STUDY OF THE MORPHOLOGICAL MODIFICATIONS INDUCED BY LASER ANNEALING OF PREAMORPHIZED SILICON

2001 ◽  
Vol 08 (05) ◽  
pp. 441-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. F. CHONG ◽  
K. L. PEY ◽  
Y. F. LU ◽  
A. T. S. WEE ◽  
A. SEE

Atomic force microscopy was employed to characterize the morphological modifications induced by laser annealing of preamorphized silicon. Laser irradiation was performed at different fluence with fixed pulse durations of 23 ns. In all cases, the laser fluence used is above the threshold fluence that is needed to melt the preamorphized layer. Roughness measurements show that the surface roughness of the silicon samples increases when the laser fluence increases. Since the laser anneal was performed in air, the changes in morphology may be associated with the surface oxide formed. When a high fluence was employed, the extension of melting was sufficient to remove all surface features of the as-implanted sample but apparently there was not enough time to completely redistribute the material upon solidification. As a result, ripple-like periodic structures are formed on the surface. Therefore, a low laser fluence should be used whenever possible in the annealing of silicon samples.

Author(s):  
H. Kinney ◽  
M.L. Occelli ◽  
S.A.C. Gould

For this study we have used a contact mode atomic force microscope (AFM) to study to topography of fluidized cracking catalysts (FCC), before and after contamination with 5% vanadium. We selected the AFM because of its ability to well characterize the surface roughness of materials down to the atomic level. It is believed that the cracking in the FCCs occurs mainly on the catalysts top 10-15 μm suggesting that the surface corrugation could play a key role in the FCCs microactivity properties. To test this hypothesis, we chose vanadium as a contaminate because this metal is capable of irreversibly destroying the FCC crystallinity as well as it microporous structure. In addition, we wanted to examine the extent to which steaming affects the vanadium contaminated FCC. Using the AFM, we measured the surface roughness of FCCs, before and after contamination and after steaming.We obtained our FCC (GRZ-1) from Davison. The FCC is generated so that it contains and estimated 35% rare earth exchaged zeolite Y, 50% kaolin and 15% binder.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Gros-Otero ◽  
Samira Ketabi ◽  
Rafael Cañones-Zafra ◽  
Montserrat Garcia-Gonzalez ◽  
Cesar Villa-Collar ◽  
...  

Abstract Background To compare the anterior surface roughness of two commercially available posterior chamber phakic intraocular lenses (IOLs) using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Methods Four phakic IOLs were used for this prospective, experimental study: two Visian ICL EVO+ V5 lenses and two iPCL 2.0 lenses. All of them were brand new, were not previously implanted in humans, were monofocal and had a dioptric power of − 12 diopters (D). The anterior surface roughness was assessed using a JPK NanoWizard II® atomic force microscope in contact mode immersed in liquid. Olympus OMCL-RC800PSA commercial silicon nitride cantilever tips were used. Anterior surface roughness measurements were made in 7 areas of 10 × 10 μm at 512 × 512 point resolution. The roughness was measured using the root-mean-square (RMS) value within the given regions. Results The mean of all anterior surface roughness measurements was 6.09 ± 1.33 nm (nm) in the Visian ICL EVO+ V5 and 3.49 ± 0.41 nm in the iPCL 2.0 (p = 0.001). Conclusion In the current study, we found a statistically significant smoother anterior surface in the iPCL 2.0 phakic intraocular lenses compared with the VISIAN ICL EVO+ V5 lenses when studied with atomic force microscopy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 709-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kühnapfel ◽  
D. Amkreutz ◽  
C. Klimm ◽  
N.H. Nickel

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising material for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices. In the amorphous state physical-vapor-deposited SiC is already an essential part of the production of electron beam liquid phase crystallized silicon absorbers, because of its good wettability for the silicon melt. The resulting polycrystalline thin film absorbers exhibit excellent electrical properties (B. Eggleston et al. MRS Online Proc. Libr. 1426, 251 (2012)) and demonstrate the potential of this technology (J. Dore et al. IEEE J. Photovolt. 4, 33 (2014)). A drawback of amorphous SiC interlayers is their poor optical properties. In this work we investigate two different approaches. Firstly, we show how those properties can be improved by depositing SiCxOy layers to enhance the transmittance while maintaining the wettability. Secondly, the laser crystallization of amorphous silicon–carbon compounds is studied as a function of their composition and the applied laser fluence. Compared to the amorphous SiC layers a clear reduction of the absorption coefficient was achieved upon laser annealing without losing wettability. Raman backscattering measurements showed that laser annealing of reactively sputtered amorphous SiC leads to a material with a vibrational mode at 770 cm−1 that is indicative of 6H–SiC. Atomic force microscopy measurements of those crystalline layers also show an ordered triangular grain structure, which was not observed in the amorphous material. It is shown that segregation effects are strongly affected by the stoichiometry and the applied laser fluence.


2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.Y. Beaulieu ◽  
A.D. Rutenberg ◽  
J.R. Dahn

Measuring the changing thickness of a thin film, without a reference, using an atomic force microscope (AFM) is problematic. Here, we report a method for measuring film thickness based on in situ monitoring of surface roughness of films as their thickness changes. For example, in situ AFM roughness measurements have been performed on alloy film electrodes on rigid substrates as they react with lithium electrochemically. The addition (or removal) of lithium to (or from) the alloy causes the latter to expand (or contract) reversibly in the direction perpendicular to the substrate and, in principle, the change in the overall height of these materials is directly proportional to the change in roughness. If the substrate on which the film is deposited is not perfectly smooth, a correction to the direct proportionality is needed and this is also discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nečas ◽  
Miroslav Valtr ◽  
Petr Klapetek

Abstract Surface roughness plays an important role in various fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. However, the present practices in roughness measurements, typically based on some Atomic Force Microscopy measurements for nanometric roughness or optical or mechanical profilometry for larger scale roughness significantly bias the results. Such biased values are present in nearly all the papers dealing with surface parameters, in the areas of nanotechnology, thin films or material science. Surface roughness, most typically root mean square value of irregularities Sq is often used parameter that is used to control the technologies or to link the surface properties with other material functionality. The error in estimated values depends on the ratio between scan size and roughness correlation length and on the way how the data are processed and can easily be larger than 10% without us noting anything suspicious. Here we present a survey of how large is the problem, detailed analysis of its nature and suggest methods to predict the error in roughness measurements and possibly to correct them. We also present a guidance for choosing suitable scan area during the measurement.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P. A. Gabriele ◽  
Craig J. Williams ◽  
Douglas Stauffer ◽  
Brian Derby ◽  
Aurora J. Cruz-Cabeza

<div> <div> <div> <p>Single crystals of aspirin form I were cleaved and indented on their dominant face. Upon inspection, it was possible to observe strongly anisotropic shallow lateral cracks due to the extreme low surface roughness after cleavage. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging showed spalling fractures nucleating from the indent corners, forming terraces with a height of one or two interplanar spacings d100. The formation of such spalling fractures in aspirin was rationalised using basic calculations of attachment energies, showing how (100) layers are poorly bonded when compared to their relatively higher intralayer bonding. An attempt at explaining the preferential propagation of these fractures along the [010] direction is discussed. </p> </div> </div> </div>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P. A. Gabriele ◽  
Craig J. Williams ◽  
Douglas Stauffer ◽  
Brian Derby ◽  
Aurora J. Cruz-Cabeza

<div> <div> <div> <p>Single crystals of aspirin form I were cleaved and indented on their dominant face. Upon inspection, it was possible to observe strongly anisotropic shallow lateral cracks due to the extreme low surface roughness after cleavage. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging showed spalling fractures nucleating from the indent corners, forming terraces with a height of one or two interplanar spacings d100. The formation of such spalling fractures in aspirin was rationalised using basic calculations of attachment energies, showing how (100) layers are poorly bonded when compared to their relatively higher intralayer bonding. An attempt at explaining the preferential propagation of these fractures along the [010] direction is discussed. </p> </div> </div> </div>


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 900
Author(s):  
Maria Vardaki ◽  
Aida Pantazi ◽  
Ioana Demetrescu ◽  
Marius Enachescu

In this work we present the results of a functional properties assessment via Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)-based surface morphology, surface roughness, nano-scratch tests and adhesion force maps of TiZr-based nanotubular structures. The nanostructures have been electrochemically prepared in a glycerin + 15 vol.% H2O + 0.2 M NH4F electrolyte. The AFM topography images confirmed the successful preparation of the nanotubular coatings. The Root Mean Square (RMS) and average (Ra) roughness parameters increased after anodizing, while the mean adhesion force value decreased. The prepared nanocoatings exhibited a smaller mean scratch hardness value compared to the un-coated TiZr. However, the mean hardness (H) values of the coatings highlight their potential in having reliable mechanical resistances, which along with the significant increase of the surface roughness parameters, which could help in improving the osseointegration, and also with the important decrease of the mean adhesion force, which could lead to a reduction in bacterial adhesion, are providing the nanostructures with a great potential to be used as a better alternative for Ti implants in dentistry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 124-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naser Ali ◽  
Joao Amaral Teixeira ◽  
Abdulmajid Addali

This research investigates the effect of surface roughness, water temperature, and pH value on the wettability behaviour of copper surfaces. An electron beam physical vapour deposition technique was used to fabricate 25, 50, and 75 nm thin films of copper on the surface of copper substrates. Surface topographical analysis, of the uncoated and coated samples, was performed using an atomic force microscopy device to observe the changes in surface microstructure. A goniometer device was then employed to examine the surface wettability of the samples by obtaining the static contact angle between the liquid and the attached surface using the sessile drops technique. Waters of pH 4, 7, and 9 were employed as the contact angle testing fluids at a set of fixed temperatures that ranged from 20°C to 60°C. It was found that increasing the deposited film thickness reduces the surface roughness of the as-prepared copper surfaces and thus causing the surface wettability to diverge from its initial hydrophobic nature towards the hydrophilic behaviour region. A similar divergence behaviour was seen with the rise in temperature of water of pH 4, and 9. In contrast, the water of pH 7, when tested on the uncoated surface, ceased to reach a contact angle below 90o. It is believed that the observed changes in surface wettability behaviour is directly linked to the liquid temperature, pH value, surface roughness, along with the Hofmeister effect between the water and the surface in contact.


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