L’objectif de cette étude était la caractérisation chimique de cristaux et films de diamant élaborés par dépôt chimique en phase vapeur assisté par plasma micro-ondes sur silicium. Il s’agit d’une approche pluritechnique fondée essentiellement sur les techniques spectroscopiques. La spectroscopie Raman, la spectroscopie XPS, la diffraction des rayons X et la microscopie électronique à balayage ont fournis des informations essentielles et complémentaires sur les propriétés physico-chimiques et structurales des dépôts de diamant en fonction de différents paramètres de synthèse. A titre d’illustration, une nouvelle transition électronique a été observée pour les films présentant des surfaces hydrogénées. Cette transition présente un gap de surface voisin de 2,7 eV mise en évidence par un effet Raman de résonance. Des contraintes internes anisotropes sont observées pour les films présentant un axe de fibre <110> et pour des cristaux multimaclés isolés présentant une germination secondaire. / The aim of this work was to investigate chemical characterization of diamond crystals and films elaborated by microwave plasma assisted chemical vapour deposition on silicon. This study was focused on a pluri-technique approach founded on the spectroscopic techniques. Raman spectroscopy, XPS spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy have provided essential and additional information about physico-chemical and structural properties of diamond deposits according to a various synthesis parameters. As examples, a new electronic transition was observed for hydrogen-terminated diamond surface films. This transition presents a surface gap at 2,7 eV provided by a resonant Raman. Anisotropic internal stresses were observed for films presenting a fiber axis <110> and for isolated twinned crystals presenting a secondary nucleation.

La possibilité de fabriquer des dispositifs optiques pour la détection d’interactions chimiques,sans marquage et en temps réel, présente un intérêt croissant. Notamment, les cristaux photoniques(CPh) présentent un fort potentiel pour une telle application. Contrairement au silicium, majoritairementexploité pour la réalisation de telles structures, le diamant possède l’avantage d’avoir unesurface carbonée biocompatible permettant une fonctionnalisation covalente et stable de biomoléculesspécifiques. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse vise à étudier la potentialité qu’offre ce matériau pour la réalisationde CPh 2D destinés à des applications de biodétection. Pour cela, une plateforme photoniquemonolithique compacte, intégrable sur silicium et optimisée pour un fonctionnement aux longueursd’onde proches de 1.55 μm a été développée. Une géométrie de cavité à fente a été retenue afin demaximiser la sensibilité des structures photoniques à leur environnement extérieur. Des méthodesnumériques ont permis de préciser les paramètres géométriques des CPh. Des procédés de microstructurationde films minces de diamant polycristallin sur substrat silicium 2 pouces ont été développéset optimisés, pour aboutir à la réalisation de CPh caractérisés par des facteurs de qualité pouvantatteindre 6500. Deux procédés technologiques spécifiques aux films de diamant polycristallin ont notammentété développés : un procédé de lissage et un procédé de transfert de films de diamant surisolant. La sensibilité optique des CPh en diamant à une modification chimique de surface a ensuiteété étudiée et a tout d’abord montré une forte dépendance de leurs performances optiques à de simplesvariations des terminaisons chimiques du matériau. Par la suite, une preuve de concept de détectionsurfacique de protéines en milieu liquide par les CPh en diamant a été réalisée en utilisant le systèmede bioreconnaissance biotine/streptavidine, donnant une limite de détection estimée pour le systèmeà 10 μg/mL. Enfin, des travaux préliminaires de détection dans le visible ont été engagés via la réalisationde cavités à CPh fonctionnant à 600 nm, présentant déjà des facteurs de qualité dépassant les1500. / The ability to fabricate optical devices enabling the real time detection of chemical interactions,avoiding the use of markers, has motivated a growing interest. In particular, photonic crystals (PhC)based structures are promising candidates for such applications. Unlike silicon, that has currentlybeen used for most of these demonstrations, diamond offers a high stability and a versatile carbonsurface that can be functionalized to covalently bond specific organic or bio-molecules on its surface.In this context, this thesis aims at studying the interests of diamond for the realization of novel 2DPhC dedicated to biodetection applications. A fully monolithic compact photonic platform, integratedon silicon and optimized to work at wavelength of 1.55 μm was developed. A geometry consistingin a slotted cavity was chosen in order to maximize the sensitivity of such photonic structures totheir environment. Numerical methods allowed to determine the geometrical parameters of the PhC.Diamond microstructuration processes of polycrystalline diamond films deposited on two-inch siliconwafers were developed and optimized for the realization of PhC cavities with quality factors up to6500. Two technological processes specifically dedicated to polycrystalline diamond were developed : asmoothing process and a diamond layer on insulator integration by wafer bonding technology process.The optical sensitivity of diamond PhCs to simple surface modifications was studied and showed that,depending on the chemical surface termination, these diamond PhCs exhibit a strong modification oftheir spectral features. A proof of concept for surface detection in a water environment was realizedusing the biotin/streptavidin biorecognition system. The detection limit of the system was estimatedto be 10 μg/mL. Finally, first steps to detection in the visible range were made with the realization ofPhC working at 600 nm and exhibiting Q factors exceeding 1500.

Polycrystalline materials are widely used for industrial applications. These materials are highly anisotropic with different responses under different loading conditions. This dissertation uses a crystal plasticity scheme in the finite element framework (CPFEM) to study deformation mechanisms in alumina, aluminium and stainless steel – all polycrystalline. Four research cases in this dissertation have been presented in the form of manuscripts for publication. When possible, modelling predictions have been compared against various experimental techniques such as Diffraction Contrast Tomography (DCT), Neutron Diffraction (ND) and Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD). After an introduction (Chapter 1) and a literature review (Chapter 2) on plastic deformation and modelling techniques, the methodology and results are presented and discussed (Chapters 3 and 4). Measurements of elastic strains for individual grain families (ND) and local rotations (DCT and EBSD) are compared against corresponding predictions by the model following different loading modes. Each study reveals different degrees of agreement between predictions and measurements. The individual conclusions to each study are presented in Chapter 4. Some overall conclusions and suggestions for further work are presented in Chapter 5.

Ceramic materials are in general characterized by high hardness, high modulus of elasticity, excellent abrasion resistance, etc. These properties make ceramics among others useful in optically transparent applications. An ideal form of optically transparent ceramic material is monocrystalline. However, the monocrystalline fabrication is expensive and/or time consuming. From this point of view polycrystalline ceramics is preferred. But the polycrystalline transparent ceramics fabrication is fraught with complications such as porosity, inappropriate grain size and insufficient purity. These circumstances could be solved by using sintering additives. This master’s thesis compiles literature research summarizing modern technologies of advanced ceramics sintering and ceramic polycrystalline microstructure dependence on its optical properties. The experimental part of this thesis focuses on the fabrication parameters of polycrystalline advanced ceramics based on Al2O3MgO and evaluation of their optical properties. Polycrystalline magnesium-aluminate spinel with sintering additive contents 0; 0.3 and 0.6 weight % LiOH was fabricated by optimalisation of Spark Plasma Sintering cycle. Fully dense ceramic samples of polycrystalline magnesium-aluminate spinel with favourable optical properties in visible spectrum radiation were achieved. Real In-line Transmission RIT and Total Forward Transmittance TFT were analysed. RIT exceeded 84 % at wavelength of 633 nm and TFT exceeded 83 % at wavelength above 860 nm. The decisive factors in terms of the optical properties of ceramics sintered with sintering additives were the amount of time-spending at high temperatures and the purity of ceramic powders.

This report determines the influence of spectral beam splitting on the temperature, maximum power and efficiency of a polycrystalline silicon cell under concentrated light. The PV cell was exposed to wavelengths ranging between 450 nm – 1000 nm. It was found that spectral beam splitting results in a temperature 11 °C lower than the PV cell that was exposed to the full spectrum after one hour. Additionally, it was also found that spectral beam splitting improves the efficiency of the PV cell by 2.1% at 980 W·m-2 and cell temperature of 25 °C. A study into the effect of light intensity on the efficiency showed that the efficiency increases between 580 W·m-2 – 680 W·m-2, after which the efficiency decreases up to 1380 W·m-2. Furthermore, it was found that the reason for the decrease in the efficiency was the decrease in the fill factor which is caused by the decrease in the shunt resistance. A comparison between the PV cell under the filtered spectrum and the full spectrum, showed that the PV cell exhibits a similar trend in efficiency as light intensity increases. However, the efficiency difference is initially at approximately 3% between 580 W·m-2 and 780 W·m-2, thereafter, the efficiency difference decreases to approximately 2 %. Based on these results, it has been recommended that further research be carried out to understand how wavelengths influence the band gaps of PV cells as the light intensity increases. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Chemical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

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This work aims to develop and implement a linear elastic grain-level micromechanical model based on the discrete element method using bonded contacts and an improved fracture criteria to capture both intergranular and transgranular microcrack initiation and evolution in polycrystalline ceramics materials. Gaining a better understanding of the underlying mechanics and micromechanics of the fracture process of brittle polycrystalline materials will aid in high performance material design. Continuum mechanics approaches cannot accurately simulate the crack propagation during fracture due to the discontinuous nature of the problem. In this work we distinguish between predominately intergranular failure (along the grain boundaries) versus predominately transgranular failure (across the grains) based on grain orientation and microstructural parameters to describe the contact interfaces and present the first approach at fracturing discrete elements. Specifically, the influence of grain boundary strength and stiffness on the fracture behavior of an idealized ceramic material is studied under three different loading conditions: uniaxial compression, brazilian, and four-point bending. Digital representations of the sample microstructures for the test cases are composed of hexagonal, prismatic, honeycomb-packed grains represented by rigid, discrete elements. The principle of virtual work is used to develop a microscale fracture criteria for brittle polycrystalline materials for tensile, shear, torsional and rolling modes of intergranular motion. The interactions between discrete elements within each grain are governed by traction displacement relationships.

The variance of the Taylor factor due to variations in the microstructure and window size is explored using both a random sampling method and a previously developed statistical relationship. The results from the random sampling method correlated well with the statistical variance relationship when the magnitude of the variance was greater than that of the numerical errors observed in the statistical calculation. An empirical relation was developed to model the results and the constants for this relationship were determined for pseudo-three dimensional Fe-3%Si. Implementation of the statistical variance relationship in true 3D microstructures is not limited by material opacity, since it depends only upon the 2-point pair correlation functions. The connection between the variance of the R-value and variance of the Taylor factor is considered. Although only a weak connection was found, it was observed that relatively small variations in the Taylor factor yield large variances in the R-value.

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