ALBERT

Notes: This work exploits the passive phase stabilization of diffractive optics to implement heterodyne detection of the complete χ(5) tensor of liquid CS2 as an example of a simple liquid. This approach permits the use of two different colors for the excitation, probe, and detection beam protocols and enables full optimization of the signal with respect to discrimination against lower order cascaded third-order responses. This work extends the previous study of polarization selectivity, in combination with heterodyne detection, to all independent polarization components to provide further insight into the origins of the fifth-order response and its connection to the multitime correlation of the liquid dynamics. The characteristic feature that clearly distinguishes the direct fifth-order response from lower order cascades is the pronounced ridge along the τ4 axis (probe pulse delay) with very rapid decay along the τ2 axis (excitation pulse delay). This observation is in contrast to recent related work using one-color homodyne detection. With the determination of the direct fifth-order and cascaded third-order signal amplitudes made possible by heterodyne detection, this difference can be attributed to cross terms between the direct fifth-order and cascaded third-order terms inherent to homodyne detection under phase matching conditions used to discriminate against cascades. In support of theoretical treatments, the previously predicted enhancement of rephasing pathways for certain polarization components has been observed. However, even for these tensor elements the remarkable feature is the very rapid decay in the nuclear coherence along τ2. The experiment is predicated on the ability of a 2-quantum transition involving the Raman overtone to rephase the nuclear coherence. These findings indicate that the nuclear motions, in the frequency range accessed, are strongly damped and draw into question the validity of the overtone as a viable pathway for rephasing. With the isolation of the direct fifth-order Raman response, new information regarding relaxation and dephasing pathways in liquids can be determined for the highest frequency modes. The results are in very good agreement with a recent finite field molecular dynamics simulation of liquid CS2 with respect to the polarization dependence of signal magnitudes, relative cascade signal amplitudes, and qualitative agreement with respect to the predicted temporal profiles. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The addition of silicon to hydrogenated amorphous carbon can have the advantageous effect of lowering the compressive stress, improving the thermal stability of its hydrogen, and maintaining a low friction coefficient up to high humidity. Most experiments to date have been on hydrogenated amorphous carbon–silicon alloys (a-C1−xSix:H) deposited by rf plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. This method gives alloys with sizeable hydrogen content and only moderate hardness. Here we use a high plasma density source known as the electron cyclotron wave resonance source to prepare films with higher sp3 content and lower hydrogen content. The composition and bonding in the alloys is determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering, elastic recoil detection analysis, visible and ultraviolet (UV) Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and x-ray reflectivity. We find that it is possible to produce relatively hard, low stress, low friction, almost humidity insensitive a-C1−xSix:H alloys with a good optical transparency and a band gap well over 2.5 eV. The friction behavior and friction mechanism of these alloys are studied and compared with that of a-C:H, ta-C:H, and ta-C. We show how UV Raman spectroscopy allows the direct detection of Si–C, Si–Hx, and C–Hx vibrations, not seen in visible Raman spectra. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes using a direct current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system is reported. The growth properties are studied as a function of the Ni catalyst layer thickness, bias voltage, deposition temperature, C2H2:NH3 ratio, and pressure. It was found that the diameter, growth rate, and areal density of the nanotubes are controlled by the initial thickness of the catalyst layer. The alignment of the nanotubes depends on the electric field. Our results indicate that the growth occurs by diffusion of carbon through the Ni catalyst particle, which rides on the top of the growing tube. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Field emission of electrons from carbon films deposited on n-type silicon substrate with a resistive layer was investigated by monitoring both the emission current–voltage curves and emission images as displayed by a phosphor anode. The resistive layer was found to effectively improve the emission quality by controlling the emission current and increasing the emission site density. Confinement of the emission current finally results in a uniform emission current across a large range of voltages, which is a key requirement for application to displays. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: High sp3 fraction tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) films can be prepared using the filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA). A by-product of the deposition process are small micrometer sized graphitic particles which are also incorporated into the film. The particle coverage of FCVA films is typically 〈5%, and thus the effect of these graphite inclusions have been largely ignored in earlier optical gap measurements of ta-C. By incorporating a better filter design (e.g., S-bend filter), the particle coverage can be reduced to 0.1%. In this article, we show that the effect of these graphitic inclusions is to scatter or absorb light which significantly affects the optical gap measurement and hence reduces the "apparent" optical gap of the ta-C film. By comparing two ta-C films with different particle coverage but the same sp3 content of 85%, we show that we can correct for the effect of these inclusions. Our results confirm that the E04 gap of a 85% sp3ta-C matrix is 3.6 eV. The importance of considering these micro particles is emphasized as we find that for every 1% of area covered by particles, there is a 3–4 fold percentage difference between the corrected optical gap and measured gap of the film. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Posthydrogenation of a-Si produced by low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition was investigated using an internal lamp which can dissociate hydrogen molecules directly. After hydrogenation, the photo–to–dark-current ratio was increased to greater than 4.5×104. The hydrogen in the hydrogenated films was mainly bonded as Si-H, and the penetration depth was about 300 nm. The posthydrogenated thin-film transistor had about 7 orders on/off current ratio and its electron and hole mobilities were 0.1 and 0.01 cm2/V s, respectively.

Notes: A new silicon solar cell structure, the passivated emitter and rear cell, is described. The cell structure has yielded independently confirmed efficiencies of up to 22.8%, the highest ever reported for a silicon cell.

Notes: Ion energy, controlled by the substrate bias, is an important parameter in determining properties of films deposited by the filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. The substrate bias determines the ion energy distribution of the growth species. The ion energy is varied, while keeping the other deposition conditions constant, in order to study the effect of ion energy on the film properties. The films were characterized by their optical and mechanical parameters using an ellipsometer, surface profilometer, optical spectrometer, and nanoindenter. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used for structural analysis of the films. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Electronic applications of diamond-like carbon have been limited by its relatively high disorder and defect density. We find that the density of paramagnetic defects in hydrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon and the Urbach slope of the optical absorption edge can be reduced by annealing at 300 °C, with little effect on the optical gap. This leads to a reduction in the dark conductivity and an increase in the photosensitivity. The effect is attributed to the migration of hydrogen through the C–C network, to allow better passivation of dangling bonds and a modification of the more weakly bonded sp2 clusters with narrower local band gaps. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We demonstrate that differing transistor characteristics in the most important material systems can be explained by the defect pool model applied to the defects near the interface of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film transistors. Gate dielectrics used include plasma deposited silicon nitrides, plasma deposited silicon oxides, and thermally grown silicon oxides. The most important property of the gate dielectric is not the chemical composition but the fixed charge. In particular, as-deposited plasma deposited silicon oxide transistors can be made with similar properties to plasma deposited silicon nitride transistors or thermal silicon oxide transistors, by varying the fixed charge. After correcting the effects of the fixed charge variation, some differences still exist between the interface qualities. We introduce the parameter Ndb(min), i.e., the minimum density of dangling bonds (cm−2), which is a measure of interface quality independent of the fixed charge of the gate insulator. We propose that the variations in Ndb(min) are due to differences in disorder, perhaps caused by interface strain, leading to slight variations (∼5 meV) of the valence-band tail slope.