Tailoring thin films

Recently, the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique has been recognized as a useful way of tailoring thin films of molecular thickness. Interest in the LB technique has led to a number of investigations of different types of materials. For example, the classic long-chain fatty acids and alcohols as well as polymerizable molecules, e.g. diacetylenic acids [211-213], aromatic hydrocarbons, e.g. substituted anthracenes [214, 215], TCNQ radical anion salts [216, 217] and charge transfer complexes [218-220] and dye substances can now all be produced as monomolecular layers. 

Dylyn, Tailorable thin films. Advanced Refractory Technologies, Inc. (ART)... 

Tailoring thin films for implant-specific applications... 

Tailoring thin films fin inq>lant-specific plications... 

StiU another method used to produce PV cells is provided by thin-fiLm technologies. Thin films ate made by depositing semiconductor materials on a sohd substrate such as glass or metal sheet. Among the wide variety of thin-fiLm materials under development ate amorphous siUcon, polycrystaUine sUicon, copper indium diselenide, and cadmium teUuride. Additionally, development of multijunction thin-film PV cells is being explored. These cells use multiple layers of thin-film sUicon alloys or other semiconductors tailored to respond to specific portions of the light spectmm. 

Various materials can be produced by sol-gel methods monoliths, thin films, fibers, powders can. Controlling of the physical and chemical parameters of production process yields materials with precisely tailored parameters such as mechanical strength, transparency, size and distribution of the pores network7. The sol-gel derived materials may provide excellent matrices for a variety of organic and inorganic compounds. 

The next three chapters (Chapters 9-11) focus on the deposition of nano-structured or microstructured films and entities. Porous oxide thin films are, for example, of great interest due to potential application of these films as low-K dielectrics and in sensors, selective membranes, and photovoltaic applications. One of the key challenges in this area is the problem of controlling, ordering, and combining pore structure over different length scales. Chapter 9 provides an introduction and discussion of evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA), a method that combines sol-gel synthesis with self-assembly and phase separation to produce films with a tailored pore structure. Chapter 10 describes how nanomaterials can be used as soluble precursors for the preparation of extended... 

Research tools and fundamental understanding New catalyst design for effective integration of bio-, homo- and heterogeneous catalysis New approaches to realize one-pot complex multistep reactions Understanding catalytic processes at the interface in nanocomposites New routes for nano-design of complex catalysis, hybrid catalytic materials and reactive thin films New preparation methods to synthesize tailored catalytic surfaces New theoretical and computational predictive tools for catalysis and catalytic reaction engineering... 

The quality of the thin film depends on preferential interactions between precursor and coating substrate. However, the initial layer is clearly the most important and, in the case of nanocarbons, the surface chemistry must be tailored. For most ALD precursors, hydrophilic surface groups enhance deposition, which can be achieved by functionalizing the nanocarbon prior to placement in the ALD reaction chamber or by treating the sample within the chamber with reactive plasma. Among the many in situ hybridization techniques, ALD provides best control of thin film thickness. 

A form of surface effect sensor that exploits altered surface resistance, or chemiresistors, forms the surface from a mixture of tailored polymers and a finely divided conductive material, such as carbon black, as a thin film on a substrate. They use a number of polymers, 32 in one implementation, with different properties to form an array of chemiresistors. When a vapor is passed over the array,... 

M. Lahav, A. B. Kharitonov, O. Katz, T. Kunitakc, and I. Willner, Tailored Chemosensors for Chloroaromatic Acids Using Molecular Imprinted Tt02 Thin Films on Ion-Sensitive Field-Effect Transistor, AnaL Chem. 2001, 73, 720. 

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