Na matriz energética brasileira, o óleo diesel tem lugar de destaque, porém ainda é comercializado com teores de compostos sulfurados e nitrogenados considerados altos para as legislações ambientais que entrarão em vigor nos próximos anos. Tradicionalmente, a remoção desses compostos de enxofre de correntes de petróleo é realizada por processos de hidrotratamento (HDT). No entanto, devido as características do diesel brasileiro, se faz necessária maior severidade para atingir as novas especificações dos combustíveis. Isto implica em investimentos e custos operacionais crescentes para atender a demanda que se instala. Neste contexto, a adsorção está sendo estudada para a purificação da corrente de óleo diesel oriunda da etapa de hidrotratamento como polimento final para alcançar as especificações mais exigentes. Sabe-se que os adsorventes comerciais apresentam limitações na remoção destes contaminantes e uma alternativa que tem se mostrado promissora é a incorporação de metais de transição na estrutura do sólido. No presente trabalho foram modificados adsorventes comerciais, tais como aluminas, sílica-aluminas e argilas pela introdução dos elementos níquel, colbalto e molibdênio e testado o desempenho dessas modificações frente à adsorção de compostos sulfurados e nitrogenados presentes em um diesel hidrotratado. Foram feitas caracterizações químicas, físicas, texturais e morfológicas dos sólidos com e sem incorporação de metais de transição na estrutura original. Os experimentos de adsorção foram realizados a 40C. Avaliando todos os sólidos, o adsorvente que mostrou o melhor desempenho na remoção de compostos sulfurados e nitrogenados por massa de adsorvente foi a sílica-alumina sem modificações, que foi capaz de remover em torno de 90% de compostos nitrogenados e 55 % de sulfurados para 2 g de sólido / 10 mL de diesel. Para os materiais modificados, observou-se que a incorporação dos metais de transição ocasionou redução da sua área superficial e do volume total de poros. Desta maneira, os efeitos esperados pelas interações entre o sítios metálicos e os compostos de nitrogênio e enxofre foram reduzidos / Diesel oil has a prominent role in the Brazilian energy matrix, but is still marketed with high levels of sulfur and nitrogen compounds compared to the next years ongoing environmental legislation. Traditionally, the removal of sulfur compounds from petroleum streams is performed by the hydrotreating processes (HDT). However, due to the Brazilian diesel characteristics, more stringent operation conditions are necessary to achieve new fuel specifications. This involves investment and operating costs rising to meet demand that is installed. In this context, adsorption is being studied for the purification of HDT diesel oil as a final polishing to meet the specifications. It is known that the commercial adsorbents have limitations in removing these contaminants and an alternative that has been shown promising is the incorporation of transition metal in the solid structure. In this work we modified commercial adsorbents such as alumina, silica-aluminas and clays by the introduction of the elements nickel, colbalto, and molybdenum and the behavior of theses modifications was testes against adsorption of sulfur and nitrogen present in HDT diesel oil. Physical, textural, and morphological characterizations of the solids were performed with and without addition of transition metals in its structure original. The adsorption experiments were performed at 40C. Evaluating all the solids, the adsorbent that showed the best performance in the removal of sulfur compounds and nitrogen per mass of adsorbent was the silica-alumina without modification, which was able to remove around 90% of nitrogen and 55% of sulfur with 2 g of solid / 10 mL of diesel. For the modified materials, it was observed that incorporation of transition metals led to reduction of its surface area and total pore volume. Thus, the expected effects of interactions between the metal sites and nitrogen and sulfur compounds were reduced

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:15:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5309.pdf: 3730919 bytes, checksum: 93ee556b234e55e307b64b2308314c2e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-18 / In this project we studied the porous anodic alumina as a possible application in gas sensors with high sensitivity. Initially we seek a configuration of anodic porous alumina (PA) and the type of gas or vapor in which both matched with great sensitivity by observing the photoluminescence of this material. Furthermore we sought to understand the mechanism of detecting the substance to a broader reach and optimizing the use of alumina sensor. A manufacturing already well tested with oxalic acid, only changing the anodization time for the same voltage or current density, was adopted for a small variation of samples with good ordering. Samples were also produced with and without pore opening. The optical properties of the porous film thus obtained were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) emitted perpendicularly to these pores, while the film was subjected to a controlled atmosphere of vapor of ethanol or methanol. The control parameters of temperature and vapor concentration was possible by the construction and use of a thermostated cell adapted to a spectrofluorimeter. The spectrum of each sample was monitored with time since deposition of alcohols in the cell was made with micro-syringe into the liquid phase and then evaporate. This perpendicular direction of luminescence emission of alumina allowed the oscillation of the already known PL presents peaks with much more defined and so much more resolution for changes in wavelength. Furthermore, it expressed the presence of the TE and TM modes separately in luminescence for some samples made at a higher concentration of oxalic acid in the electrolyte. The sensitivity to ethanol vapor for this PL technique allows detection of ethanol concentrations much smaller than the other until now achieved by using porous silicon. Based on studies about the source of the luminescence of the material and the construction of the interference pattern produced by the film type Fabry-Perot, a hypothesis was constructed for the modification of luminescence by ethanol vapor. Adsorption of molecules of ethanol/methanol by its hydroxide OH-, in the color centers F+ along the surfaces of the pores, modifies the average longitudinal position of the sources of luminescence in a critical geometry (near total internal reflection), which changes rapidly the reflectivity of the interface pores/air, altering the entire Fabry-Perot system for this adopted configuration, i.e., PL perpendicular to the pores. The simple change of the luminescence emission from frontal to lateral direction of the film provided an peak oscillation with lasers devices width, without the need to optically confine this film, as in the case of porous silicon sensors. This configuration may have contributed to or be reason for the great sensitivity (relative to the optical porous sensors for ethanol as the porous silicon) as it uses the part of the luminescence that interacts with more pores exposed to ethanol vapor. The reversible behavior and with better response just at room temperature, qualifies the PA system for construction of curves calibration, as well for various types of use in sensor which interfere very little in vapor concentration. The temporal behavior of the spectrum of a sample, under ethanol vapor, may be due to a rapid change in reflectivity of the interface pores/air for this selected PL "grazing", at an angle close to the internal total internal reflection. The change in reflectivity for this type of Fabry- Perot system and confined causes changes in both the shape of the spectrum oscillation, similar to the change in the coefficient of finesse, as in the displacement of the peak position in wavelengths. / No presente projeto estudamos a alumina anódica porosa como uma possível aplicação em sensores gasosos de grande sensibilidade. Inicialmente buscamos uma configuração da alumina anódica porosa e o tipo de gás ou vapor em que ambos se combinassem com grande sensibilidade ao se observar a fotoluminescência deste material. Além disso, buscamos entender o mecanismo de detecção da substancia para um alcance mais amplo e otimização do uso da alumina como sensor. Uma fabricação já muito testada com o ácido oxálico mudando apenas o tempo de anodização para uma mesma voltagem ou densidade de corrente foi adotada para uma pequena variação de amostras com bom ordenamento. Foram ainda produzidas amostras com e sem abertura dos poros. As propriedades ópticas do filme de poros assim obtido foram investigadas pela fotoluminescência (PL) emitida perpendicularmente a estes poros enquanto se submetia o filme a uma atmosfera controlada de vapor de etanol ou metanol. O controle nos parâmetros de concentração do vapor e temperatura foi possível pela construção e uso de uma célula termostatizada adaptada a um espectrofluorímetro. O espectro de cada amostra foi monitorado com o tempo uma vez que a deposição dos álcoois na célula foi feita com micro-seringa em fase liquida para então se evaporar. Esta direção perpendicular da emissão da luminescência da alumina permitiu que a oscilação da PL já conhecida se apresentasse agora com picos muito mais definidos e, portanto bem mais resolução para as alterações em comprimentos de onda. Além disso, manifestou a presença separável dos modos TE e TM na luminescência para algumas amostras feitas em maior concentração de ácido oxálico no eletrólito. A sensibilidade ao vapor de etanol para esta técnica de PL permitiu perceber concentrações de etanol muito menores que as outras até então alcançadas usando silício poroso. Construiu-se também uma hipótese para a modificação da luminescência pelo vapor de etanol baseando-se nos estudos sobre a fonte da luminescência deste material e da construção do padrão de interferência tipo Fabry-Perot que o filme produz. A adsorção das moléculas de etanol/metanol pelo seu hidróxido OH, nos centros de cor F+ ao longo das superfícies dos poros, modifica a posição média longitudinal das fontes da luminescência numa geometria critica (próximo da reflexão interna total), que muda rapidamente a refletividade da interface poros/ar, alterando todo o sistema Fabry-Perot para esta configuração adotada, i.e., PL perpendicular aos poros. A simples mudança da emissão da luminescência frontal do filme para a lateral forneceu uma oscilação de picos com largura de dispositivos lasers sem que se necessitasse confinar opticamente este filme como no caso de sensores de silício poroso. Esta configuração pode ter contribuído ou ser a responsável pela grande sensibilidade (em relação aos sensores porosos ópticos para etanol como o de silício poroso) já que usa a parte da luminescência que interage com mais poros expostos ao vapor de etanol. O comportamento reversível e com melhor resposta justamente em temperatura ambiente, qualifica o sistema AAP para se construir curvas de calibração, assim como para diversos tipos de uso em sensores que interferem muito pouco na concentração do vapor. O comportamento temporal do espectro de uma amostra, sob vapor de etanol, pode ser devido a uma mudança mais rápida na refletividade da interface poros/ar para esta PL rasante escolhida que está em um angulo interno próximo do da reflexão interna total. A alteração na refletividade para este tipo de sistema Fabry-Perot e confinado provoca mudanças tanto na forma da oscilação do espectro semelhante à mudança no coeficiente de finesse como no deslocamento da posição dos picos em comprimentos de onda.

Na matriz energética brasileira, o óleo diesel tem lugar de destaque, porém ainda é comercializado com teores de compostos sulfurados e nitrogenados considerados altos para as legislações ambientais que entrarão em vigor nos próximos anos. Tradicionalmente, a remoção desses compostos de enxofre de correntes de petróleo é realizada por processos de hidrotratamento (HDT). No entanto, devido as características do diesel brasileiro, se faz necessária maior severidade para atingir as novas especificações dos combustíveis. Isto implica em investimentos e custos operacionais crescentes para atender a demanda que se instala. Neste contexto, a adsorção está sendo estudada para a purificação da corrente de óleo diesel oriunda da etapa de hidrotratamento como polimento final para alcançar as especificações mais exigentes. Sabe-se que os adsorventes comerciais apresentam limitações na remoção destes contaminantes e uma alternativa que tem se mostrado promissora é a incorporação de metais de transição na estrutura do sólido. No presente trabalho foram modificados adsorventes comerciais, tais como aluminas, sílica-aluminas e argilas pela introdução dos elementos níquel, colbalto e molibdênio e testado o desempenho dessas modificações frente à adsorção de compostos sulfurados e nitrogenados presentes em um diesel hidrotratado. Foram feitas caracterizações químicas, físicas, texturais e morfológicas dos sólidos com e sem incorporação de metais de transição na estrutura original. Os experimentos de adsorção foram realizados a 40C. Avaliando todos os sólidos, o adsorvente que mostrou o melhor desempenho na remoção de compostos sulfurados e nitrogenados por massa de adsorvente foi a sílica-alumina sem modificações, que foi capaz de remover em torno de 90% de compostos nitrogenados e 55 % de sulfurados para 2 g de sólido / 10 mL de diesel. Para os materiais modificados, observou-se que a incorporação dos metais de transição ocasionou redução da sua área superficial e do volume total de poros. Desta maneira, os efeitos esperados pelas interações entre o sítios metálicos e os compostos de nitrogênio e enxofre foram reduzidos / Diesel oil has a prominent role in the Brazilian energy matrix, but is still marketed with high levels of sulfur and nitrogen compounds compared to the next years ongoing environmental legislation. Traditionally, the removal of sulfur compounds from petroleum streams is performed by the hydrotreating processes (HDT). However, due to the Brazilian diesel characteristics, more stringent operation conditions are necessary to achieve new fuel specifications. This involves investment and operating costs rising to meet demand that is installed. In this context, adsorption is being studied for the purification of HDT diesel oil as a final polishing to meet the specifications. It is known that the commercial adsorbents have limitations in removing these contaminants and an alternative that has been shown promising is the incorporation of transition metal in the solid structure. In this work we modified commercial adsorbents such as alumina, silica-aluminas and clays by the introduction of the elements nickel, colbalto, and molybdenum and the behavior of theses modifications was testes against adsorption of sulfur and nitrogen present in HDT diesel oil. Physical, textural, and morphological characterizations of the solids were performed with and without addition of transition metals in its structure original. The adsorption experiments were performed at 40C. Evaluating all the solids, the adsorbent that showed the best performance in the removal of sulfur compounds and nitrogen per mass of adsorbent was the silica-alumina without modification, which was able to remove around 90% of nitrogen and 55% of sulfur with 2 g of solid / 10 mL of diesel. For the modified materials, it was observed that incorporation of transition metals led to reduction of its surface area and total pore volume. Thus, the expected effects of interactions between the metal sites and nitrogen and sulfur compounds were reduced

Coroas cerâmicas apoiadas sobre infra-estruturas de alumina densamente sinterizada configuram-se como excelentes opções para a reabilitação protética em casos de exigência estética, contudo, o aumento do conteúdo cristalino inviabiliza seu condicionamento por ácidos deixando a maneira ideal de cimentá-las ainda desconhecida. Coroas Procera AllCeram apresentam, em sua face interna, micro irregularidades interessantes ao embricamento e adesão resinosa, dispensando manobras de condicionamento. Objetivo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência de elevadas temperaturas (500ºC à 950ºC) necessárias à cocção da porcelana de revestimento, na textura superficial da alumina, bem como o papel de um agente primer (Ivoclar Vivadent) na força de adesão entre alumina e cimento resinoso. Material e métodos: Sessenta (60) cilindros de alumina (3,5mm X 16mm) com rugosidade superficial idêntica à dos copings Procera foram divididos em quatro grupos (n=15). Grupo 1): Espécimes não submetidos a variação térmica, sendo G1a Sem aplicação do primer e G1b Com aplicação do primer e Grupo 2): Espécimes submetidos aos ciclos térmicos para cocção da porcelana feldspática, sendo G2a Sem aplicação do primer e G2b Com aplicação do primer. Sobre os cilindros aplicou-se porção do cimento resinoso químico MultiLink Ivoclar. Os espécimes foram levados a uma máquina de ensaios Universal para teste de cisalhamento a uma velocidade de 0.5mm/min e os dados submetidos à análise de variância a um critério e teste de comparações múltiplas de Tukey. Resultados: A força de adesão para cada um dos grupos foi: G1a = 2.468 MPa; G1b = 4.265 MPa; G2a = 2.339MPa e G2b = 4.185 MPa. Diferenças significantes foram observadas entre os grupos: G1a X G1b; G1a X G2b; G1b X G2a e G2a X G2b. Conclusões: Ciclos térmicos não produziram alterações na micro-estrutura superficial da alumina, tampouco comprometeram sua adesão ao cimento. O agente primer aumentou a força de união entre alumina e cimento resinoso. Fraturas coesivas do agente cimentante foram observadas apenas em alguns espécimes primer-tratados. / High-strength alumina based ceramic crowns are widely used in dentistry due to their favorable esthetic, however, the large amount of crystalline contents jeopardizes their acid etching property and the ideal luting remains unclear. Procera AllCeram restorations exhibits on their intaglio surface micro irregularities optimizing the bonding to resin, with no need for additional conditioning procedures. Purpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of high thermal cycles (500ºC to 950ºC) needed to porcelain firing on alumina´s intaglio surface, as well as, the role of a primer agent (Ivoclar Vivadent) on shear bond strength between alumina and resin cement. Material and Methods: Sixty alumina cylinders (3,5mm X 16mm) with intaglio roughness of the Procera AllCeram copings were randomly divided into four groups (n=15). Group 1) Samples no submitted to thermal cycles variation, were G1a - no primer application and G1b - primer treated and Group 2: Samples submitted to thermal feldspathic porcelain firing cycles, were G2a - specimens no primer treated and G2b - primer treated specimens. Over the cylinders top a self-cure resin cement (Multilink Ivoclar) portion was applied. The specimens were loaded to failure in shear mode using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0,5mm/min. Data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and Tukey´s multiple comparison test. Results: The shear bond strength for each group was: G1a = 2.468 MPa; G1b = 4.265 MPa; G2a = 2.339 MPa e G2b = 4.185 MPa. Significant difference was found between the groups G1a X G1b; G1a X G2b; G1b X G2a e G2a X G2b. Conclusions: Thermal cycles did not change alumina´s surface micro structure, besides did not compromised it´s bonding strength to resin cement. Primer agent enhanced shear bond strength between alumina and resin cement. Luting agent´s cohesive fractures were observed only in some primer treated specimens.

Due to the widespread application of pesticides and herbicides in agricultural industries, these substances have been highlighted as emerging contamination of natural ground and surface water resources. Conventional water treatment processes are only effective in removing emerging contaminants in water. The mechanism of degradation of organic impurities present in water using ozone is known to either directly involve the ozone molecule or to occur by the indirect effect of free hydroxyl radicals (•OH). The latter are produced in the radical chain reaction of ozone decomposition. A series of experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of particle sizes of nano-ZnO catalysts on removal of atrazine (ATZ). Nano-ZnO catalysts increase the rate of ozone decomposition and atrazine removal by production of hydroxyl radicals as oxidative intermediates. However, different particle sizes have a minimal effect on the rate of ozone decomposition and atrazine removal. It is believed that molecular ozone is adsorbed on the surface of nano-ZnO followed by the oxidation of the ozone molecule. This leads to the production of OH radicals. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that reaction is carried out in the bulk of the solution and the rate is independent of catalyst’s surface area. This is probably the reason for similar reaction rates of different particle sizes of nano-Zno catalysts. Additionally three different metal oxides (ZnO, Mn2O3 and Fe2O3) loaded on ƴ-alumina and ƴ-alumina (metal oxide-free) were used in catalytic ozonation of aquatic atrazine samples. The findings substantiate the strong influence of molecular ozone on degradation of ATZ and the partial involvement of hydroxyl radicals in the mechanism. Based on adsorption studies, atrazine has a low affinity towards adsorption on the surface of the catalysts. It is logical to assume that ozone reacts with the hydroxyl groups of the catalyst to form a highly reactive metal-ozone complex. This layer could react with a molecule of atrazine through an electron-transfer mechanism. The residual concentration of ATZ and total organic carbon (TOC) were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analyses.

In order to continue with metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS) transistor scaling and to reduce the power density, the channel should be replaced with a material having a higher electron mobility, such as a III-V semiconductor. However, the integration of III-V's is a challenge because these materials oxidize rapidly when exposed to air and the native oxide produced is characterized by a high density of defects. Deposition of high-k materials on III-V semiconductors using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) reduces the thickness of these oxides, improving the semiconductor/oxide interface quality and the transistor electrical characteristics. In this work, ALD is used to deposit two dielectrics, Al₂O₃ and TiO₂, on two III-V materials, GaAs and InGaAs, and in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and in-situ thermal programmed desorption (TPD) are used for interface characterization. Hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching of GaAs(100) and brief reoxidation in air produces a 9.0 ± 1.6 Å-thick oxide overlayer containing 86% As oxides. The oxides are removed by 1 s pulses of trimethylaluminum (TMA) or TiCl₄. TMA removes the oxide overlayer while depositing a 7.5 ± 1.6 Å thick aluminum oxide. The reaction follows a ligand exchange mechanism producing nonvolatile Al-O species that remain on the surface. TiCl₄ exposure removes the oxide overlayer in the temperature range 89°C to 300°C, depositing approximately 0.04 monolayer of titanium oxide for deposition temperatures from 89°C to 135°C, but no titanium oxide is present from 170°C to 230°C. TiCl₄ forms a volatile oxychloride product and removes O from the surface while leaving Cl atoms adsorbed to an elemental As layer, chemically passivating the surface. The native oxide of In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As(100) is removed using liquid HF and gas phase HF before deposition of Al₂O₃ using TMA and H₂O at 170°C. An aluminium oxide film with a thickness of 7.2 ± 1.2 Å and 7.3 ± 1.2 Å is deposited during the first pulse of TMA on liquid and gas phase HF treated samples, respectively. After three complete ALD cycles the thickness of the aluminum oxide film is 10.0 ± 1.2 Å on liquid HF treated and 6.6 ± 1.2 Å on gas phase HF treated surfaces. Samples treated with gas phase HF inhibit growth. Inhibition is caused by residual F atoms that passivate the surface and by surface poisoning due to the thicker carbon film deposited during the first pulse of TMA. On InGaAs covered by native oxide, the first TMA pulse deposits 9 Å of aluminum oxide, and reaches saturation at 13 Å after 15 pulses of TMA. The film grows by scavenging oxygen from the substrate oxides. Substrate oxides are reduced by the first pulse of TMA even at 0°C. At 0°C, on a 9 Å thick Ga-rich oxide surface, 1 pulse of TMA mainly physisorbs and a limited amount of aluminum oxide is deposited. At 0°C, 110°C, and 170°C, more aluminum oxide is deposited on surfaces initially containing As oxide, and larger binding energy (BE) shifts of the O 1s peak are observed compared to surfaces that contain Ga oxides only, showing that As oxides improve the nucleation of Al₂O₃.

Carbon dioxide reforming, or drying reforming, of methane can now be used in new applications such as landfill gas utilization where CO and CH need to be converted to a mixture of CO and H, called synthesis gas or syn-gas. A novel Ni-Co/AlMgO bimetallic powder catalyst was developed in previous research for dry reforming of methane (DRM) process which can eliminate carbon deposition. But it is difficult242x to apply this loose-powder catalyst in industrial scale. The procedure of making spherical Ni-Co/AlMgOx bimetallic catalyst supported on BASF CSS-350 alumina balls (BASF Catalysts LLC) using impregnation method with different impregnation steps and calcination steps is explained in this thesis. For every batch of preparation, the concentration of metal solution was calculated based on different impregnation steps. BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) analysis, compressive strength test, XANES (X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure) measurement and ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) analysis are conducted to understand the physical and chemical properties of the catalyst. It is found that both impregnation steps and calcination steps have great influence on the performance of the prepared catalyst samples. Among all the catalysts prepared, BF-4-0.25(MgNiCo)-C, which was made by using 4 impregnation-calcination cycles, shows the best activity and stability for 160 h time-on stream (TOS) under the reaction condition of 0.10 g catalyst loading, 750 oC, ambient pressure, GHSV=100,000 ml/gc·h, and CH4/CO2/N2 = 1/1/1. The CH4 conversion started at 66.7% and slowly dropped to 52.8% after 160 hours. I I BF-4-0.25(MgNiCo)-C spherical catalyst shows lower reaction rate compared to the loose powder format but shows compatible or higher activity to other two reported catalysts in similar compositions. Most importantly, it is a shaped catalyst ready for industrial use.

With the rapid growth in the wireless industry there has been increasing demand to make devices with better performance. This means lower power, lower voltage, smaller, and in general more efficient. This has lead to the interest in and necessity for good quality passive components. Good quality passive components make better filters, baluns, voltage controlled oscillators, and matching networks. There has been a lot of work over the last ten years focused on improving the quality of inductors. Typical inductors fabricated on silicon have Q factors of approximately 10. This is because silicon is conductive and therefore acts like a lossy ground plane and develops interfering currents. Improvements that have been attempted include thicker metal layers, thicker dielectric layers, patterned ground shields, as well as using multiple metal layers. These methods, however, still do not improve inductors to the quality of those built on insulating substrates such as glass. The main successful attempt on silicon has been where the inductor coil is released so that it is in the air supported by posts. In some work the inductor coil is raised 50 to 100??m above the underpass by methods like etching or photoresist molding. The suspended inductor approach was applied to an insulating substrate to fabricate and characterize unique suspended inductors and transformers. Inductors were released to have 1??m of air underneath the coil by the use of a release etch. Transformers were made in a similar way except two released layers where used. The top coil, done in plated gold, was released as well as an interconnection layer. Such a small air gap and the transformers with two released metal layers are a couple of the unique features of this thesis work. The devices were characterized up to 20GHz before and after release. An improvement in the peak Q factor (up to 70), as well as in the self-resonance frequency (up to 4GHz higher) was noticed after release. This is expected due to the reduction in parasitics. The results were then compared with simulations and a couple closed form expressions, both of which were able to give a reasonable accuracy. There was also success in getting good high frequency transformers. Even though some good high-Q inductors were fabricated as part of this thesis, there is still further work that can be done. This includes packaging, integration with capacitors, and further optimization.

Fabrication and characterization of a new kind of pressure sensor using self-assembly Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanowires on top of the gate of a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) is presented. Self-assembly ZnO nanowires were fabricated with a diameter of 80 nm and 800 nm height (80:8 aspect ratio) on top of the gate of the MOSFET. The sensor showed a 110% response in the drain current due to pressure, even with the expected piezoresistive response of the silicon device removed from the measurement. The pressure sensor was fabricated through low temperature bottom up ultrahigh aspect ratio ZnO nanowire growth using anodic alumina oxide (AAO) templates. The pressure sensor has two main components: MOSFET and ZnO nanowires. Silicon Dioxide growth, photolithography, dopant diffusion, and aluminum metallization were used to fabricate a basic MOSFET. In the other hand, a combination of aluminum anodization, alumina barrier layer removal, ZnO atomic layer deposition (ALD), and wet etching for nanowire release were optimized to fabricate the sensor on a silicon wafer. The ZnO nanowire fabrication sequence presented is at low temperature making it compatible with CMOS technology.

Orientador: Elidiane Cipriano Rangel / Banca: Francisco Trivinho Strixino / Banca: Steven Frederick Durrant / O Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia dos Materiais, PosMat, tem caráter institucional e integra as atividads de pesquisa em materiais de diversos campi / Resumo: Neste trabalho é proposta uma nova tecnologia de plasma para a deposição de filmes de alumina a partir do acetilacetonato de alumínio, AAA. A possibilidade de se depositar filmes a partir da pulverização catódicado AAA em plasmas de argônio foi demonstrada em trabalho prévio do grupo. No presente trabalho, foi realizada uma mudança nesta metodologia de forma a associar bombardeamento iônico do substrato ao processo de deposição. Para tal, o plasma foi gerado pela aplicação de sinal de radiofrequência (13,56 MHz) ao eletrodo inferior de um sistema de plasma capacitivamente acoplado, onde o pó do AAA foi espalhado. O eletrodo superior, também usado como porta-amostras, foi polarizado com pulsos retangulares negativos de amplitude, frequência e ciclo de trabalho controlados. A pulverização católica de fragmentos do AAA pelo plasma fornece precursores para a deposição do filme enquanto a polarização do porta-amostras acelera íons em direção aos substratos promovendo bombardeamento iônico da camada em crescimento. Os parâmetros de excitação do plasma (11 Pa, 13,56 MHz, 150 W, 3600 s) foram mantidos iguais aos otimizados em trabalho anterior do grupo. Variou-se a amplitude dos pulsos de popularização, entre 0 e 2800 V, de modo a modificar a energia fornecida pelo bombardeamento iônico à estrutura. A frequencia e foi fixada em 300 Hz e os pulsos de trabalho variaram entre (0, e 100%). Investigou-se o efeito da intensidade dos pulsos nas propriedades da camda resultante. A taxa de deposição foi determinada a partir do tempo de deposição e da espessura dos filmes, medida por perfilometria. A estrutura molecular das camadas foi analisada por espectroscopia no infravermelho no modo IRRAS (Infrared Reflectante Absorbance Spectroscopy). Difração de raios X foi empregada para avaliar se houve precipitação de fases cristalinas da alumina. A morfologia do material depositado foi inspecionada por microscopia... / Abstract: A new plasma methodology for deposition of alumina from aluminum acetylacetonate, AAA, is proposed. In a previous study by his this group, the possibility of depositing films from the AAA, by sputtering in argon atmosphere. In the present work, this methodology was modified by coupling a bombardment to the deposition process. For this, the plasma was generated by the application of radifrequency signal (13.56 MHz) to the lowermost electrode of a capacitively coupled plasma system with the AAA powder was spread. The topmost electrode, also used as the sample holder, was biased with retangular negative pulses of controlled amplitude, frequency and duty cycle. Sputtering of AAA fragments by the argon plasma provides precursors for film deposition while the polarization of the holder accelerates ions toward the substrates, promoting ion bombardment of the growing layer. The plasma excitation parameters (11 Pa, 13.56 MHz, 150 W, 3600 s) were the same as those optimized in the previous work of the group. The magnitude of the pulses was varied from 0 to 2800 V. To change the energy delivered by ion bombardment to the structure. A fixed pulse frequency and duty cycle were fixed of 300 Hz and duty cicle changed between (0 and 100%). The effect of P on the film properties was investigated. Deposition rates were determined from the deposition time and film thinckness, measured by profilometry. Infrared spectroscopy in the IRRAS mode (InfraRed Reflectante Absorbance Spectroscopy) was used to investigate the molecular structure of the layers. X-ray diffractometry was employed to verify if there was precipitation of crystalline alumina phases. The material microstructure was investigated by scanning electron and atomic force microscopies. Elemental composition analyses were performed by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy while data obtained by nanoindentation tests allowed the calculation of hardness. The structures present (C-H, C=O, C=C e (C-H)3 organic... / Mestre