Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-219). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-193).

The probability of recombination of photogenerated electron hole pairs in crystalline silicon is governed by the density of surface defect states and the density of charge carriers. Depositions of intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) in dc saddle field (DCSF) PECVD system and hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride (SiNx) in rf PECVD system forms a dual layer stack on c-Si, which results in an excellent passivation of the surface and an anti-reflection coating. Response Surface Methodology is used in this work to optimize the deposition conditions of SiNx. Optimization of the response surface function yielded deposition conditions that materialized in a surface recombination velocity of less than 4cm/s. The BACH (Back Amorphous Crystalline silicon Heterojunction) cell concept makes use of this dual layer a-Si:H/SiNx stack to form a high efficiency photovoltaic device. The high quality passivating structure can result in the BACH solar cell device with more than 20% conversion efficiency.

The probability of recombination of photogenerated electron hole pairs in crystalline silicon is governed by the density of surface defect states and the density of charge carriers. Depositions of intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) in dc saddle field (DCSF) PECVD system and hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride (SiNx) in rf PECVD system forms a dual layer stack on c-Si, which results in an excellent passivation of the surface and an anti-reflection coating. Response Surface Methodology is used in this work to optimize the deposition conditions of SiNx. Optimization of the response surface function yielded deposition conditions that materialized in a surface recombination velocity of less than 4cm/s. The BACH (Back Amorphous Crystalline silicon Heterojunction) cell concept makes use of this dual layer a-Si:H/SiNx stack to form a high efficiency photovoltaic device. The high quality passivating structure can result in the BACH solar cell device with more than 20% conversion efficiency.

Total hip replacement is a common orthopedic surgery today with a population with an increasing life expectancy and a more active lifestyle. Most implants have a life expectancy of 10 years or longer, however after 25 years one out of four implants has been revised. This means that the risk of a secondary surgery is high for young patients. In many cases the reason for revision is the formation of nanometer to micrometer sized particles that activate the immune system to resorb bone.   The implants today usually consist of a femoral head of a cobalt chromium alloy and a cup of polyethylene. Replacing these materials with a cobalt chromium alloy with a silicon nitride coating is hoped to generate less and smaller wear particles that will not activate the immune system to resorb bone. This study compares wear particles from three different silicon nitride coatings with wear particles from polyethylene and a cobalt chromium alloy. The first was a standard coating, the second had a layered structure and the third had a nitrogen content gradient.   This study uses a reciprocating motion with an alumina ball that slides against a sample of cobalt chromium with a silicon nitride coating in a serum solution to generate wear particles. The particles are then analyzed with a scanning electron microscope. In order to separate the particles from the serum solution two different methods were used. The first one used hydrochloric acid and the second used the enzyme proteinase K. Apart from the particles the wear tracks were investigated with vertical scanning interferometry and the adhesion was studied with scratch tests and light microscopy.   The results show that the wear particles do not differ between the coatings. All coatings show a high wear volume, which is believed to be a consequence of the material combination, movement pattern or surface roughness of the counter surface. In conclusion the test set up generates particles of a relevant size and both methods for serum digestion were successful.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-196). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-70). Also available via the Internet.

La thèse porte sur cette couche de nitrure ou d’oxynitrure de silicium. Le déroulé prévoit l’élaboration des deux types de dépôts par voie gazeuse (par Chemical Vapor Infiltration CVI), la caractérisation de ces dépôts (par tous les moyens scientifiques à disposition et jugés utiles), ainsi que des essais en conditions proches de l’application visée (haute température, présence de phases liquides) pour juger de l’efficacité de ces dépôts et notamment effectuer une comparaison entre le nitrure et l’oxynitrure. Une étude complète des paramètres modifiables lors de l’élaboration et de leur effet sur la chimie (et par conséquent l’influence sur le comportement du matériau en conditions d’utilisation) représente le cœur du travail considéré. / Ceramics are usually used at high temperature because of their refractory nature. However, they are too brittle to be submitted to high stresses, such as in the rotating parts of aircraft engines. One way to reduce the brittleness of ceramics is to design them as composites. The fiber/matrix architecture displays a damageable character thanks to a suitable interfacial layer, which is deposited on the fiber cloths before the infiltration with molten silicon. The aim of the thesis is to propose and evaluate a solution to protect the fiber reinforcement during the impregnation step with liquid silicon. This solution involves the deposition of a protective layer made of silicon nitride or oxynitride.

Filmes finos de nitreto de silício com excesso de nitrogênio foram depositados sobre silício por sputtering reativo para obter estruturas emissoras de luz. As amostras foram modificadas por implantação iônica para verificar a influência dos dopantes arsênio (As) e boro (B) nos espectros de fotoluminescência (PL). As medidas de PL foram realizadas na faixa de temperatura entre 15-300 K e apresentaram uma emissão entre os comprimentos de onda 370-870 nm. Os dopantes introduziram uma emissão em 725 nm na banda de emissão, principalmente as dopadas com As. Foram realizadas medidas de microscopias para verificar a presença de nanoestruturas assim como a distribuição dos dopantes no material. As imagens de microscopias confirmaram a presença de nanocristais de nitreto de silício nas fases α, β e γ e identificaram a presença do dopante B nas fases cristalinas. O modelo de condução de Pool-Frenkel domina o transporte de portadores, indicando que a condução ocorre pelos níveis intrabandas, característica que definiu o modo que as recombinações radiativas ocorreram. As medidas de eletroluminescência (EL) apresentaram uma emissão centrada nos comprimentos de onda 760 e 880 nm (polarização negativa) e 1010 nm (polarização positiva) revelando diferenças significativas quando comparadas com as medidas de PL. Essa diferença esta associada à maneira como os elétrons populam os níveis intrabanda (excitação óptica para PL e elétrica para EL) que resulta em recombinações radiativas em diferentes comprimentos de ondas. A intensidade dos espectros de EL manifestou uma dependência quase linear com a densidade de corrente para ambas as polarizações. As medidas de EL em campos alternados exibiram um espectro de emissão composto pela soma das bandas obtidas separadamente em cada uma das polarizações. Medidas de EL em diferentes temperaturas (50-300 K) foram realizadas para investigar a influência da temperatura nos processos de recombinação radiativa. A intensidade exibiu uma redução com o aumento da temperatura, devido ao aumento do acoplamento elétron-fônon. / Silicon nitride with excess of nitrogen thin films were deposited on silicon substrate by reactive sputtering in order to obtain light emitting structures. Samples were modified by ion implantation of arsenic (As) and boron (B) to ascertain dopant leverage at photoluminescence (PL) spectra. PL measurements were performed at temperature ranging from 15 K up to 300 K and showed a band emission between wavelength 370 and 870 nm. An emission centered at 725 nm was observed in doped samples; especially in the presence of As. Microscope images showed crystalline structures of α-Si3N4, β-Si3N4 and γ-Si3N4 and confirmed boron dopant in nanocrystalline structures. Pool-Frenkel conduction model dominates electron transport in non-stoichiometric silicon nitride films due to intraband levels, phenomenon that has a huge contribution to electroluminescence (EL) emission. EL signals were composed by two peaks centered at 760 and 880 nm (negative bias – EL-N) and one peak at 1010 nm (positive bias – EL-P). Diffences between PL and EL spectra exhibit a clear dependence on the mode of excitation (photo and current source) on radiative recombination process. EL intensity had almost a linear increase with current density for both polarizations. EL measurements under AC voltage were composed by a superposition of the signals from EL-N and EL-P signals. Photo and electroluminescence measurements were collected at different temperatures (50 to 300 K) in order to investigate the temperature influence on the radiative recombination. The EL intensity was decreasing with temperature increasing, due to electron-phonon interactions.

Filmes finos de nitreto de silício com excesso de nitrogênio foram depositados sobre silício por sputtering reativo para obter estruturas emissoras de luz. As amostras foram modificadas por implantação iônica para verificar a influência dos dopantes arsênio (As) e boro (B) nos espectros de fotoluminescência (PL). As medidas de PL foram realizadas na faixa de temperatura entre 15-300 K e apresentaram uma emissão entre os comprimentos de onda 370-870 nm. Os dopantes introduziram uma emissão em 725 nm na banda de emissão, principalmente as dopadas com As. Foram realizadas medidas de microscopias para verificar a presença de nanoestruturas assim como a distribuição dos dopantes no material. As imagens de microscopias confirmaram a presença de nanocristais de nitreto de silício nas fases α, β e γ e identificaram a presença do dopante B nas fases cristalinas. O modelo de condução de Pool-Frenkel domina o transporte de portadores, indicando que a condução ocorre pelos níveis intrabandas, característica que definiu o modo que as recombinações radiativas ocorreram. As medidas de eletroluminescência (EL) apresentaram uma emissão centrada nos comprimentos de onda 760 e 880 nm (polarização negativa) e 1010 nm (polarização positiva) revelando diferenças significativas quando comparadas com as medidas de PL. Essa diferença esta associada à maneira como os elétrons populam os níveis intrabanda (excitação óptica para PL e elétrica para EL) que resulta em recombinações radiativas em diferentes comprimentos de ondas. A intensidade dos espectros de EL manifestou uma dependência quase linear com a densidade de corrente para ambas as polarizações. As medidas de EL em campos alternados exibiram um espectro de emissão composto pela soma das bandas obtidas separadamente em cada uma das polarizações. Medidas de EL em diferentes temperaturas (50-300 K) foram realizadas para investigar a influência da temperatura nos processos de recombinação radiativa. A intensidade exibiu uma redução com o aumento da temperatura, devido ao aumento do acoplamento elétron-fônon. / Silicon nitride with excess of nitrogen thin films were deposited on silicon substrate by reactive sputtering in order to obtain light emitting structures. Samples were modified by ion implantation of arsenic (As) and boron (B) to ascertain dopant leverage at photoluminescence (PL) spectra. PL measurements were performed at temperature ranging from 15 K up to 300 K and showed a band emission between wavelength 370 and 870 nm. An emission centered at 725 nm was observed in doped samples; especially in the presence of As. Microscope images showed crystalline structures of α-Si3N4, β-Si3N4 and γ-Si3N4 and confirmed boron dopant in nanocrystalline structures. Pool-Frenkel conduction model dominates electron transport in non-stoichiometric silicon nitride films due to intraband levels, phenomenon that has a huge contribution to electroluminescence (EL) emission. EL signals were composed by two peaks centered at 760 and 880 nm (negative bias – EL-N) and one peak at 1010 nm (positive bias – EL-P). Diffences between PL and EL spectra exhibit a clear dependence on the mode of excitation (photo and current source) on radiative recombination process. EL intensity had almost a linear increase with current density for both polarizations. EL measurements under AC voltage were composed by a superposition of the signals from EL-N and EL-P signals. Photo and electroluminescence measurements were collected at different temperatures (50 to 300 K) in order to investigate the temperature influence on the radiative recombination. The EL intensity was decreasing with temperature increasing, due to electron-phonon interactions.