RF-sputtered CoCr films have been characterized for a variety of deposition conditions, and the most effective parameters which bring about perpendicular anisotropy have been evaluated. In particular bias sputtering has been noted for its role in improving the crystallographic orientation and magnetic properties when applied to the substrate at certain values, hence the root mechanism of the observed improvement has been, as far as possible , investigated . These investigations have, in particular, focused on the extent to which impurity gases are likely to effect the magnetic properties of sputtered films, as well as quantifying the gas contents of the films using as yet unexploited (in this area) method of thermal desorption experiments. In a further attempt to quantify tolerable level of impurity species in the sputtering environment , impurity gases of nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, which are commonly present even in high vacuum systems, were intentionally introduced in the sputtering chamber and their effects on both magnetic and crystallographic properties of CoCr were noted . To measure the perpendicular and in-plane magnetic properties of CoCr , a combined polar-transverse Kerr magneto- optic system was costructed , through which direct magnetic measurement of CoCr/NiFe becomes feasible . This method was further exploited to compare volume and surface magnetic properties of CoCr , as measured using a V.S.M and this M-O system. Finally , a CoCr/NiFe W1nchester disc was fabricated on which a recording experiment was successfully performed.

As a contribution to increasing the areal density of digital data stored on a magnetic recording medium, this thesis provides mathematical analyses of various magnetic recording heads. Each of the heads considered here is for use in a perpendicular recording system, writing to or reading from a multi-layer medium which includes a high magnetic permeability layer between the data storage layer and the substrate. The exact two-dimensional analysis is performed in each case by one of two methods: either Fourier analysis or conformal mapping. The types of heads analysed include conventional styles but particular emphasis is placed on the effects of the novel idea of potential grading across the pole pieces. Exact head fields are derived for thin film heads with both constant and linearly varying pole potentials, single pole heads with linearly and arbitrarily varying pole potentials and shielded magnetoresistive heads, all in the presence of a magnetic underlayer. These and other published solutions are used to derive output characteristics for perpendicular replay heads, which are compared with published theoretical and experimental results where possible. The Fourier solutions obtained are in the form of infinite series dependent on at least one set of coefficients which are determined by infinite systems of linear equations. Approximations to the potentials in the head face planes, independent of these coefficients, are derived from the exact Fourier solutions. The accuracy of these approximations is demonstrated when they are used to estimate the vertical field components and the spectral response functions. Heads with graded pole potentials are found to have more localised vertical field components than the corresponding constant potential heads. They are also better suited for use with thin media for 'in contact' recording.

No description available.

No description available.

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This thesis describes hydrocarbon vapour sensing using Langmuir-Blodgett films prepared from: a co-ordination polymer; substituted phthalocyanines containing copper and zinc as the central metal ions; and a polysiloxane. The physical and chemical properties of the co-ordination polymer, 5,5'-methylenebis (N- hexadecylsalicylidenamine), at the air water interface were investigated using Brewster angle microscopy and surface pressure versus area measurements. Langmuir-Blodgett films were built-up on a variety of substrates. The addition of copper acetate to the subphase caused a change in both the physical and optical properties of the Langmuir- Blodgett layers. Film thickness data suggest that a true monolayer (thickness ca 2 nm) is only formed under these conditions. The multilayer films were studied using X-ray diffraction, UV/Visible spectroscopy, ellipsometry, surface plasmon resonance, surface profiling and electron spin resonance. The response of each film when exposed to, benzene, toluene, ethanol and water vapours were recorded. Two optical systems were used, both based on surface plasmon resonance. The first incorporated a silicon photodiode to record the intensity of the reflected light. The second was similar to that of surface plasmon microscopy, using a charge coupled device camera to monitor the reflected light intensity from the Langmuir-Blodgett film/metal interface. The co-ordination polymer was found to be most sensitive to benzene and could reliably detect concentrations of this vapour down to 100 vapour parts per million. Data obtained when the co-ordination polymer was exposed to benzene and water vapour (using the latter system) were presented to a neural network for recognition.

No description available.

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 1999

Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) and polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-films are very promising for application in photovoltaics. It is extremely challenging to develop cheap TCOs and poly-Si films to make photovoltaic devices. The aim of this thesis is to study sputtered aluminum-doped ZnO TCO and poly-Si films by solid-phase crystallization (SPC) for application in low-cost photovoltaics. The investigated aspects have been (i) to develop and characterize sputtered aluminum-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films that can be used as a TCO material on crystalline silicon solar cells, (ii) to explore the potential of the developed ZnO:Al films for application in ZnO:Al/c-Si heterojunction solar cells, (iii) to make and characterize poly-Si thin-films on different kinds of glass substrates by SPC using electron-beam evaporated amorphous silicon (a-Si) [referred to as EVA poly-Si material (SPC of evaporated a-Si)], and (iv) to fabricate EVA poly-Si thin-film solar cells on glass and improve the energy conversion efficiency of these cells by post-crystallization treatments. The ZnO:Al work in this thesis is focused on the correlation between film characteristics and deposition parameters, such as rf sputter power (Prf), working gas pressure (Pw), and substrate temperature (Tsub), to get a clear picture of film properties in the optimized conditions for application in photovoltaic devices. Especially the laterally non-uniform film properties resulting from the laterally inhomogeneous erosion of the target material are investigated in detail. The influence of Prf, Pw and Tsub on the structural, electrical, optical and surface morphology properties of ZnO:Al films is discussed. It is found that the lateral variations of the parameters of ZnO:Al films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering can be reduced to acceptable levels by optimising the deposition parameters. ZnO:Al/c-Si heterojunction solar cells are fabricated and characterized to demonstrate the feasibility of the fabricated ZnO:Al films for application in heterojunction solar cells. In this application, expensive indium-tin oxide (ITO) is usually used. Under the standard AM1.5G spectrum (100 mW/cm2, 25 ??C), the best fabricated cell shows an open-circuit voltage of 411 mV, a short-circuit current density of 30.0 mA/cm2, a fill factor of 66.7 %, and a conversion efficiency of 8.2 %. This is believed to be the highest stable efficiency ever reported for this type of cell. By means of dark forward current density-voltage-temperature (J-V-T) measurements, it is shown that the dominant current transport mechanism in the ZnO:Al/c-Si solar cells, in the intermediate forward bias voltage region, is trap-assisted multistep tunneling. EVA poly-Si thin-films are prepared on four types of glass substrates (planar and textured glass, both either bare or SiN-coated) based on evaporated Si, which is a cheaper Si deposition method than the existing technologies. The textured glass is realized by the UNSW-developed AIT process (AIT = aluminium-induced texture). The investigation is concentrated on finding optimized process parameters and evaluating film crystallization quality. It is found that EVA poly-Si films have a grain size in the range 0.8-1.5 ??m, and a preferential (111) orientation. UV reflectance and Raman spectroscopy measurements reveal a high crystalline material quality, both at the air-side surface and in the bulk. EVA cells are fabricated in both substrate and superstrate configuration. Special attention is paid to improving the Voc of the solar cells. For this purpose, after the SPC process, the samples receive the two post-crystallization treatments: (i) a rapid thermal anneal (RTA), and (ii) a plasma hydrogenation. It is found that two post-crystallization treatments more than double the 1-Sun Voc of the substrate-type cells. It is demonstrated that RTA improves the structural material quality of the cells. Furthermore, a hydrogenation step is shown to significantly improve the electronic material quality of the cells. Based on the RTA???d and hydrogenated EVA poly-Si material, the first mesa-type EVA cells are fabricated in substrate configuration, by using sputtered Al-doped ZnO as the transparent front contact. The investigation is focused on addressing the correlation between the type of the substrate and cell performance. Optical, electrical and photovoltaic properties of the devices are characterized. It is found that the performance of EVA cells depends on the glass substrate topography. For cells on textured glass, the AIT texture is shown to have a beneficial effect on the optical absorption of EVA films. It is demonstrated that a SiN barrier layer on the AIT-textured glass improves significantly both the crystalline quality of the poly-Si films and the energy conversion efficiency of the resulting solar cells. For cells on planar glass, a SiN film between the planar glass and the poly-Si film has no obvious effect on the cell properties. The investigations in this thesis clearly show that EVA poly-Si films are very promising for poly-Si thin-film solar cells on glass.

This dissertation studies and examines the process of formation of honeycomb structured porous films using various polymer architectures ranging from linear, comb, star polymers and a random copolymer. Four casting methods were designed and applied for the production of structured porous materials. The airflow casting technique, cold-stage casting technique, casting on water technique and emulsion casting technique all based in either direct water introduction to the system or indirect condensation from the environment showed to be viable options for casting of high quality porous materials. The control and study of the effect of environmental conditions towards the quality of the films has been examined through the design of a casting device and the use of the casting methods. Furthermore, the versatility of each of the architectures towards the production of honeycomb porous films has been studied. Highly regular honeycomb structured porous films were obtained from all the complex architectures namely comb polymers, star polymers and the random copolymer. However, the linear polymers did not result in regular films. Moreover the quality of the films has been assessed and mathematically quantified. In addition, some mechanistic aspects of the process of formation of honeycomb structured porous films have been addressed. Variables such as the viscosity and evaporation of polymer solutions were examined. Furthermore, the precipitation behaviour of various polymer architectures was inspected. Only the polymer architectures showing a lower viscosity and late precipitation deemed highly regular films. Finally, the modification of highly regular films from a comb polymer and a random copolymer was successfully performed for the first time by grafting a thermoresponsive polymer from the RAFT groups already present in the porous material. The non-treated films showed a typical hydrophobic behaviour for a porous membrane however after the grafting, the films exhibited hydrophilic behaviour.