The work deals with a technique of imaging spectroscopic reflectometry developed at The Institute of Physical Engineering, Brno University of Technology. The technique is well suited for characterization of samples non–uniform along their surfaces. The technique is primarily used for optical characterization of thin films. First part of the work is focused on basic physical principles of the technique and on ways in which measurement data are obtained. It contains a basic description of evaluating methods and a basic concept of an imaging spectroscopic reflectometer with a description of main parts of such a device. The main part of the work is focused on a description of two devices which were built at The Institute of Physical Engineering together with a description of some of upgrades which were implemented to these devices during their development. A description of measurements done with the two devices is also included. Last part of the work is then focused on further development of the technique. Intention of possible evolution of the technique to imaging spectroscopic ellipsometry is proposed.

Lignin is one of the main components of wood and plants that acts as a kind of glue providing mechanical strength. It is a main polymer component composed from three phenolic structures, i.e. p-hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G) and syringyl (S) units. It currently draws a lot of attention due to its eco-friendly. Recently, it has been shown that it is possible to produce lignin nanoparticles, small spherical particle that are composed out of lignin, that could possibly be used to replace the hazardous silver nanoparticles that are today used frequently in numerous applications. Lignin nanoparticles could potenitally also be used as functional coatings, as well as biologically degradable adhesives and float switches. Five samples, of nanoparticles, were investigated in this study. The first contained pure lignin nanoparticles, the second pure silver nanoparticles, and the three remaining samples contained lignin-coated silver nanoparticles, extracted from acetone, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and dimetylformamid (DMF) solvents. All samples were characterized using spectroscopic methods, e.g. infrared- and dark-field imaging, as well as UV-Vis-, fluorescence-, and Raman spectroscopy. In this thesis it was shown that lignin-coated silver nanoparticles exhibit surface plasmon resonance which induces a heat effect upon infrared irradiation. To identify the phenolic structures of lignin, UV-Vis spectroscopy was used. It was found that the spectra of the samples exhibited several intense bands. The objective of the UV-Vis spectroscopy was to examine the absorbance characteristics of the lignin-coated silver nanoparticles. Possible surface plasmon resonance wavelengths were determined, and two of the phenolic structures were identified. In this study, Raman spectroscopy was used to define characteristic bands of the samples. This was done to investigate if the lignin nanoparticles have the same characteristics as bulk lignin. Raman spectroscopy provide structural information of lignin. Furthermore, p-hydroxyphenyl, guaiacyl and syringyl structures could be identified with an excitation wavelength of 532nm. A comparison of the spectra of the lignin-containing samples indicated the the Raman features of the specimens were similar meanwhile almost no signs of silver were present, which might show that the particles were fully covered with lignin. Main lignin bands were identified and assigned. The fluorescent properties of the nanoparticles were investigated by obtaining emission spectra for blue-, green- and UV light excitation. The spectra were deconvoluted into their Gaussian components. Emission spectra were obtained for blue-, green- and UV light excitation. It was found that the fluorescence, after UV light exposure, increased with time of exposure. Dark-field microscopy was used to generate light scattering images of the particles. As a result, optical images with different colors (white, yellow, blue and red) could be revealed. The color information, that is related to the size of the particles, was used to estimate ratios of the different particle sizes. The lignin-coated silver nanoparticles, extracted from acetone, exhibited a strong surface plasmon resonance effect, which could be due to the absorbance at 463nm. The lignin-coated silver nanoparticles, extracted from DMF, exhibited a medium surface plasmon resonance effect, which could be due to the absorbance at 362nm. The lignin-coated silver nanoparticles, extracted from the THF solvent, exhibited a weak surface plasmon resonance effect, which could be due to the absorption at 379-380nm. The pure lignin- and silver nanoparticles merely showed bulk heating but no surface plasmon resonance effect could be detected. / Lignin är en av huvudbeståndsdelarna av trä och plantor som fungerar likt ett lim som ger mekanisk styrka. Lignin är en biopolymer, som består av tre fenylgrupper: p-hydroxifenyl (H), guaiacyl (G) och syringyl (S). På senaste tid har det visat sig att det är möjligt att tillverka lignin nanopartiklar, det är små sfäriska partiklar som är helt gjorda av lignin, som skulle kunna ersätta de miljöfarliga silver nanopartiklarna som i nuläget används i många olika tillämpningar. Lignin nanopartiklar kan potentiellt också användas som funktionella ytbeläggningar, såväl som biologiskt nedbrytbara lim och flottörer. Fem prover, av nanopartiklar, undersöktes i denna studie. Det första provet innehöll lignin nanopartiklar, det andra silver nanopartiklarna, och de tre återstående proverna innehöll ligninbelagda silver nanopartiklar, extraherade från aceton, tetrahydrofuran (THF) och dimetylformamid (DMF). Alla prover karakteriserades med hjälp av spektroskopiska metoder: infraröd- och mörkfältavbildning, liksom UV-Vis-, fluorescens- och Ramanspektroskopi. I denna avhandling visades att ligninbelagda silver nanopartiklar uppvisar ytplasmonsresonans, vilket inducerar en värmeeffekt vid infraröd bestrålning. För att identifiera ligninets fenylgrupper användes UV-Vis-spektroskopi. Det visade sig att spektra från proverna uppvisade flera intensiva band. Målet med UV-Vis-spektroskopin var att undersöka absorptionsegenskaperna hos de ligninbelagda silvernanopartiklarna. Möjliga ytplasmonresonansvåglängder bestämdes och två av fenylgrupperna identifierades. I denna studie användes Ramansspektroskopi för att definiera karakteristiska band för proverna. Detta gjordes för att undersöka om lignin nanopartiklarna har samma egenskaper som bulk lignin. Ramanspektroskopi ger information om ligninets struktur. Vidare identigierades p-hydroxifenyl-, guaiacyl- och syringylstrukturerna med en excitationsvåglängd på 532nm. En jämförelse av spektra för de lignininnehållande proverna indikerade att provernas Raman-kännetecken var liknande medan nästan inga tecken på silver fanns, vilket kan visa att partiklarna var täckta med lignin. Huvudsakliga ligninband kunde identifieras. Fluorescensegenskaperna, hos nanopartiklarna, undersöktes genom de erhållna emissionspektra efter exponering av blå-, grön- och UV-ljus. De erhållna spektra dekonvoluterades till dess gaussiska komponenter. Det visade sig att fluorescensen, efter exponering av UV-ljus, ökade med exponeringstiden. Mörkfältmikroskopi användes för att generera bilder på partiklarna. De resulterade i bilder med olika färger (vitt, gult, blått och rött) som motsvarade olika partikelstorlekar och geometrier. På så sätt kunde färhållandena mellan de olika partikelstorlekarna uppskattas. De ligninbelagda silver-nanopartiklarna, extraherade från aceton-lösningen, uppvisade en stark ytplasmonresonanseffekt, vilket kan bero på absorptionen (från absorptionsspektrat) vid 463nm. De ligninbelagda silver-nanopartiklarna, extraherade från DMF-lösningen, uppvisade en medelstark ytplasmonresonanseffekt, vilket kan bero på absorptionen vid 362nm. De ligninbelagda silver-nanopartiklarna, extraherade från THF-lösningen, uppvisade en svag ytplasmonresonanseffekt, vilket kan bero på absorptionen vid 379-380nm. De rena lignin- och silver-nanopartiklarna uppvisade endast uppvärmning men ingen ytplasmonresonanseffekt.

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Direct conversion of solar energy, which is the most powerful and unlimited one among the renewable energy sources / into the electrical energy by the photovoltaic devices, is a promising way of meeting the energy needs of future. Thin film semiconductor materials show great promise for the production of efficient, low-cost solar cell devices. Recently advanced research on thin film photovoltaics in all aspects, has attracted intense attention. Thin film semiconductors for the photovoltaic applications are deposited in large areas by different methods. In this study, deposition and characterization of CuIn1-x GaxSe2 ( CIGS ) semiconductor thin films by thermal evaporation and e-beam evaporation methods were investigated. Material properties and deposition parameters of the thin films are aimed to be optimized for solar cell applications. Structural properties of the deposited CIGS thin films were examined through X-ray diffraction and Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis. The temperature dependent electrical conductivity, Hall effect and photoconductivity of these samples have been measured between 100 and 400 K. For the optical characterization of CIGS thin films, the transmission measurements have been carried out in the wavelength region of 325-900 nm. The changes in the structural, electrical and optical properties of samples through post-depositional annealing effect were also analyzed.

In this work we have prepared Si and SI(1-X)GE(X) nanocrystals by rf magnetron cosputtering method. The eect of annealing parameters and Ge content of x on the structural and optical properties sandwiched SiO2/SiO2: Si: Ge/SiO2 nanostructures have been investigated. For characterization we have used cross-sectional high resolution electron microscope (HREM), X-ray diraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy (RS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), photoluminescence (PL), and temperature dependent PL (TDPL) techniques. It was shown that Ge content of x, annealing temperature, and annealing time are important parameters aecting the structural and optical properties of the nanocrystals. We have observed a uniform SI(1-X)GE(X) nanocrystal formation upon annealing at relatively low temperatures and short annealing time. However, Ge-rich SI(1-X)GE(X) nanocrystals do not hold their compositional uniformity when annealed at high temperatures for enough long time. A segregation process leads to the separation of Ge and Si atoms from each other and formation of Si-rich core covered by a Ge-rich shell. Related to the optical properties of Si and SI(1-X)GE(X) nanocrystals, influence of annealing treatments and Ge content of x on the simultaneous observation and relative contribution of quantum confined and interface related radiative emission to PL spectra are investigated. On the other hand, temperature dependent photoluminescence (TDPL) measurements have been applied to investigate in detail the involving PL mechanisms and the competing thermally activated emission process and the thermally activated escape process of carriers into nonradiative recombination centers and/or tunneling of the excitons into the interface or to larger nanocrystals.

Single crystals of GaSe were grown from the melt using 3-zone vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger system. In order to determine the doping effect, nitrogen and silicon ions were implanted to the grown crystals. Surface morphology and stoichiometry were examined using scanning electron microscope equipped with EDAX and structure properties were examined by x-ray diffraction technique. It was observed that the resulting ingot was stoichiometric and the structure was hexagonal. To identify the effects of ion implantation on the physical properties of the samples depending on annealing / electrical conductivity, hall measurements, current-voltage characteristics, photoconductivity and photoluminescence measurements were carried out in the temperature range of 100-450 K. Also spectral transmission measurements were carried out for all the samples at room temperature. It was observed that both N- and Si- implantation followed by annealing process decreased the resisitivity values from 107 to 103 (&amp / #61527 / -cm). Temperature dependent conductivity measurements were analyzed to deduce the dominant transport mechanisms. The trap levels were also investigated by the space charge limited currents (SCLC) measurements. The temperature dependence of hole concentrations showed that as-grown, N- and Si-implanted samples behave as partially compensated p-type semiconductors. Using suitable statistical method, transport parameters such as acceptor level, donor and acceptor concentrations were extracted from the experimental data. Trapping centers and recombination mechanisms were determined from the temperature dependent photoconductivity measurements by investigating the relation between photocurrent and illumination intensity. N- and Si- implantation effects on GaSe were also examined by spectral photoconductivity and transmission measurements. And lastly, radiative recombination mechanisms in as-grown GaSe were investigated through photoluminescence (PL) measurements and the information related to the structural defects, the exciton levels and the structure of the forbidden gap were investigated.

In this work, structural, electrical and optical characterization of as-grown, Ge-implanted, and annealed GaSe single crystals grown by using 3-zone vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger system, have been studied by carrying out X-ray Diffraction (XRD), electrical conductivity, Hall effect, photoconductivity, and spectral transmission measurements. The temperature dependent electrical conductivity of these samples have been measured between 100 and 400 K. As a result, it was observed that upon implanting GaSe with germanium following annealing process, the resistivity is reduced from 2.1x109 to 6.5x105 &amp / #937 / -cm. Also it was found that Ge-implantation followed by annealing at 500 oC increases the conductivity in exponential fashion. From the temperature dependent conductivities, the activation energies have been found to be 4, 34 and 314 meV for as-grown, 36 and 472 meV for as-implanted, and 39 and 647 meV for implanted and annealed at 500 oC GaSe single crystals. Using XRD measurements it was observed that there is an increase in peak intensities at specific annealing temperatures (300 and 500 C) and a decrease in higher annealing temperatures (700 C). Temperature dependent carrier concentration and Hall mobility measurement were performed in the temperature range of 230 - 410 and 100 - 400 K for as-grown and Ge-implanted and annealed GaSe samples, respectively. All of the samples in this study were found to be p-type with the help Hall measurements. In addition, the density of donor and acceptor atoms are found for each sample and results are compared with each other. In addition, using photoconductivity measurement the relation between photocurrent and illumination intensity and the character of photoconduction were determined. As a result it was found that while at specific temperature intervals impurity scatterings are dominant, in other intervals phonon scatterings start to dominate. Finally, in order to determine annealing dependent change of band gap of unimplanted and Ge-implanted GaSe samples at room temperature, the transmission measurement have been carried out as a optical characterization part of our study. As a consequence of this measurement it was observed that there is almost no considerable change in optical band gap of samples with increasing annealing temperatures for as-grown GaSe samples and a slight shift of optical band gap toward to high energy for Ge-implanted samples with annealing process.

In the present study, the effect of S and Se substitution on structural, electrical and optical properties of AgGa(Se2-xSx) thin films has been investigated. AgGa(Se0.5S0.5 )2 thin films were prepared by using the thermal evaporation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis has revealed that the transformation from amorphous to polycrystalline structure took place at about 450 oC. The detailed information about the stoichometry and the segregation mechanisms of the constituent elements in the structure has been obtained by performing both energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. AgGaSe2 thin films were deposited by using both electron-beam (e-beam) and sputtering techniques. In e-beam evaporated thin films, the effect of annealing on the structural and morphological properties of the deposited films has been studied by means of XRD, XPS, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDXA measurements. Structural analysis has shown that samples annealed between 300 and 600 oC were in polycrystalline structure with co-existance of Ag, Ga2Se3, GaSe, and AgGaSe2. The variation of surface morphology, chemical composition and bonding nature of constituent elements on post-annealing has been determined by EDXA and XPS analyses. AgGaSe2 thin films were also prepared by using sputtering technique. XRD measurements have shown that the mono-phase AgGaSe2 structure is formed at annealing temperature of 600 oC. The crystal-field and spin-orbit splitting levels were resolved. These levels around 2.03 and 2.30 eV were also detected from the photospectral response measurements. Thin films of Ag-Ga-S (AGS) compound were prepared by using AgGaS2 single crystalline powder and deposition of the excess silver (Ag) intralayer with double source thermal evaporation method. As a consequence of systematic optimization of thickness of Ag layer, Ag(Ga,S) with the stoichiometry of AgGa5S8 and AgGaS2 were obtained and systematic study to obtain structural, electrical and optical properties was carried out.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:35:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 7178569 bytes, checksum: b7f915a255beb77386b9a40b7b8113cd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-07-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work consists of the optical characterization of CdMnTe films grown on glass substrate. The films were deposited by the technique of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and characterized by optical spectroscopy and ellipsometry. The energy gap for films with different manganese concentration was determined. We demonstrate the increase in gap energy as concentration of manganese increases. The pronounced interference fringes observed show the good optical quality of the films grown. By ellipsometry technique we can observe the behavior of the refractive index and extinction coefficients a function of manganese concentration. We have also obtained values of sample thickness and growth rate. / Este trabalho consiste na caracterização ótica de filmes de CdMnTe crescidos sobre substratos de vidro. Os filmes foram depositados pela técnica de epitaxia por feixe molecular (MBE) e caracterizados através de espectroscopia ótica e elipsometria. Foram determinados parâmetros como gap dos filmes em função da concentração de manganês. Podemos comprovar o aumento do gap com o aumento da concentração de manganês. As franjas de interferência nos mostram a boa qualidade dos filmes crescidos. Através da técnica de elipsometria podemos observar o comportamento do índice de refração e do coeficiente de extinção em função da concentração de manganês. Foram obtidos também os valores da espessura e taxa de crescimento dos filmes.

Este trabalho apresenta a pesquisa e desenvolvimento de algoritmos de pré-processamento digital de imagens para câmeras térmicas não refrigeradas na faixa espectral do infravermelho distante. O estudo de câmeras infravermelhas é uma questão estratégica, uma vez que tem aplicações militares, civis e científicas. Este trabalho define a concepção e implementação de algoritmos de pré-processamento de imagem necessários para obter imagens com baixo ruído e alto contraste, tais como: correção de não-uniformidade, substituição de pixels defeituosos, geração de histograma, aumento de contraste e processamento de saída do pixel, com taxa de 30 quadros por segundo, utilizando detector não-resfriado com matriz de plano focal de 320 x 240 pixels. Neste trabalho todos os algoritmos foram implementados em software para se obter resultados rapidamente e, assim, facilitar a validação dos códigos. Foram gerados resultados de caracterização eletro-óptica do sistema montado com indicação das principais figuras de mérito que norteiam o estudo desta tecnologia, tais como: componentes de ruído tridimensionais, potência equivalente de ruído, responsividade e relação sinal-ruído. Os resultados indicam que os algoritmos de pré-processamento de imagem propostos aumentam a qualidade da imagem a ser exibida, e os resultados das figuras de mérito calculadas sobre o vídeo digital mostram que todas as métricas apresentaram resultados satisfatórios. / This work aims to present the research and development of digital image processing algorithms for uncooled LWIR thermal camera in Brazil. The study of an infrared thermal camera is a strategic issue since that has more and more applications in military, judicature, rescue, industry, hospital and science areas. This work describes the design and implementation of all image-processing algorithms required to obtain high-performance images with low noise and high contrast, such as: functions for non-uniformity correction of sensor deficiencies, dead-pixel replacement algorithms, histogram generation, contrast enhancement methods and output pixel processing with frame rate of 30 frames per second based on 320 x 240 Uncooled Focal Plane Array (UFPA). In this work all algorithms was implemented in software to get results quickly and to facilitate the validation of computer codes. There are some results of electro-optical characterization on the assembled system, indicating the main figures of merit that guide the study of this technology, such as: 3D noise components, noise equivalent power (NEP), signal transfer function (SiTF) and noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD). The results indicate that the proposed imageprocessing algorithms increase the quality of the corrected image, and the test results through the digital video of the infrared camera show that all metrics are in accordance with its nominal value.