| 1. |
- Ahlskog, Markus, et al.
(författare)
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Individual arc-discharge synthesized multiwalled carbon nanotubes probed with multiple measurement techniques
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B. - : A V S AMER INST PHYSICS. - 2166-2746 .- 2166-2754. ; 38:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Arc-discharge synthesized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (AD-MWNT), or related MWNTs, exhibit a good quality compared to the more common type of MWNT synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition methods. Yet experimental measurements on these are rather few and typically have not correlated data from different measurement techniques. Here, the authors report Raman spectroscopy, scanning probe microscopy, conductivity measurements, and force microscopy on single AD-MWNTs. The results demonstrate the high quality of AD-MWNTs and are compatible with the view of them as the best approximation of MWNTs as an assembly of defect-free concentric individual single-walled carbon nanotubes. The authors also demonstrate conductance measurements over a step on the surface of an AD-MWNT, which is due to an abruptly broken outer layer(s), whereby the interlayer resistance is measured.
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| 2. |
- Alavian Ghavanini, Farzan, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Controlling the initial phase of PECVD growth of vertically aligned carbon nanofibres on TiN
- 2011
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Ingår i: Sensors and Actuators A-Physical. - : Elsevier BV. - 0924-4247 .- 1873-3069. ; 172:1, s. 347-358
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We explore the growth of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, using lithographically defined Ni catalyst seeds on TiN. TiN is selected for being an electrically conducting diffusion barrier suitable for the realization of electronic devices. We show that the rate of Ni diffusion correlates to both the level of oxygen content in the TiN film and to the film resistivity. The synthesis of the nanofibers was characterized using electron microscopy with an emphasis on three growth parameters: substrate temperature, plasma power, and chamber pressure. We propose that a catalyst surface free from carbon deposits throughout the process will induce diffusion-limited growth. The growth will shift towards a supply-limited process when the balance between acetylene, as the effective carbon bearing gas, and atomic hydrogen, as the main etching agent, is skewed in favor of acetylene. This determines whether the dominating growth mode will be vertically aligned tip-type or disordered base-type, by affecting the competition between the formation of the first graphitic sheets on the catalyst surface and at the catalyst-substrate interface
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| 3. |
- Alavian Ghavanini, Farzan, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Direct measurement of bending stiffness and estimation of Young's modulus of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-8979 .- 1089-7550. ; 113:19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The bending stiffness of individual, as-grown, vertically aligned carbon nanofibers was measured using a custom-built atomic force microscope placed inside a scanning electron microscope. The internal structure of the nanofiber was best modeled as dual-phase, composed of an inner graphitic core covered with a tapered amorphous carbon shell. It was found that the fibers have a relatively low bending stiffness, with Young's modulus values of about 10 GPa for the inner core and 65 GPa for the outer shell. The low Young's modulus of the inner core is attributed to a non-zero angle between the graphitic sheets and the nanofiber axis. The weak shear modulus between graphitic sheets thereby dominates the mechanical behaviour of the fibers.
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| 4. |
- Alavian Ghavanini, Farzan, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Direct Measurement of the Bending Stiffness of Individual Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers (VACNFs)
- 2011
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Ingår i: NT11 International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes University of Cambridge, Cambridge, 10 – 16 July, 2011.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs) are synthesized in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process (PECVD) in which the position, diameter, length, and alignment of individual nanofibers can be controlled accurately. This has provided an unprecedented opportunity to realize a new bottom-up-engineered material with excellent mechanical and electrical properties which could exploit the third dimension at a reasonable cost. VACNFs have been already employed in a number of applications including electron emitters, gene delivery arrays, and nanoelectromechanical systems. However, no direct measurement of the Young’s modulus of VACNFs has been reported yet. Qi et al. have used nanoindentation method to measure the collective response of a forest of VACNFs with a distribution in length and diameter of the constituent nanofibers. Kaul et al., have reported in situ uniaxial compression tests on individual VACNFs but they have not provided enough information to evaluate the accuracy of their measurements. Indirect estimation of the VACNFs Young’s modulus has also been reported by Eriksson et al. from measurements of the resonance frequency of a nanofiber deposited on top of an excitation electrode. Here, we report on direct measurements of VACNFs Young’s modulus using a piezoresistive atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever implemented inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The VACNFs were grown from Ni catalyst seeds, patterned using electron-beam lithography on top of a stoichiometric TiN underlayer. The VACNFs were grown in a commercially available PECVD chamber (AIXTRON BlackMagic™). The nanofibers were approached from the side and pushed at the tip (resembling a cantilever beam) and force-deflection curves were obtained. By calibrating the AFM sensor the bending stiffness of the nanofiber could be determined. The Young’s modulus was then estimated by taking the nanofibers dimensions into account. The sub-nano Newton force precision provided by the AFM force-sensor together with the fact the individual VACNFs could be observed in the SEM simultaneously during the measurements, has enabled us to measure the nanofibers Young’s modulus with a high precision. Preliminary measurements indicate that VACNFs posses a Young’s modulus between 40 to 100 GPa which is comparable to CVD grown carbon nanotubes of similar diameter.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, S., et al.
(författare)
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Dissociation of Physisorbed H_ $$2$$ through Low-Energy Electron Scattering Resonances
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - : American Physical Society. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 104, s. 216101-216105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electron induced dissociation of physisorbed H2, HD, and D2 proceeds, as we observe in electron energy-loss measurements of the resulting atomic species, with a high quantum efficiency via the 2Σg+ core excited electron scattering resonances. We find that the predominant decay of the temporary H2- state to the neutral excited 3Σu+ parent state, which is intramolecularly antibonding, provides a sufficiently long-lived channel for dissociation to occur with high probability, even in the proximity of a metal surface.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Andersson, Stig, 1941, et al.
(författare)
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Excitation and desorption of physisorbed H2 via the 2Σu electron scattering resonance.
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 147, s. 114703-1-114703-11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Our high-resolution electron energy-loss measurements concern physisorbed H2 and comprise dif- ferential cross sections for the excitation of the internal H2 modes and the H2-surface bonding mode and their combinations and extend over the electron impact energy range of the classical low-energy H2 2Σu resonance. Comparison with corresponding data for the excitation of the internal modes of gas phase H2 reveals that strong elastic electron reflectivity from the Cu(100) substrate profoundly distorts the inelastic scattering pattern for physisorbed H2. We find that this influence can be corrected for and that the resulting peak cross sections agree with the H2 gas phase data, in accordance with theoretical predictions for the excitation of the internal H2 vibration. We have used corrected cross sections for the rotational mode spectra of physisorbed H2, HD, and D2 in a model concerning elec- tron induced desorption via rotation-translation energy conversion. These spectra include transitions from the ground state as well as excited levels of the physisorption potential well. H2 and HD can desorb from all levels while D2, for energetic reason, can only desorb from the excited levels. This model gives a satisfactory account of the observed desorption cross sections and predicts character- istic velocity distributions of the desorbing molecules. The cross section data for H2 and HD reveals that direct bound-free transitions also contribute to the electron induced desorption.
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| 9. |
- Anselmo, Ana Sofia, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Characterisation of vertical phase separation in polymer : fullerene blend films for photovoltaics by dSIMS and NEXAFS
- 2011
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Ingår i: E-MRS 2011 Spring Meeting. - Malden, MA : John Wiley & Sons. ; , s. 62-63
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Morphological control and characterization of blend films is key in the development of viable polymer solar cells. Spontaneous formation of vertical compositional gradients during solution processing has been shown for polyfluorene:PCBM blends and rationalized with thermodynamic and kinetic models of nucleation and spinodal decomposition.[1, 2] The extent of vertical stratification is affected by polymer side-chain modification aimed at controlling polymer:fullerene miscibility.[3] Here we present high-resolution film morphology results for several polymer:fullerene systems as obtained from near-edge X-ray fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) in partial and in total electron yield modes. Blend films were found to be polymer- enriched at the surface. Dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (dSIMS) and NEXAFS give compositional information at different depths, resulting in a more complete picture of the film morphology.
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| 10. |
- Anselmo, Ana Sofia, 1980-
(författare)
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Materials aspects in spin-coated films for polymer photovoltaics
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Polymer-based photovoltaics have the potential to contribute to boosting photovoltaic energy conversion overall. Besides allowing large-area inexpensive processing, polymeric materials have the added benefit of opening new market applications for photovoltaics due to their low-weight and interesting mechanical properties. The energy conversion efficiency values of polymer photovoltaics have reached new record values over the past years. It is however crucial that stability issues are addressed together with efficiency optimization. Understanding fundamental materials aspects is key in both areas.In the work presented in this thesis, the morphology of polymer:fullerene films and its influence on device performance was studied, as well as the effect of light exposure on the surface of fullerene films. Several polyfluorene copolymers were used for the morphology studies, where the effects of changing spin-coating solvent and of side chain engineering were investigated with dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (dSIMS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. Polymer-enriched surfaces were found in all blend films, even in the cases with homogeneous distributions in the bulk. Side chain engineering of the polymer led to gradual changes in the compositional variations perpendicular to the surface, and to slight variations in the photocurrent. The electronic structure of the fullerene derivative PCBM was studied in detail and the spectroscopic fingerprint of the materials was analysed by comparison with theoretically simulated spectra. Photo-stability studies done in air showed that the surface of fullerene films underwent severe damages at the molecular level, which is evident from changes in the valence band and X-ray absorption spectra. These changes were explained by transitions from sp2-type to sp3 hybridization of the carbon atoms in the cage that resulted in the destruction of the fullerene cage.
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