Hydrated amorphous silicon dioxide (Si02.nH-,O), or opal-A, is deposited naturally from seepage and runoff water as white or brown rock surface coatings, called 'skins', that often partly obscure rock paintings and engravings, but occasionally, a thin translucent silica skin can form a protective film over rock art. White lustrous silica skins, less than 1 mm thick, occur where seepage water regularly flows from bedding and joint planes, whereas much thinner brown skins form on the sides of boulders and cliffs where runoff water periodically flows. To find the degree of silica skin variability and to determine how climate and rock type affect the properties of silica skins I collected samples at seven Australian and two Canadian rock painting sites that were located in temperate, tropical and sub-arctic regions. The skins had developed on sandstone, quartzite, schist, gneiss and migmatite. I studied the effects of the skins on rock art stability, documented their compositions, textures and structures to establish their common properties, and searched for a way to date the silica which would provide an indication of the minimum age of the underlying art. 1 also made replication experiments to determine factors that influence the properties of artificial silica skins and the rates of their precipitation so that I could propose a mechanism for natural silica skin formation, and ascertain whether an artificial silica skin could act as a protective rock art conservation measure. I was able to subdivide the analysed samples into silica skin Types I, II and III on the basis of their colour (translucent, white or brown), composition (SiO2, Al2O3 and absorbed water contents) and texture (smooth vitreous or vermiform). I propose that silica skins initially begin to form on stable rock surfaces by a process involving a combination of evaporation- and ionic-induced polymerisation of silicic acid in seepage and runoff water. Condensation reactions, random clustering of small silica spheres and deposition of the resulting aggregates eventually produce a thin surficial silica film. Deposition of silica often traps micro-organisms that live in the damp seepage and runoff water zones, and these fossils in finely laminated skins enable the radiocarbon dating of silica deposition, and therefore the dating of rock paintings enclosed by silica. Micro-excavation of silica layers associated with rock art combined with accelerator mass spectrometry gave preliminary radiocarbon determinations that were either consistent with, or contradicted, prevailing opinions about the antiquity of the rock art at selected sites. Experiments using a laser technique for combusting fossilised microorganisms in finely laminated skins were unable to generate sufficient carbon for dating. Catalysis of a mixture of equal proportions of methyl-trimethoxy silane and water produces a translucent stable film that may be suitable as a consolidant, whereas other artificial silica skins made from silica glass and tetra-ethoxy silane develop microfractures on drying, and these are unsuitable as rock art consolidants.

High density, uniform GaN nanodot arrays with controllable size have been synthesized by using template-assisted selective growth. The GaN nanodots with average diameter 40nm, 80nm and 120nm were selectively grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on a nano-patterned SiO2/GaN template. The nanoporous SiO2 on GaN surface was created by inductively coupled plasma etching (ICP) using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template as a mask. This selective regrowth results in highly crystalline GaN nanodots confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The narrow size distribution and uniform spatial position of the nanoscale dots offer potential advantages over self-assembled dots grown by the Stranski–Krastanow mode. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Electrochemical reductions of porous SiO2 pellets and bulk SiO2 plate were investigated in molten CaCl2 and/or CaCl2-NaCl salt mixture. The study focused on effects of temperature, particle size of the starting material, electrolyte composition and cathode design on the reduction rate. The behavior of the cathode contacting materials was also examined. Moreover, cyclic voltammetry study was conducted to investigate the mechanism of the electrochemical reaction. Mainly, XRD analysis and SEM examinations were used for characterizations. The rates of electrochemical reduction were interpreted from the variations of current and accumulative electrical charge that passed through the cell as a function of time under different conditions. The results showed that reduction rate of SiO2 increased slightly with increasing temperature or decreasing the particle size of SiO2 powder. Higher reduction rate was obtained when porous pellet was replaced by bulk SiO2 plate. Use of Kanthal wire mesh around the SiO2 cathode increased but addition of NaCl to the electrolyte decreased the reduction rate. X-ray diffraction results confirmed the reduction of SiO2 to Si in both CaCl2 salt and CaCl2-NaCl salt mixture. However, silicon produced at the cathode was contaminated by the nickel and stainless steel plates which were used as the cathode contacting materials. Microstructures and compositions of the reduced pellets were used to infer that electrochemical reduction of SiO2 in molten salts may become a method to produce solar grade silicon (SOG-Si). In addition, overall reduction potential of SiO2 pellet against the graphite anode and the potential of the cathode reaction at 750&deg / C in molten CaCl2-NaCl salt mixture were determined as 2.3 V (at 1.19 A current) and 0.47 V, respectively by cyclic voltammetry.

The gas phase etching of thermal silicon dioxide films was investigated with in situ Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and ex situ X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The initiation process, the bulk etching of the oxide, and the termination mechanism were characterized as a function of reactant concentration, temperature, and pressure. The experiments were carried out in a custom made vessel with a gas panel and a data acquisition and control system (DA&C) capable of lowering flow and pressure disturbances originated by reactant introduction. The FTIR technique used to monitor the reaction in real time allowed distinguishing reactions that initiated in a gas/solid regime from reactions that started in a gas/liquid/solid regime. This study was focused on the gas/solid initiation process in order to expand the general assumption in published works that a condensed layer is previously required to initiate and sustain the reaction. It was found in this investigation that, depending on the experimental parameters, the water layer is not always a requisite for the initiation of the reaction but a consequence of the etching process. The FTIR data also showed the role in the initiation process of gas phase heterogeneous associated species, specifically (HF)H₂O and (HF)₂H₂O. After the initiation period, the experimental conditions determined the amount of water present on the surface of the sample, which in turn determined the local environment of the reaction and by extension the etching species. Reactions developing in a gas/solid regime were found to be slow, with etching rates of less than 1 °A/sec. Contrarily, reactions taking place in a gas/liquid/solid regime reached etching rates of 100 °A/sec, a maximum value determined by transport limitations. The condensed layer was found to be especially sensitive to temperature since a variation of 15 ° C changed the local environment from gas/liquid/solid to gas/solid. Finally, it was corroborated through the XPS analysis that the removal process in the gas phase leaves the silicon surfaces with high fluorine and oxygen concentrations in the form of SiFₓ and SiOH.

We have studied the introduction of defects in silicon wafers with low dose channelling ion implantation. (For complete abstract open document)

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

This master’s thesis deals with design and fabrication of MEMS microhotplate platform for chemical gas sensors. The theoretical part describes MEMS, sensors and processes and technologies needed for fabrication of micro hotplate. The practical part includes simulations, masks and step by step microhotplate fabrication. Fabricated heating membrane was characterized and compared to theoretical values from simulations and to similar devices presented in literature.

No description available.

Future copper interconnect systems will require replacement of the materials that currently comprise both the liner layer(s) and the capping layer. Ruthenium has previously been considered as a material that could function as a single material liner, however its poor ability to prevent copper diffusion makes it incompatible with liner requirements. A recently described chemical vapor deposition route to amorphous ruthenium-phosphorus alloy films could correct this problem by eliminating the grain boundaries found in pure ruthenium films. Bias-temperature stressing of capacitor structures using 5 nm ruthenium-phosphorus film as a barrier to copper diffusion and analysis of the times-to-failure at accelerated temperature and field conditions implies that ruthenium-phosphorus performs acceptably as a diffusion barrier for temperatures above 165 °C. The future problems associated with the copper capping layer are primarily due to the poor adhesion between copper and the current Si-based capping layers. Cobalt, which adheres well to copper, has been widely proposed to replace the Si-based materials, but its ability to prevent copper diffusion must be improved if it is to be successfully implemented in the interconnect. Using a dual-source chemistry of dicobaltoctacarbonyl and trimethylphosphine at temperatures from 250-350 °C, amorphous cobalt-phosphorus can be deposited by chemical vapor deposition. The films contain elemental cobalt and phosphorus, plus some carbon impurity, which is incorporated in the film as both graphitic and carbidic (bonded to cobalt) carbon. When deposited on copper, the adhesion between the two materials remains strong despite the presence of phosphorus and carbon at the interface, but the selectivity for growth on copper compared to silicon dioxide is poor and must be improved prior to consideration for application in interconnect systems. A single molecule precursor containing both cobalt and phosphorus atoms, tetrakis(trimethylphosphine)cobalt(0), yields cobalt-phosphorus films without any co-reactant. However, the molecule does not contain sufficient amounts of amorphizing agents to fully eliminate grain boundaries, and the resulting film is nanocrystalline. / text

Increasing use of engineered nanomaterials presents concerns as some nanoparticles appear to be harmful to both human health and the environment. Effective treatment methods are required to remove problematic nanoparticles from (waste)water streams. Porous media filtration, commonly used for the removal of particulate matter, shows promise for nanoparticle treatment. The goal of this work is to investigate the potential of porous media filtration for the abatement of nanoparticles from aqueous waste streams. To this end, an automated method was developed that allows real-time and in-situ monitoring of nanoparticle transport and retention in porous media using online measurement of UV-visible absorbance or fluorescence. Development of fluorescent-core nano-silica (n-SiO₂) in controllable sizes provided an excellent tracer for nanoparticle transport in porous media. Measurement of n-SiO₂ by destructive techniques is complicated by high natural Si background levels. Fluorescence monitoring enables real-time measurement, facilitating rapid evaluation of n-SiO₂ transport. Synthesized n-SiO₂ remain in their primary sizes making an evaluation of the behavioral change of particles due to transition into the "nano" range possible. A comparison of the role of particle size on transport in porous media displayed the importance of particle number concentration as the dominance of site-specific adsorption may be obscured by simple mass concentration evaluation.T he effectiveness of different bed materials, namely, sand, activated carbon (AC), and diatomaceous earth (DE), for the removal of TiO₂ nanoparticles (n-TiO₂) from aqueous streams was investigated. DE proved promising for n-TiO₂ capture shown by its high bed capacity (33.8 mg TiO₂ g⁻¹(medium)) compared to AC (0.23 mg TiO₂ g⁻¹(medium)) or sand (0.004 mg TiO₂ g⁻¹(medium)). The presence of organic and synthetic contaminants produced varying effects on n-TiO₂ retention, mostly due to either enhanced electrostatic or steric interactions. Application of a process simulator combining physical straining with site-specific interactions, delineating physisorption from chemisorption and diffusion limited interactions, enabled the accurate fit of n-TiO₂ transport in sand, AC and DE. The fitting process revealed the advantage of DE due to increased physisorption and physical straining of n-TiO₂. Modeling of this system afforded the elucidation of controlling retention mechanisms and provides a basis for future scaling and system design.