Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:38:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:05:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 05639.pdf: 6476184 bytes, checksum: 3037d7c0ce96c51e46c15baa5bdd114c (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP / FAPESP:92/01672-4

Organic crystals are found in everyday goods such as foods, drugs, dyes, and agricultural products. To better understand the solid-state behaviour of organic crystals, the study of their surfaces is crucial, as several reactions occur at the interface between the crystal surface and its immediate environment. While atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a useful tool for studying surfaces, it is not a common technique for studying organic crystals. The rst part of this report aims to address problems of imaging organic crystals by AFM which arise from the nature of the imaging technique and the material property of organic crystals. Methods of detecting and predicting the likelihood of the problems encountered in imaging organic crystals are suggested in order for a more accurate interpretation of the information obtained by this technique. The e ect of humidity on aspirin crystal surfaces is then investigated by AFM. The growth of new features on the surface is believed to be a result of the hydrolysis of aspirin molecules. Mechanisms are suggested based on the observed surface response of aspirin, where surface defects and the mobility of surface molecules are believed to be important factors a ecting reactivity. The last section investigates the solid-state photochemical reaction of anthracene, which is a reaction that should not occur according to the topochemical postulate. The surface response of anthracene crystals to UV light was studied, and the results indicate strong reactivity at sites of surface defects, which is likely due to photodimerisation. A similar mechanism that described the behaviour of aspirin surfaces was suggested for this reaction. In summary, both reactions that were studied provided a better insight towards understanding the solid-state reactivity of organic crystals. The proposed surface mechanisms imply that surface defects and the presence of humidity or solvent vapour are very likely to play a role in determining reactivity. Further studies on the origin of defects are suggested in order to better control the behaviour of organic crystals in the solid-state.

L’objectif de cette thèse porte sur la synthèse du diamant monocristallin dopé au bore par dépôt chimique en phase vapeur assisté par plasma micro-onde (MPCVD). Ces couches épitaxiées jouent le rôle de couches actives dans des composants pour l’électronique de puissance. Ces travaux s’inscrivent dans le cadre du projet Européen H2020 Greendiamond. Durant cette thèse, un traitement de gravure des défauts surfaciques des substrats de diamant HPHT par plasma Ar/O₂ a été mis au point. L’efficacité de ce traitement a été validée par diffraction des rayons X à haute résolution, spectroscopie Raman et cathodoluminescence. Cette étape s’est révélée essentielle pour l’amélioration des propriétés de transport de couches de diamant dopées au bore pour les applications en électronique.L’optimisation des conditions de croissance de couches de diamant faiblement dopées au bore (<10¹⁶ at.cm⁻¹) a permis la synthèse de films homoépitaxiés allant jusqu’à 5 µm d’épaisseur présentant une haute qualité cristalline. Les propriétés structurales et de transport de ces couches ont été corrélés en combinant différentes méthodes comme la spectroscopie Raman, la cathodoluminescence, la topographie X, l’imagerie MEB des défauts, les mesures par temps de vol et des mesures de Hall.Ces films de diamant dopés au bore ont été intégrés avec succès dans des composants électroniques comme des MESFET ou des diodes Schottky. / This PhD aims to synthetize boron doped single-crystal diamond epilayers by Micro-Wave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (MPCVD) as active layers for power electronic devices. This work was performed in relation with the European H2020 Greendiamond project. A powerful Ar/O₂ plasma etching was optimized which allows the efficient elimination of defects in the subsurface of HPHT diamond substrates as confirmed by High Resolution X-ray Diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and Cathodoluminescence. This step proved to be crucial for the improvement of low boron doped-diamond layers carrier properties for electronic purposes.The optimization of growth conditions performed on low boron-doped diamond layers (<10¹⁶ at.cm⁻³) enabled the synthesis of high quality doped layers, 5 µm thick. The structural and transport properties of these layers were correlated by different techniques: Raman spectroscopy, Cathodoluminescence, X-Ray Topography, SEM imaging of defects, Transient Current Technique, Hall measurements.Finally, low boron doped epilayers were integrated with success in electronic devices such as MESFET or Schottky diodes.

La spectroscopie de perte d’énergie des électrons (EELS) et la cathodoluminescence (CL) dans un microscope électronique en transmission à balayage (STEM) sont des techniques puissantes pour l’étude des nanostructures isolées. Cependant, des électrons rapides peuvent endommager fortement des échantillons minces et fragiles, ce qui limite la résolution spatiale et l’intensité des signaux spectroscopiques. Pendant cette thèse, nous avons dépassé cette restriction par le développement de protocoles d’acquisition spécifiques pour l’étude de certains archétypes de nanosystèmes fragiles. Dans la première partie de cette thèse, nous avons caractérisé des flocons minces de graphène oxydé (GO) et GO réduit (RGO) par EELS dans le STEM. Grâce aux spécificités techniques de notre microscope et à la définition des conditions d’illumination optimales, nous avons dérivé des cartes du contenu d’oxygène dans le (R)GO à une résolution spatiale inédite. Aussi, par l’analyse des pics EELS de structure fine, nous avons révisé les modèles atomiques proposés dans la littérature. Des molécules isolées constituent une autre classe de nanomatériaux fortement sensibles à l’irradiation et aussi à l’environnement chimique et physique. Nous avons conduit des expériences de CL sur des molécules individuelles, grâce à un choix avisé du substrat. Le nitrure de bore hexagonal (h-BN) est un matériaux bidimensionnel chimiquement inerte, qui participe activement au processus de CL en absorbant l’énergie incidente. Le transfert de l’excitation aux molécules et l’utilisation d’une routine innovante d’acquisition par balayage aléatoire ont permis de réduire les effets d’illumination. Ensuite, l’intérêt porté aux propriétés optiques du h-BN ont inspiré l’étude de sa phase cubique (c-BN), qui a été peu caractérisé auparavant à cause d’impuretés dans les cristaux. Nous avons analysé des cristaux de c-BN de haute pureté par EELS, en identifiant une bande interdite d’énergie plus grande que précédemment rapportée et plus proche des calculs les plus récents. Dans des cristaux moins purs, nous avons identifié et analysé plusieurs émissions associées à des défauts, en termes d’énergie caractéristique, distribution spatiale et temps de vie, par CL et interférométrie en intensité de Hanbury-Brown et Twiss. / Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and cathodoluminescence(CL) in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) are extremely powerful techniques for the study of individual nanostructures. Nevertheless, fast electrons damage extremely sensitive thin specimens, imposing strong limitations on the spatial resolution and the intensity of spectroscopic measurements. During this thesis we have overcome this restriction by developing material-specific acquisition protocols for the study of some archetypical fragile nanosystems. In the first part of this thesis we have characterized graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) thin flakes by EELS spectroscopy in the STEM. Thanks to the particular setup of our microscope and by experimentally defining the optimal illumination conditions, we have derived oxygen quantification maps of (R)GO at an unprecedented spatial resolution. On the basis also of EELS fine structures analysis, we have revised the existing proposed atomic models for these materials. Another class of exceedingly sensitive nanometric systems is represented by individual molecules, which are strongly affected by both illumination and chemical/physical environment. We have performed the first CL-STEM investigation on the luminescence of isolated molecules, thanks to a watchful choice of the substrate. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a flat, chemically inert 2D material, that actively takes part in the CL process by absorbing the incident energy. Excitation transfer from h-BN to molecules and the use of an innovative random scan acquisition routine in the STEM have allowed to considerably lower illumination effects and improve CL intensity. Afterwards, the attractive optical properties of h-BN have led to the study of its cubic phase (c-BN), which has been up to now hindered by the poor quality of the crystals. By EELS in the STEM we have analysed c-BN crystals of the highest available purity, identifying a wider optical band-gap with respect to previous experimental studies and in better agreement with recent calculations. In commercial crystals, several defect-related emissions have been identified and analysed in terms of characteristic energy, spatial distribution and lifetime using CL and Hanbury-Brown and Twiss intensity interferometry.

No description available.

Cette thèse porte sur l'influence des défauts cristallins des nanocristaux d'or. Elle traite de la synthèse et de l'assemblage de nanocristaux d'or dont la taille et le taux de défauts cristallins sont contrôlés. Au cours de ce travail, une méthode permettant de séparer des nanocristaux de même taille mais soit mono-, soit polycristallines a été mise au point pour ensuite les utiliser comme graines de croissance cristalline afin d'étendre le contrôle de taille de 5 à 13 nm. Les propriétés plasmoniques ainsi que vibrationnelles de ces nanocristaux d'or ont pu ainsi être étudiées en fonction de la présence ou non de défauts cristallins. Les nanocristaux synthétisés lors de cette thèse présentent une distribution de taille suffisamment faible pour permettre leur auto-assemblage en réseau ordonné à trois dimensions, appelés supracristaux. L'apparition de supracristaux inverses et de surfaces vicinales a pu être observée dans certaines conditions d'assemblage. De plus, il est aussi possible d'obtenir des supracristaux de taille submillimétrique ne contenant que des nanocristaux mono- ou polycristallines, et pouvant être étudiés individuellement par diffraction de rayons X. Il a ainsi été possible de corréler l'ordre orientationnel et translationnel des nanocristaux dans le réseau supracristallin. / This thesis deals with the influence of crystal defects of gold nanocrystals, especially on the synthesis and self-assembly of gold nanocrystals whose crystal defects and size are controlled. During this work, a method have been developed to separate single and polycrystals with similar size using crystalline segregation. Then, these nanocrystals have been used as seeds for a second crystal growth in order to expand their size from 5 nm to 13 nm in diameter. The plasmonic and vibrational properties of these gold nanocrystals have also been studied. The obtained nanocrystals exhibit low size distribution that allows their self-assemblies into three dimensional ordered lattice, called supracrystals. Negative supracrystals and vicinal surfaces have been observed under specific self-assembly conditions. Moreover, it is possible to obtain supracrystals with submillimeter size containing only either single or polycrystals and study them in an individual way by X-ray diffraction. It has also been possible to correlate the translational and orientational order of gold nanocrystals within the supracrystalline lattice.

This thesis treats about semiconducting silicon structures. It describes the characteristics of the element and creation of P and N type of semiconductor and discusses about different types of faults in the crystal lattice. It deals with the description of methods for monitoring faults in semiconductor ie. determining the properties of semiconductors via EBIC, EBIV and CC methods, which are used for analysis of semiconductor devices and materials. Determining the properties of silicon components is being done by generation of charge carriers in the sample loaded in chamber of the scanning electron microscope by high energy electrons. Bellow the sample surface is being generated an electric charge which is being collected by probes. Using this data obtained by EBIC and CC were evaluated diffusion length and lifetime of electrons.

This thesis establishes methods to locally and effciently detect the fluorescence from photonic crystals (PCs) in dependence on wavelength and direction. These are applied to three dimensional (3D) PCs grown by vertical deposition of polystyrene beads. The experiments allow conclusions about the local 3D structure of a sample, about defects in its volume and about spatial structural variations. They thus provide more information than typical spectroscopy measurements that average over large areas and methods that only image the surface structure like scanning electron microscopy. A focused laser is used to excite emitters in the sample only locally. The fluorescence is then collected by a microscope objective. Every point in this objective’s back focal plane (BFP) corresponds to a certain direction. This property is utilized in two ways. When observing a small spectral range of the emission in the BFP, stop bands appear as intensity minima since they hinder the emission into the corresponding directions. Thus, back focal plane imaging (BFPI) allows to visualize stop bands of many directions at the same time. The detected patterns permit to find the in-plane and out-of-plane orientation of the PC lattice and to conclude on the presence of stacking faults. Spatial variations of the structure are observed on a length scale of a few micrometers. The depth of the stop band is reduced at sample positions, where structural changes occur. In back focal plane spectroscopy (BFPS), a slit selects light from certain points in the BFP, which is spectrally dispersed subsequently. This allows to record spectra from many directions simultaneously. From them, a lattice compression along the sample normal of about 4% is found. Small deformations are also observed for other directions. Scattering at defects redistributes the emission. This increases the detected intensity compared to homogeneous media at some stop band edges in a broad spectral range for samples thicker than the scattering mean free path. Thinner samples show a narrow enhancement due to an increase in the fractional density of optical states and thus in emission. BFPI and BFPS are also used to observe the growth of PCs from drying droplets. The experiments show that the beads initially form a non-close packed lattice. This causes stress as the lattice constant decreases, which is released by cracking of the PCs.

Comprehensive investigations of crystalline systems often require methods bridging atomistic and continuum scales. In this context, coarse-grained mesoscale approaches are of particular interest as they allow the examination of large systems and time scales while retaining some microscopic details. The so-called phase-field crystal (PFC) model conveniently describes crystals at diffusive time scales through a continuous periodic field which varies on atomic scales and is related to the atomic number density. To go beyond the restrictive atomic length scales of the PFC model, a complex amplitude formulation was first developed by Goldenfeld et al (2005 Phys. Rev. E 72 020601). While focusing on length scales larger than the lattice parameter, this approach can describe crystalline defects, interfaces, and lattice deformations. It has been used to examine many phenomena including liquid/solid fronts, grain boundary energies, and strained films. This topical review focuses on this amplitude expansion of the PFC model and its developments. An overview of the derivation, connection to the continuum limit, representative applications, and extensions is presented. A few practical aspects, such as suitable numerical methods and examples, are illustrated as well. Finally, the capabilities and bounds of the model, current challenges, and future perspectives are addressed.

No description available.