soluto) está fracamente dissociado em uma matriz vítrea (solvente). Essa aproximação, chamada de modelo do eletrólito fraco, foi inicialmente proposta nos anos 70 para explicar o aumento quase exponencial da condutividade iônica em vidros em resposta ao aumento da concentração de modificadores de rede (óxidos alcalinos). Nosso trabalho propõe expandir essa aproximação, correlacionando o aumento da condutividade iônica com a atividade termodinâmica de AgI. Além disso, experimentos foram feitos em diferentes temperaturas com várias composições de vidro para confirmar essa correlação, usando medidas de força eletromotriz (FEM) para determinar a atividade termodinâmica e medidas de espectroscopia de impedância (IES) para determinar a condutividade iônica desses vidros. O transporte iônico também foi utilizado para estudar a relaxação estrutural de vidros AgPO3. O vidro, previamente equilibrado a uma temperatura fictícia inicial, foi tratado termicamente a uma outra temperatura fictícia próxima da temperatura de transição vítrea e a sua condutividade iônica medida in situ por EIS. Os parâmetros cinéticos do processo de relaxação estrutural, i.e., tempo de relaxação estrutural ( ) e o parâmetro exponencial (β), foram determinados em função do tempo pelo ajuste da equação KWW.

No description available.

Cette thèse, composée de quatre articles scientifiques, porte sur les méthodes numériques atomistiques et leur application à des systèmes semi-conducteurs nanostructurés. Nous introduisons les méthodes accélérées conçues pour traiter les événements activés, faisant un survol des développements du domaine. Suit notre premier article, qui traite en détail de la technique d'activation-relaxation cinétique (ART-cinétique), un algorithme Monte Carlo cinétique hors-réseau autodidacte basé sur la technique de l'activation-relaxation nouveau (ARTn), dont le développement ouvre la voie au traitement exact des interactions élastiques tout en permettant la simulation de matériaux sur des plages de temps pouvant atteindre la seconde. Ce développement algorithmique, combiné à des données expérimentales récentes, ouvre la voie au second article. On y explique le relâchement de chaleur par le silicium cristallin suite à son implantation ionique avec des ions de Si à 3 keV. Grâce à nos simulations par ART-cinétique et l'analyse de données obtenues par nanocalorimétrie, nous montrons que la relaxation est décrite par un nouveau modèle en deux temps: "réinitialiser et relaxer" ("Replenish-and-Relax"). Ce modèle, assez général, peut potentiellement expliquer la relaxation dans d'autres matériaux désordonnés. Par la suite, nous poussons l'analyse plus loin. Le troisième article offre une analyse poussée des mécanismes atomistiques responsables de la relaxation lors du recuit. Nous montrons que les interactions élastiques entre des défauts ponctuels et des petits complexes de défauts contrôlent la relaxation, en net contraste avec la littérature qui postule que des "poches amorphes" jouent ce rôle. Nous étudions aussi certains sous-aspects de la croissance de boîtes quantiques de Ge sur Si (001). En effet, après une courte mise en contexte et une introduction méthodologique supplémentaire, le quatrième article décrit la structure de la couche de mouillage lors du dépôt de Ge sur Si (001) à l'aide d'une implémentation QM/MM du code BigDFT-ART. Nous caractérisons la structure de la reconstruction 2xN de la surface et abaissons le seuil de la température nécessaire pour la diffusion du Ge en sous-couche prédit théoriquement par plus de 100 K. / This thesis consists of four scientific articles concerning atomistic numerical methods and their use to simulate semi-conducting systems where nanometer-scale structures play a crucial role. We introduce accelerated methods designed to study systems driven by activated events. Afterwards, our first article presents, in depth, the kinetic Activation-Relaxation Technique (kART), an off-lattice, self-learning kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm based on the Activation-Relaxation Technique nouveau (ARTn). This method permits the exact treatment of elastic effects in materials over time-scales reaching one second. This algorithmic development, combined to recent empirical data, forms the basis of our second article. We explain the origin of heat release by self-implanted crystalline silicon in nanocalorimetry experiments after 3 keV ion bombardment, with the help of kART simulations. We show that the structural relaxation is described by a two-step "Replenish-and-Relax" model. This model is quite general and can potentially explain relaxation in other disordered materials. In the next chapter, i.e. the third article, we push the analysis further and give a complete atomistic description of the mechanisms responsible for structural relaxation during the anneal. We show that punctual defects and small defects complexes control the relaxation, in net contrast with the literature that identify "amorphous pockets" as the drivers of relaxation. Finally, we study some aspects related to the growth of Ge quantum dots on Si (001). After short chapters explaining the scientific context of this work and methodological details, our fourth article concerns the wetting layer formed by Ge deposition on Si (001), using a QM/MM implementation of the bigDFT-ART code. We characterize the 2xN surface reconstruction atomistic structure and decrease the minimum temperature at which deep Ge intermixing is predicted by ab initio calculations by more than 100 K.

Master of Science / Department of Chemical Engineering / Jennifer L. Anthony / A polymer has drastically different physical properties above versus below some characteristic temperature. For this reason, the precise identification of this glass transition temperature, T[subscript]g, is critical in evaluating product feasibility for a given application. The objective of this report is to review the behavior of polymers near their T[subscript]g and assess the capability of predicting T[subscript]g using theoretical and empirical models. It was determined that all polymers begin to undergo structural relaxation at various temperatures both nearly above and below T[subscript]g, and that practical assessment of a single consistent T[subscript]g is successfully performed through consideration of only immediate thermal history and thermodynamic properties. It was found that the best quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) models accurately predict T[subscript]g of polymers of theoretically infinite chain length with an average error of less than 20 K or about 6%, while T[subscript]g prediction for shorter polymers must be done by supplementing these T[subscript]g (∞) values with configurational entropy or molecular weight relational models. These latter models were found to be reliable only for polymers of molecular weight greater than about 2,000 g/mol and possessing a T[subscript]g (∞) of less than about 400 K.

Cette thèse, composée de quatre articles scientifiques, porte sur les méthodes numériques atomistiques et leur application à des systèmes semi-conducteurs nanostructurés. Nous introduisons les méthodes accélérées conçues pour traiter les événements activés, faisant un survol des développements du domaine. Suit notre premier article, qui traite en détail de la technique d'activation-relaxation cinétique (ART-cinétique), un algorithme Monte Carlo cinétique hors-réseau autodidacte basé sur la technique de l'activation-relaxation nouveau (ARTn), dont le développement ouvre la voie au traitement exact des interactions élastiques tout en permettant la simulation de matériaux sur des plages de temps pouvant atteindre la seconde. Ce développement algorithmique, combiné à des données expérimentales récentes, ouvre la voie au second article. On y explique le relâchement de chaleur par le silicium cristallin suite à son implantation ionique avec des ions de Si à 3 keV. Grâce à nos simulations par ART-cinétique et l'analyse de données obtenues par nanocalorimétrie, nous montrons que la relaxation est décrite par un nouveau modèle en deux temps: "réinitialiser et relaxer" ("Replenish-and-Relax"). Ce modèle, assez général, peut potentiellement expliquer la relaxation dans d'autres matériaux désordonnés. Par la suite, nous poussons l'analyse plus loin. Le troisième article offre une analyse poussée des mécanismes atomistiques responsables de la relaxation lors du recuit. Nous montrons que les interactions élastiques entre des défauts ponctuels et des petits complexes de défauts contrôlent la relaxation, en net contraste avec la littérature qui postule que des "poches amorphes" jouent ce rôle. Nous étudions aussi certains sous-aspects de la croissance de boîtes quantiques de Ge sur Si (001). En effet, après une courte mise en contexte et une introduction méthodologique supplémentaire, le quatrième article décrit la structure de la couche de mouillage lors du dépôt de Ge sur Si (001) à l'aide d'une implémentation QM/MM du code BigDFT-ART. Nous caractérisons la structure de la reconstruction 2xN de la surface et abaissons le seuil de la température nécessaire pour la diffusion du Ge en sous-couche prédit théoriquement par plus de 100 K. / This thesis consists of four scientific articles concerning atomistic numerical methods and their use to simulate semi-conducting systems where nanometer-scale structures play a crucial role. We introduce accelerated methods designed to study systems driven by activated events. Afterwards, our first article presents, in depth, the kinetic Activation-Relaxation Technique (kART), an off-lattice, self-learning kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm based on the Activation-Relaxation Technique nouveau (ARTn). This method permits the exact treatment of elastic effects in materials over time-scales reaching one second. This algorithmic development, combined to recent empirical data, forms the basis of our second article. We explain the origin of heat release by self-implanted crystalline silicon in nanocalorimetry experiments after 3 keV ion bombardment, with the help of kART simulations. We show that the structural relaxation is described by a two-step "Replenish-and-Relax" model. This model is quite general and can potentially explain relaxation in other disordered materials. In the next chapter, i.e. the third article, we push the analysis further and give a complete atomistic description of the mechanisms responsible for structural relaxation during the anneal. We show that punctual defects and small defects complexes control the relaxation, in net contrast with the literature that identify "amorphous pockets" as the drivers of relaxation. Finally, we study some aspects related to the growth of Ge quantum dots on Si (001). After short chapters explaining the scientific context of this work and methodological details, our fourth article concerns the wetting layer formed by Ge deposition on Si (001), using a QM/MM implementation of the bigDFT-ART code. We characterize the 2xN surface reconstruction atomistic structure and decrease the minimum temperature at which deep Ge intermixing is predicted by ab initio calculations by more than 100 K.

Cette thèse présente à la fois des résultats de simulations numériques en plus de ré- sultats expérimentaux obtenus en laboratoire sur le rôle joué par les défauts de structure dans le silicium amorphe. Nos travaux de simulation numérique furent réalisés avec une nouvelle méthode de simulation Monte-Carlo cinétique pour décrire l’évolution tempo- relle de modèles de silicium amorphe endommagés sur plusieurs échelles de temps jus- qu’à une seconde à la température pièce. Ces simulations montrent que les lacunes dans le silicium amorphe sont instables et ne diffusent pas sans être détruites. Nous montrons également que l’évolution d’un modèle de silicium amorphe endommagé par une colli- sion ionique lors d’un recuit peut être divisée en deux phases : la première est dominée exclusivement par la diffusion et la création/destruction de défauts de liaison, alors que la deuxième voit les créations/destructions de liens remplacées par des échanges de liens entre atomes parfaitement coordonnés. Les défauts ont aussi un effet sur la viscosité du silicium amorphe. Afin d’approfondir cette question, nous avons mesuré la viscosité du silicium amorphe et du silicium amorphe hydrogéné sous l’effet d’un faisceau d’ions. Nous montrons que la variation de la viscosité dans les deux matériaux est différente : le silicium amorphe hydrogéné a une viscosité constante en fonction de la fluence des ions alors que le silicium amorphe pur a une viscosité qui augmente de façon linéaire. Pour de faibles fluences, la viscosité du silicium hydrogéné est plus grande que la viscosité sans hydrogène. La présence d’hydrogène diminue également l’amplitude de la variation logarithmique de la contrainte observée lors de la relaxation à la température de la pièce. / This thesis presents the results of both computational and experimental studies on the role of structural defects in amorphous silicon. The computational work was done using a novel kinetic Monte-Carlo method to simulate the time evolution of defective models of amorphous silicon over timescales reaching one second at room temperature. These simulations show that the vacancy in amorphous silicon is unstable and does not diffuse without being annihilated. We also show that the annealing behavior of an ion-damaged model of amorphous silicon can be divided in two phases: the initial one being dom- inated exclusively by the diffusion and rapid creation/annihilation of bond defects, the other one with bond defect creation/annihilation being progressively replaced by bond exchanges from perfectly coordinated atoms. Defects also have an effect on the viscosity amorphous silicon. To explore this further we mesure the radiation-enhanced viscosity of pure and hydrogenated amorphous silicon under the effect an ion-beam. We show the change in viscosity is different, the hydrogenated samples having a constant density while the pure amorphous silicon samples having a viscosity that increases linearly with ion fluence. At low fluence, the viscosity of hydrogenated amorphous silicon is higher than the viscosity of pure amorphous silicon. The presence of hydrogen also reduces the amplitude of the logarithmic stress change observed during annealing at room tempera- ture.

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