Thin film , examples

The mechanical interaction between the different epitaxial layers may result in the formation of misfit dislocations. Nucleation and propagation of cracks can ensue if the mismatch in thermal expansion coefficient is relatively large. The defects significantly influence the physical properties of the thin films. Examples from different material combinations and models of how to predict the numbers for critical thicknesses are provided in Section 14.4. 

The current authors have also investigated the effect of excimer laser annealing on various metallic thin films. Examples of gold and indium ultrathin films are shown... 

Adhesion and mechanical properties of thin films examples... 

This type of mass transfer is sometimes called free diffusion simply because this is briefer than unsteady diffusion in a semi-infinite slab. At first glance, this situation may seem rare because no solution can extend an infinite distance. The previous thin-film example made more sense because we can think of many more thin films than semi-infinite slabs. Thus we might conclude that this semi-infinite case is not common. That conclusion would be a serious error. 

The topic of capillarity concerns interfaces that are sufficiently mobile to assume an equilibrium shape. The most common examples are meniscuses, thin films, and drops formed by liquids in air or in another liquid. Since it deals with equilibrium configurations, capillarity occupies a place in the general framework of thermodynamics in the context of the macroscopic and statistical behavior of interfaces rather than the details of their molectdar structure. In this chapter we describe the measurement of surface tension and present some fundamental results. In Chapter III we discuss the thermodynamics of liquid surfaces. 

In moist enviromnents, water is present either at the metal interface in the fonn of a thin film (perhaps due to condensation) or as a bulk phase. Figure A3.10.1 schematically illustrates another example of anodic dissolution where a droplet of slightly acidic water (for instance, due to H2SO4) is in contact with an Fe surface in air [4]. Because Fe is a conductor, electrons are available to reduce O2 at the edges of the droplets. 

Thin oxide films may be prepared by substrate oxidation or by vapour deposition onto a suitable substrate. An example of the fomrer method is the preparation of silicon oxide thin-films by oxidation of a silicon wafer. In general, however, the thickness and stoichiometry of a film prepared by this method are difficult to control. 

The application of RBS is mostly limited to materials applications, where concentrations of elements are fairly high. RBS is specifically well suited to the study of thin film stmctures. The NMP is usefiil in studying lateral inliomogeneities in these layers [30] as, for example, in cases where the solid state reaction of elements in the surface layers occur at specific locations on the surfaces. Other aspects, such as lateral diffusion, can also be studied in tluee-dimensions. 

We are now in a position to calculate the reflections from multiple mterfaces using the simple example of a thin film of material of thickness d with refractive index n.2 sandwiched between a material of refractive index (where this is generally air witii n = ) deposited onto a substrate of refractive index [35, 36], This is depicted in figure Bl.26.9. The resulting reflectivities for p- and s-polarized light respectively are given by ... 

Thin films of fullerenes, which were deposited on an electrode surface via, for example, drop coating, were largely heterogeneous, due to the entrapping of solvent molecules into their domains. Consequently, their electrochemical behaviour displayed different degrees of reversibility and stability depending on the time of electrolysis and the... 

Figure C2.17.3. Close-packed array of sub-micrometre silica nanoparticles. Wlren nanoparticles are very monodisperse, they will spontaneously arrange into hexagonal close-packed stmcture. This scanning electron micrograph shows an example of this for very monodisperse silica nanoparticles of -250 nm diameter, prepared in a thin-film fonnat following the teclmiques outlined in [236].

Not all synthetic polymers are used as fibers Mylar for example is chemically the same as Dacron but IS prepared in the form of a thin film instead of a fiber Lexan is a polyester which because of its impact resistance is used as a shatterproof substitute for glass It IS a polycarbonate having the structure shown... 

Physical Properties. Raman spectroscopy is an excellent tool for investigating stress and strain in many different materials (see Materlals reliability). Lattice strain distribution measurements in siUcon are a classic case. More recent examples of this include the characterization of thin films (56), and measurements of stress and relaxation in silicon—germanium layers (57). 

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