Ferroelectrics are a group of advanced electronic materialswith a wide variety of properties useful in applications suchas memory devices, resonators and filters, infrared sensors,microelectromechanical systems, and optical waveguides andmodulators. Among the oxide perovskite-structured ferroelectricthin film materials sodium potassium niobate or Na0.5K0.5NbO3(NKN) has recently emerged as one of the most promisingmaterials in microwave applications due to high dielectrictunability and low dielectric loss. This licentiate thesispresents results on growth and structural, optical, andelectrical characterization of Na0.5K0.5NbO3 thin films. Thefilms were deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering of astoichiometric, high density, ceramic Na0.5K0.5NbO3 target ontosingle crystal LaAlO3 and Al2O3, and polycrystalline Pt80Ir20substrates. By x-ray diffractometry, NKN films on c-axisoriented LaAlO3 substrates were found to grow epitaxially,whereas films on hexagonal sapphire and polycrystallinePt80Ir20 substrates were found to be preferentially (00l)oriented. Optical and waveguiding properties of theNa0.5K0.5NbO3/Al2O3 heterostructure were characterized using aprism-coupling technique. Sharp and distinguishable transversemagnetic (TM) and electric (TE) propagation modes wereobserved. The extraordinary and ordinary refractive indiceswere calculated to ne = 2.216±0.003 and no =2.247±0.002 for a 2.0 μm thick film at λ = 632.8nm. This implies a birefringence Δn = ne - no =-0.031±0.003 in the film. The ferroelectric state inNKN/Pt80Ir20 films at room temperature was indicated by apolarization loop with polarization as high as 33.4 μC/cm2at 700 kV/cm, remnant polarization of 9.9 μC/cm2 andcoercive field of 91 kV/cm. Current-voltage characteristics ofvertical Au/NKN/Pt80Ir20 capacitive cells and planar Au/NKN/LaAlO3 interdigital capacitors (IDCs) showed very goodinsulating properties, with the leakage current density for anNKN IDC on the order of 30 nA/cm2 at 400 kV/cm. Rf dielectricspectroscopy demonstrated low loss, low frequency dispersion,and high voltage tunability. At 1 MHz NKN/LaAlO3 showed adissipation factor tan δ of 0.010 and a tunability of 16.5% at 200 kV/cm. For the same structure the frequencydispersion, Δεr, between 1 kHz and 1 MHz was 8.5%. <b>Key words:</b>ferroelectrics, sodium potassium niobates,thin films, rf-magnetron sputtering, waveguiding, refractiveindex, prism coupling, dielectric tunability / NR 20140805

The actual life of a transformer is determined by ageing of the cellulosic insulation such as transformer paper. The presence of moisture in the insulation system decreases the electrical strength of paper and accelerates the aging. It is an efficient way to monitor the moisture content in paper insulation by measuring the dielectric constant of the paper. The moisture dependent permittivity of impregnated transformer paper below 1 MHz has been widely investigated. High frequency (&gt; 1 MHz) dielectric spectroscopy is under requirement since the loss peak information is missing. The impregnated paper is kept in desiccators with saturated salt solutions to get the samples with moisture content from 1 % to 5.5 %. Then they are placed in a coaxial line and the scattering parameters are obtained by modern Vector Network Analyzer. Full wave analysis is utilized to calculate the permittivity from the obtained S-parameters due to its high accuracy. The magnitude of the dielectric spectroscopy below 100 Hz is very dependent on the moisture content while there is a horizontal shift of curves towards higher frequencies depending on the water content over a wide frequency range. The loss peaks appear between 1 MHz and 1 GHz for the impregnated paper with moisture level less than 5.5 %. Due to the limited system accuracy, there is a blank frequency band from 1 MHz to 100 MHz.

In this thesis, different methods for measuring the relative dielectric constant is investigated using simulations and experimental approaches. The first method is known as the S-parameter inversion method. In this method formulae is used to calculate the characteristic impedance of the microstrip line from measured S-parameters. To calculate the value of relative dielectric constant, four expressions for the microstrip line that relate the characteristic impedance to the relative dielectric constant were used. Second method uses an implementation of a band-pass filter and is commonly known as the band-pass filter method. In this method, a band-pass microstrip filter was designed using a predicted relative dielectric constant value. Center frequency of the band-pass filter is chosen to be at the frequency of interest, since relative dielectric constant will be determined around this frequency. The designed band-pass filter was manufactured and the frequency response was measured. To determine the true relative dielectric constant one changes the relative dielectric constant parameter used in the simulation until it matches the measured response of the manufactured PCB. Third method is called the quarter wavelength stub method. It uses implementations of a microstrip quarter wavelength stub because it resonance at different frequencies. The relative dielectric constant is determined using the frequencies on which the reflection occurred. In the fourth method, called the two microstrip line method, two lines of different lengths were designed and the phase difference between the propagating waves were measured. The phase difference and difference in length of the two lines is then used to calculate the relative dielectric constant. The thesis shows that a majority of the methods generates a similar result, thus indicates that they are suitable to determine the relative dielectric constant of any given substrate. The two methods that gave the most accurate results are the quarter wavelength stub method and the band-pass filter method. S-parameter inversion method is the method that has high variations in the results. Since the characteristic impedance that is calculated using the S-parameters are sensitive towards any sort of disturbances. The resulting relative dielectric constant aren't within the expected range for FR-4 both higher and lower values were obtained. The band-pass filter method gives the most accurate results of the methods. As the resulting relative dielectric constant are within the expected range for FR-4. Quarter wavelength stub method gives the results of the relative dielectric constant that are within the expected values of FR-4 and the variation is moderate. Two microstrip line method shows deviations in the results and has non-linearity as well. This is probably coming due to resonance of the line that gives rise to a phase change. This method is also acceptable since the results of the relative dielectric constant are within the expected range for FR-4.

We determined the dielectric function of the alloy system (AlxGa1−x)2O3 by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the wide spectral range from 0.5 eV to 8.5 eV and for Al contents ranging from x = 0.11 to x = 0.55. For the composition range x<0.4, we observe single phase material in the b-modification and for larger Al content also the occurrence of γ-(Al,Ga)2O3. We derived spectra of the refractive index and the absorption coefficient as well as energy parameters of electronic bandband transitions by model analysis of the dielectric function. The dependence of the dielectric functions lineshape and the energy parameters on x is highly continuous, reflecting theoretical expectations. The data presented here provide a basis for a deeper understanding of the electronic properties of this material system and may be useful for device engineering.

We determined the dielectric function of the alloy system (InxGa1−x)2O3 by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the wide spectral range from 0.5 eV to 8.5 eV and for In contents ranging from x = 0.02 to x = 0.61. The predicted optical transitions for binary, monoclinic β-Ga2O3, and cubic bcc-In2O3 are well reflected by the change of the dielectric functions’ lineshape as a function of the In content. In an intermediate composition range with phase-separated material (x ≈ 0.3…0.4), the lineshape differs considerably, which we assign to the presence of the high-pressure rhombohedral InGaO3-II phase, which we also observe in Raman experiments in this range. By model analysis of the dielectric function, we derived spectra of the refractive index and the absorption coefficient and energy parameters of electronic band-band transitions. We discuss the sub-band gap absorption tail in relation to the influence of the In 4d orbitals on the valence bands. The data presented here provide a basis for a deeper understanding of the electronic properties of this technologically important material system and may be useful for device engineering.

Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden Zinkoxid (ZnO)-basierte Metal-Isolator-Halbleiter Feldeffekttransistoren (MISFETs) mit Wolframtrioxid als transparentes Dielektrikum untersucht. Im ersten Teil werden die morphologischen, optischen, elektrischen und chemischen Eigenschaften der mittels gepulster Laserabscheidung (PLD) gewachsenen Wolframoxiddünnfilme, in Abhängigkeit vom Züchtungsdruck, diskutiert. Mit Hilfe dieser Ergebnisse konnte schließlich das hochisolierende Wolframtrioxid erfolgreich mit einer transparenten Gateelektrode, bestehend aus dem entarteten Halbleiter Zink-Galliumoxid (ZGO) bzw. Zink-Aluminiumoxid (AZO), kombiniert und somit MISFETs auf kristallinen und amorphen Substraten realisiert werden. Zur Optimierung der Transistoreigenschaften wurde die Dicke des Dielektrikums variiert und der Einfluss auf die Transfereigenschaften diskutiert. Des Weiteren wurde zur Verschiebung der Einschaltspannung eine Variation der Kanaldicke und des Elektrodenmaterials des Gates untersucht, wodurch die Möglichkeit der Herstellung von Verarmungs- bzw. Anreicherungstyptransistoren gegeben wurde. Um einen Vergleich der Transfereigenschaften des MISFETs gegenüber einem Metall-Halbleiter Feldeffekttransistor mit einem Schottky-Gatekontakt, bestehend aus oxidiertem Platin bzw. einem Sperrschicht-Feldeffekttransistor mit Zinkkobaltit als p-dotierten Bereich zu ermöglichen, wurden alle drei Transistorarten auf einem Substrat hergestellt und umfassend verglichen. Schließlich wird die Stabilität der Transistoren untersucht. Dabei wird der Einfluss einer permanenten Spannungsbelastung auf die Transfereigenschaften unter verschiedenen einflussnehmenden Bedingungen diskutiert. Abschließend werden aufgrund einer sich ausbildenden Hysterese der Transistoreigenschaften mögliche Ursachen derselben und Wege zur Passivierung der Bauelemente untersucht.

With the increasing demand of compact and lightweight wireless devices, there is a significant need to miniaturize the antennas, which are one of the largest radiofrequency components. The radiation performance of antennas degrades as their physical size becomes smaller in terms of operating wavelength [1]. The key challenge in antenna design, therefore, lies in the compromise between size and radiation performance. This challenge becomes critical for low frequency antennas such as for the RFID band. The Antenna-in-Package (AiP) concept, where the antenna is realized as part of the package along with the driving electronics, provides some console in terms of size as the antenna does not need any additional space. In this approach, the package becomes a functional module along with its primary job of protecting the components from the environment. This work aims to investigate various miniaturization techniques for a UHF RFID tag on package. Firstly, a dipole is given a 3D shape by carefully folding it over a package, in a manner that the currents on different segments add constructively. Secondly, the package material (which acts as the substrate for the antenna) is chosen to have a dielectric constant of 5.3 which further helps in size reduction. Finally, loading of slow-wave structures, comprising of inductors and capacitors, is used to achieve further miniaturization. The Artificial Transmission Line approach is utilized to determine the required values of the lumped components, and its location is optimized by analyzing the current distribution of the antenna to maintain a good efficiency. The RFID chip with a large capacitive impedance is conjugately matched to the antenna without an external matching network. This is done by carefully selecting the values of the lumped components as well as by adjusting the trace width of the antenna. The package has been realized through a low-loss filament (𝑡𝑎𝑛(𝛿) = 0.004) with the Raise3D Pro2 printer, and the conductor has been realized by copper tape using laser patterning technology with the laser platform PLS6MW. At an operational frequency of 866 MHz, a 𝑘𝑎 of 0.26, a read-range of 2.7 𝑚, and a radiation efficiency of approximately 32% is achieved.

Semiconductor memory is one of the key technologies driving the success of Si-based information technology within the last five decades. The most prominent representative memory type, the dynamic random access memory(DRAM)was patented in 1967 and was introduced into the market by Intel Corporation in 1972. Until the year 2001 and the realization of the 110 nm technology node, DRAM was the driving force on the lithography shrink roadmap, before NAND FLASH took over that role. Hence, the development of the DRAM technology was long time the forerunner for the exponentially growing large-scale integration and promoted similar advances in logic chips. One of the reasons of the success of the DRAM is its simple cell structure, which consists of only one transistor (1T) and one capacitor (1C), where the information is stored in form of a charge.

There is an increasing interest in using new composite materials in microwave devices, to reduce size and weight while maintaining similar performances. A new promising material group is named magneto-dielectric materials, which have the permittivity and permeability values both larger than one. Compared to the commercially used dielectric materials, magneto-dielectric materials can achieve a larger miniaturization factor with the equivalent properties as dielectric materials. There is a very limited availability of commercial magneto-dielectric materials. A recent addition was from Rogers Corporation with MAGTREX 555, [1], that is available as a printed circuit board laminate. The material is limited to 500 MHz operational frequency due to its increased magnetic and dielectric losses. In this thesis the purpose is to understand the loss mechanisms, characterize and understand the state-of-the-art magneto-dielectric materials at microwaves, and to produce a magneto-dielectric material in the lab to understand the material better. A new material was developed with magneto-dielectric properties. The material was based on a polymer base of polystyrene that serves as a dielectric material and doped with nickel nanoparticles that produce the magnetic properties. The contents of the nanoparticles in the mix is a design variable. Nickel-polystyrene samples with different nickel contents of 0%, 2.3% and 4.5%, were produced in the lab and measured in-house to understand the loss mechanism and RF performance.

The Electrostatic Self-Assembly (ESA) technique possesses great advantages over traditional thin film fabrication methods, making it an excellent choice for a number of applications in the fields of linear and nonlinear optics, electronics, sensing and surface coatings. The feasibility of fabricating linear optical interference filters by ESA methods is demonstrated in this thesis work. Basic single-anion/single-cation ESA films are synthesized and their optical parameters -- refractive index and average thickness for individual bilayer -- are investigated to provide a basis for the in-depth design of optical filters. High performance dielectric stack filters and narrowband and wideband antireflection coatings are designed using TFCalc simulation software and are fabricated by ESA. Both bulk film sensitivity and layer sensitivity to manufacturing errors are provided. The significant agreement between simulation and experiment demonstrates the strong capability of ESA to precisely control the refractive index and produce excellent thin film filters. The performance of optical thin film filters is largely enhanced compared to the results of previous methods. The experiment results indicate that the ESA process may be used to fabricate optical filters and other optical structures that require precise index profile control. / Master of Science