| 1. |
- Adare, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Measurements of Elliptic and Triangular Flow in High-Multiplicity He-3 + Au Collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114. ; 115:14
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first measurement of elliptic (v(2)) and triangular (v(3)) flow in high-multiplicity He-3 + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. Two-particle correlations, where the particles have a large separation in pseudorapidity, are compared in He-3 + Au and in p + p collisions and indicate that collective effects dominate the second and third Fourier components for the correlations observed in the He-3 + Au system. The collective behavior is quantified in terms of elliptic v(2) and triangular v(3) anisotropy coefficients measured with respect to their corresponding event planes. The v(2) values are comparable to those previously measured in d + Au collisions at the same nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy. Comparisons with various theoretical predictions are made, including to models where the hot spots created by the impact of the three He-3 nucleons on the Au nucleus expand hydrodynamically to generate the triangular flow. The agreement of these models with data may indicate the formation of low-viscosity quark-gluon plasma even in these small collision systems.
|
|
| 2. |
- Adare, A., et al.
(författare)
-
Systematic study of azimuthal anisotropy in Cu plus Cu and Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=62.4 and 200 GeV
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 92:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have studied the dependence of azimuthal anisotropy nu(2) for inclusive and identified charged hadrons in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions on collision energy, species, and centrality. The values of nu(2) as a function of transverse momentum pT and centrality in Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV are the same within uncertainties. However, in Cu + Cu collisions we observe a decrease in nu(2) values as the collision energy is reduced from 200 to 62.4 GeV. The decrease is larger in the more peripheral collisions. By examining both Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions we find that nu(2) depends both on eccentricity and the number of participants, N-part. We observe that nu(2) divided by eccentricity (epsilon) monotonically increases with N-part and scales as N-part(1/3). The Cu + Cu data at 62.4 GeV falls below the other scaled nu(2) data. For identified hadrons, nu(2) divided by the number of constituent quarks n(q) is independent of hadron species as a function of transverse kinetic energy K E-T = m(T) - m between 0.1 < K E-T / n(q) < 1 GeV. Combining all of the above scaling and normalizations, we observe a near-universal scaling, with the exception of the Cu + Cu data at 62.4 GeV, of nu(2)/(nq center dot e center dot N-part(1/3)) vs K E-T / n(q) for all measured particles.
|
|
| 3. |
- Borges, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Microstructural evolution of Au/TiO2 nanocomposite films : The influence of Au concentration and thermal annealing
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Thin Solid Films. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-6090 .- 1879-2731. ; 580, s. 77-88
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nanocomposite thin films consisting of a dielectric matrix, such as titanium oxide (TiO2), with embedded gold (Au) nanoparticles were prepared and will be analysed and discussed in detail in the present work. The evolution of morphological and structural features was studied for a wide range of Au concentrations and for annealing treatments in air, for temperatures ranging from 200 to 800 degrees C. Major findings revealed that for low Au atomic concentrations (at.%), there are only traces of clustering, and just for relatively high annealing temperatures, T >= 500 degrees C. Furthermore, the number of Au nanoparticles is extremely low, even for the highest annealing temperature, T = 800 degrees C. It is noteworthy that the TiO2 matrix also crystallizes in the anatase phase for annealing temperatures above 300 degrees C. For intermediate Au contents (5 at.% <= C-Au <= 15 at.%), the formation of gold nanoclusters was much more evident, beginning at lower annealing temperatures (T >= 200 degrees C) with sizes ranging from 2 to 25 nm as the temperature increased. A change in the matrix crystallization from anatase to rutile was also observed in this intermediate range of compositions. For the highest Au concentrations (>20 at.%), the films tended to form relatively larger clusters, with sizes above 20 nm (for T >= 400 degrees C). It is demonstrated that the structural and morphological characteristics of the films are strongly affected by the annealing temperature, as well as by the particular amounts, size and distribution of the Au nanoparticles dispersed in the TiO2 matrix.
|
|
| 4. |
- Borges, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Thin films composed of Ag nanoclusters dispersed in TiO2 : Influence of composition and thermal annealing on the microstructure and physical responses
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Applied Surface Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-4332 .- 1873-5584. ; 358, s. 595-604
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Noble metal powders containing gold and silver have been used for many centuries, providing different colours in the windows of the medieval cathedrals and in ancient Roman glasses. Nowadays, the interest in nanocomposite materials containing noble nanoparticles embedded in dielectric matrices is related with their potential use for a wide range of advanced technological applications. They have been proposed for environmental and biological sensing, tailoring colour of functional coatings, or for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Most of these applications rely on the so-called localised surface plasmon resonance absorption, which is governed by the type of the noble metal nanoparticles, their distribution, size and shape and as well as of the dielectric characteristics of the host matrix. The aim of this work is to study the influence of the composition and thermal annealing on the morphological and structural changes of thin films composed of Ag metal clusters embedded in a dielectric TiO2 matrix. Since changes in size, shape and distribution of the clusters are fundamental parameters for tailoring the properties of plasmonic materials, a set of films with different Ag concentrations was prepared. The optical properties and the thermal behaviour of the films were correlated with the structural and morphological changes promoted by annealing. The films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering and in order to promote the clustering of the Ag nanoparticles the as-deposited samples were subjected to an in-air annealing protocol. It was demonstrated that the clustering of metallic Ag affects the optical response spectrum and the thermal behaviour of the films.
|
|
| 5. |
- Borges, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Broadband Optical Absorption Caused by the Plasmonic Response of Coalesced Au Nanoparticles Embedded in a TiO2 Matrix
- 2016
-
Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 120:30, s. 16931-16945
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of Au nanopattides' (NPs) concentration, site, and spatial distribution within a TiO2 dielectric matrix on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band characteristics was experimentally and theoretically studied. The results of the analysis of the Au NPs' size distributions allowed us to conclude that isolated NPs grow only up to 5 to 6 nm in site, even for the highest annealing temperature used. However, for higher volume fractions of Au, the coalescence of closely located NPs yields elongated clusters that are much larger in size and cause a considerable broadening of the LSPR band. This effect was confirmed by Monte Carlo modeling results. Coupled dipole equations were solved to find the electromagnetic modes of a supercell, where isolated and coalesced NPs were distributed, from which an effective dielectric function of the nanocomposite material was calculated and used to evaluate the optical transmittance and reflectance spectra. The modeling results suggested that the observed LSPR band broadening is due to a wider spectral distribution of plasmonic modes, caused by the presence of coalesced NPs (in addition to the usual damping effect). This is particularly important for detection applications via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), where it is desirable to have a spectrally broad LSPR band in order:to favor the fulfillment of the conditions of resonance matching, to electronic transitions in detected species.
|
|
| 6. |
- Borges, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Thin films composed of gold nanoparticles dispersed in a dielectric matrix : The influence of the host matrix on the optical and mechanical responses
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Thin Solid Films. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-6090 .- 1879-2731. ; 596, s. 8-17
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gold nanoparticles were dispersed in two different dielectric matrices, TiO2 and Al2O3, using magnetron sputtering and a post-deposition annealing treatment. The main goal of the present work was to study how the two different host dielectric matrices, and the resulting microstructure evolution (including both the nanoparticles and the host matrix itself) promoted by thermal annealing, influenced the physical properties of the films. In particular, the structure and morphology of the nanocomposites were correlated with the optical response of the thin films, namely their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) characteristics. Furthermore, and in order to scan the future application of the two thin film system in different types of sensors (namely biological ones), their functional behaviour (hardness and Young's modulus change) was also evaluated. Despite the similar Au concentrations in both matrices (similar to 11 at.%), very different microstructural features were observed, which were found to depend strongly on the annealing temperature. The main structural differences included: (i) the early crystallization of the TiO2 host matrix, while the Al2O3 one remained amorphous up to 800 degrees C; (ii) different grain size evolution behaviours with the annealing temperature, namely an almost linear increase for the Au:TiO2 system (from 3 to 11 nm), and the approximately constant values observed in the Au:Al2O3 system (4-5 nm). The results from the nanoparticle size distributions were also found to be quite sensitive to the surrounding matrix, suggesting different mechanisms for the nanoparticle growth (particle migration and coalescence dominating in TiO2 and Ostwald ripening in Al2O3). These different clustering behaviours induced different transmittance-LSPR responses and a good mechanical stability, which opens the possibility for future use of these nanocomposite thin film systems in some envisaged applications (e.g. LSPR-biosensors).
|
|
| 7. |
- Englund, Sven, et al.
(författare)
-
Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide as Transparent Back Contact in Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin-Film Solar Cells
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Physica Status Solidi (a) applications and materials science. - : Wiley. - 1862-6300 .- 1862-6319. ; 216:22
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antimony-doped tin oxide (Sn2O3:Sb, ATO) is investigated as a transparent back contact for Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin-film solar cells. The stability of the ATO under different anneal conditions and the effect from ATO on CZTS absorber growth are studied. It is found that ATO directly exposed to sulfurizing anneal atmosphere reacts with S, but when covered by CZTS, it does not deteriorate when annealed at T < 550 degrees C. The electrical properties of ATO are even found to improve when CZTS is annealed at T = 534 degrees C. At T = 580 degrees C, it is found that ATO reacts with S and degrades. Analysis shows repeatedly that ATO affects the absorber growth as large amounts of Sn-S secondary compounds are found on the absorber surfaces. Time-resolved anneal series show that these compounds form early during anneal and evaporate with time to leave pinholes behind. Device performance can be improved by addition of Na prior to annealing. The best CZTS device on ATO back contact herein has an efficiency of 2.6%. As compared with a reference on a Mo back contact, a similar open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density are achieved, but a lower fill factor is measured.
|
|
| 8. |
- Platzer Björkman, Charlotte, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
-
Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells : state-of-the-art and open questions
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Journal of Physics. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 2515-7655. ; 1:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We review the present state-of-the-art within back and front contacts in kesterite thin film solar cells, as well as the current challenges. At the back contact, molybdenum (Mo) is generally used, and thick Mo(S, Se)2 films of up to several hundred nanometers are seen in record devices, in particular for selenium-rich kesterite. The electrical properties of Mo(S, Se)2 can vary strongly depending on orientation and indiffusion of elements from the device stack, and there are indications that the back contact properties are less ideal in the sulfide as compared to the selenide case. However, the electronic interface structure of this contact is generally not well-studied and thus poorly understood, and more measurements are needed for a conclusive statement. Transparent back contacts is a relatively new topic attracting attention as crucial component in bifacial and multijunction solar cells. Front illuminated efficiencies of up to 6% have so far been achieved by adding interlayers that are not always fully transparent. For the front contact, a favorable energy level alignment at the kesterite/CdS interface can be confirmed for kesterite absorbers with an intermediate [S]/([S]+[Se]) composition. This agrees with the fact that kesterite absorbers of this composition reach highest efficiencies when CdS buffer layers are employed, while alternative buffer materials with larger band gap, such as Cd1−x Zn x S or Zn1−x Sn x O y , result in higher efficiencies than devices with CdS buffers when sulfur-rich kesterite absorbers are used. Etching of the kesterite absorber surface, and annealing in air or inert atmosphere before or after buffer layer deposition, has shown strong impact on device performance. Heterojunction annealing to promote interdiffusion was used for the highest performing sulfide kesterite device and air-annealing was reported important for selenium-rich record solar cells.
|
|
| 9. |
- Ren, Yi, et al.
(författare)
-
Reactively sputtered films in the CuxS–ZnS–SnSy system : From metastability to equilibrium
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Thin Solid Films. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-6090 .- 1879-2731. ; 582, s. 208-214
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cu2ZnSnS4 is a promising photovoltaic absorber containing earth abundant elements. Using a two stage process, low temperature reactive co-sputtering followed by heat treatment, we have previously achieved a 7.9% efficient solar cell. Because the sputtered precursors contain non-equilibrium phases with unusual crystal structures, it is crucial to understand their nature and their conversion into Cu2ZnSnS4 (and secondary phases) during heat treatment. In this study, we report phase analysis of reactively sputtered binary and ternary sulfides in the CuxS–ZnS–SnSy system before and after annealing. In the as deposited films, Raman spectroscopy with 532 and 325 nm excitation wavelengths reveals expected phases for the binaries (CuS, ZnS and SnS2) and the ternary (Cu2SnS3), and unique metastable phases for the Cu–Zn–S and Zn–Sn–S precursors. Upon annealing, the non-equilibrium phases disappear, accompanied by additional chemical changes. Excess S content in the films is removed, and in the Sn–S and Zn–Sn–S films, further S loss from decomposition of SnSx (x > 1) and CuS respectively generates SnS and CuxS (x > 1). Due to the presence of SnS vapor, Cu2ZnSnS4 is generated from the Cu–Zn–S precursor. Additionally, the range of sulfur partial pressure in the annealing process is estimated according to the temperature–pressure phase diagram. This gives us useful insight allowing better control of annealing conditions.
|
|
| 10. |
- Serra, R., et al.
(författare)
-
Large-area homogeneous periodic surface structures generated on the surface sputtered boron carbide thin films by femtosecond laser processing
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Applied Surface Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0169-4332 .- 1873-5584. ; 331, s. 161-169
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Amorphous and crystalline sputtered boron carbide thin films have a very high hardness even surpassing that of bulk crystalline boron carbide (approximate to 41 GPa). However, magnetron sputtered B-C films have high friction coefficients (C.o.F) which limit their industrial application. Nanopatterning of materials surfaces has been proposed as a solution to decrease the C.o.F. The contact area of the nanopatterned surfaces is decreased due to the nanometre size of the asperities which results in a significant reduction of adhesion and friction. In the present work, the surface of amorphous and polycrystalline B-C thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering was nanopatterned using infrared femtosecond laser radiation. Successive parallel laser tracks 10 mu m apart were overlapped in order to obtain a processed area of about 3 mm(2). Sinusoidal-like undulations with the same spatial period as the laser tracks were formed on the surface of the amorphous boron carbide films after laser processing. The undulations amplitude increases with increasing laser fluence. The formation of undulations with a 10 mu m period was also observed on the surface of the crystalline boron carbide film processed with a pulse energy of 72 mu J. The amplitude of the undulations is about 10 times higher than in the amorphous films processed at the same pulse energy due to the higher roughness of the films and consequent increase in laser radiation absorption. LIPSS formation on the surface of the films was achieved for the three B-C films under study. However, LIPSS are formed under different circumstances. Processing of the amorphous films at low fluence (72 mu J) results in LIPSS formation only on localized spots on the film surface. LIPSS formation was also observed on the top of the undulations formed after laser processing with 78 mu J of the amorphous film deposited at 800 degrees C. Finally, large-area homogeneous LIPSS coverage of the boron carbide crystalline films surface was achieved within a large range of laser fluences although holes are also formed at higher laser fluences.
|
|
