Suchergebnisse

CrN thin films with an N/Cr ratio of 95% were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering onto (0001) sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction and pole figure texture analysis show CrN (111) epitaxial growth in a twin domain fashion. By changing the nitrogen versus argon gas flow mixture and the deposition temperature, thin films with different surface morphologies ranging from grainy rough textures to flat and smooth films were prepared. These parameters can also affect the CrN(x )system, with the film compound changing between semiconducting CrN and metallic Cr2N through the regulation of the nitrogen content of the gas flow and the deposition temperature at a constant deposition pressure. Thermoelectric measurements (electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient), scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy imaging confirm the changing electrical resistivity between 0.75 and 300 m omega cm, the changing Seebeck coefficient values between 140 and 230 mu VK-1, and the differences in surface morphology and microstructure as higher temperatures result in lower electrical resistivity while gas flow mixtures with higher nitrogen content result in single phase cubic CrN. ; Funding Agencies|European Research Council under the European Community/ERC [335383]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University [2009 00971]; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) through the Future Research Leaders 5 program; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation under the Wallenberg Academy Fellows program; Swedish Research Council (VR) [2016-03365]; European Union; Danish Innovation Fund for the NanoCaTe project [604647]; Danish Innovation Fund for the CTEC project [1305-00002B]

CaMn1-xNbxO3 (x = 0, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.10) thin films have been grown by a two-step sputtering/annealing method. First, rock-salt-structured (Ca,Mn1-x,Nb-x)O thin films were deposited on 11 & x304;00 sapphire using reactive RF magnetron co-sputtering from elemental targets of Ca, Mn and Nb. The CaMn1-xNbxO3 films were then obtained by thermally induced phase transformation from rock-salt-structured (Ca,Mn1-xNbx)O to orthorhombic during post-deposition annealing at 700 degrees C for 3 h in oxygen flow. The X-ray diffraction patterns of pure CaMnO3 showed mixed orientation, while Nb-containing films were epitaxially grown in [101] out of-plane-direction. Scanning transmission electron microscopy showed a Ruddlesden-Popper (R-P) secondary phase in the films, which results in reduction of the electrical and thermal conductivity of CaMn1-xNbxO3. The electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient of the pure CaMnO3 film were measured to 2.7 omega cm and -270 mu V K-1 at room temperature, respectively. The electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient were reduced by alloying with Nb and was measured to 0.09 omega cm and -145 mu V K-1 for x = 0.05. Yielding a power factor of 21.5 mu W K-2 m(-1) near room temperature, nearly eight times higher than for pure CaMnO3 (2.8 mu W K-2 m(-1)). The power factors for alloyed samples are low compared to other studies on phase-pure material. This is due to high electrical resistivity originating from the secondary R-P phase. The thermal conductivity of the CaMn1-xNbxO3 films is low for all samples and is the lowest for x = 0.07 and 0.10, determined to 1.6 W m(-1) K-1. The low thermal conductivity is attributed to grain boundary scattering and the secondary R-P phase. ; Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) through the Future Research Leaders 5 program; Swedish Research Council (VR)Swedish Research Council [2016-03365, 2014-4750]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation through the Wallenberg Academy Fellows program; Electron Microscopy Laboratory at Linkoping University; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [2009 00971]; Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [46519-1]; Spanish MinistrySpanish Government [MAT2017-86450-C4-3-R]

The phase evolution of reactive radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtered Cr0.28Zr0.10O0.61 coatings has been studied by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction during annealing under air atmosphere and vacuum. The annealing in vacuum shows t-ZrO2 formation starting at similar to 750-800 degrees C, followed by decomposition of the alpha-Cr2O3 structure in conjunction with bcc-Cr formation, starting at similar to 950 degrees C. The resulting coating after annealing to 1140 degrees C is a mixture of t-ZrO2, m-ZrO2, and bcc-Cr. The air-annealed sample shows t-ZrO2 formation starting at similar to 750 degrees C. The resulting coating after annealing to 975 degrees C is a mixture of t-ZrO2 and alpha-Cr2O3 (with dissolved Zr). The microstructure coarsened slightly during annealing, but the mechanical properties are maintained, with no detectable bcc-Cr formation. A larger t-ZrO2 fraction compared with alpha-Cr2O3 is observed in the vacuum-annealed coating compared with the air-annealed coating at 975 degrees C. The results indicate that the studied pseudo-binary oxide is more stable in air atmosphere than in vacuum. ; Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (VR)Swedish Research Council [621-20124368, 330-2014-6336]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg FoundationKnut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [2009 00971]; Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions, Cofund, Project INCA [600398]; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) through the Future Research Leaders 6 program; Swedish Research Council via the Rontgen Angstrom Cluster (RAC) Frame Program [2011-6505]; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)Federal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF) [05K12CG1]