| 1. |
- Kumar, Ankit, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of in situ electric-field-assisted growth on antiphase boundaries in epitaxial Fe3O4 thin films on MgO
- 2018
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Ingår i: Physical Review Materials. - : American Physical Society. - 2475-9953. ; 2:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antiphase boundaries (APBs) normally form as a consequence of the initial growth conditions in all spinel ferrite thin films. These boundaries result from the intrinsic nucleation and growth mechanism, and are observed as regions where the periodicity of the crystalline lattice is disrupted. The presence of APBs in epitaxial films of the inverse spinel Fe3O4 alters their electronic and magnetic properties due to strong antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions across these boundaries. We explore the effect of using in-plane in situ electric-field-assisted growth on the formation of APBs in heteroepitaxial Fe3O4(100)/MgO(100) thin films. The electric-field-assisted growth is found to reduce the AF interactions across APBs and, as a consequence, APB-free thin-film-like properties are obtained, which have been probed by electronic, magnetic, and structural characterization. The electric field plays a critical role in controlling the density of APBs during the nucleation process by providing an electrostatic force acting on adatoms and therefore changing their kinetics. This innovative technique can be employed to grow epitaxial spinel thin films with controlled AF interactions across APBs.
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| 2. |
- Cedervall, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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On the structural and magnetic properties of the double perovskite Nd2NiMnO6Nd2NiMnO6
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-482X .- 0957-4522. ; 30:17, s. 16571-16578
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The structural, electronic and magnetic properties of phase pure and stoichiometric samples of the double perovskite Nd 2NiMnO 6 have been investigated with a combination of X-ray and neutron diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and magnetometry. It is found that the monoclinic space group P2 1/ n best describes the crystal structure of Nd 2NiMnO 6. Photoectron spectroscopy revels a mixed valence of the transition metal sites where Ni has 3+/2+ oxidation states and Mn has 3+/4+. The compound orders ferromagnetically at ∼195 K. The magnetic structure was determined from the refinement of the neutron diffraction data. The results suggests that the B-site magnetic moments align along the crystallographic a-direction.
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| 3. |
- Fritze, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Hard and crack resistant carbon supersaturated refractory nanostructured multicomponent coatings
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2045-2322. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The combination of ceramic hardness with high crack resistance is a major challenge in the design of protective thin films. High entropy alloys have shown in earlier studies promising mechanical properties with a potential use as thin film materials. In this study, we show that small amounts of carbon in magnetron-sputtered multicomponent CrNbTaTiW films can lead to a significant increase in hardness. The film properties were strongly dependent on the metal composition and the most promising results were observed for TaW-rich films. They crystallised in a bcc structure with a strong (110) texture and coherent grain boundaries. It was possible to deposit films with 8 at.% C in a supersaturated solid-solution into the bcc structure without carbide formation. A major effect of carbon was a significant grain refinement, reducing the column diameter from approximately 35 to 10 nm. This resulted in an increase in hardness from 14.7 to 19.1 GPa while the reduced E-modulus stayed constant at 322 GPa. The carbon-containing films exhibited extremely little plastic deformation around the indent and no cracks were observed. These results show that supersaturation of carbon into high entropy films can be a promising concept to combine superior hardness with high crack resistance.
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| 4. |
- Fritze, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of Deposition Temperature on the Phase Evolution of HfNbTiVZr High-Entropy Thin Films
- 2019
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Ingår i: Materials. - : MDPI. - 1996-1944. ; 12:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, we show that the phase formation of HfNbTiVZr high-entropy thin films is strongly influenced by the substrate temperature. Films deposited at room temperature exhibit an amorphous microstructure and are 6.5 GPa hard. With increasing substrate temperature (room temperature to 275 degrees C), a transition from an amorphous to a single-phased body-centred cubic (bcc) solid solution occurs, resulting in a hardness increase to 7.9 GPa. A higher deposition temperature (450 degrees C) leads to the formation of C14 or C15 Laves phase precipitates in the bcc matrix and a further enhancement of mechanical properties with a peak hardness value of 9.2 GPa. These results also show that thin films follow different phase formation pathways compared to HfNbTiVZr bulk alloys.
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| 5. |
- Glechner, T., et al.
(författare)
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Tuning structure and mechanical properties of Ta-C coatings by N-alloying and vacancy population
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tailoring mechanical properties of transition metal carbides by substituting carbon with nitrogen atoms is a highly interesting approach, as thereby the bonding state changes towards a more metallic like character and thus ductility can be increased. Based on ab initio calculations we could prove experimentally, that up to a nitrogen content of about 68% on the non-metallic sublattice, Ta-C-N crystals prevail a face centered cubic structure for sputter deposited thin films. The cubic structure is partly stabilized by non-metallic as well as Ta vacancies-the latter are decisive for nitrogen rich compositions. With increasing nitrogen content, the originally super-hard fcc-TaC0.71 thin films soften from 40 GPa to 26 GPa for TaC0.33N0.67, accompanied by a decrease of the indentation modulus. With increasing nitrogen on the non-metallic sublattice (hence, decreasing C) the damage tolerance of Ta-C based coatings increases, when characterized after the Pugh and Pettifor criteria. Consequently, varying the non-metallic sublattice population allows for an effective tuning and designing of intrinsic coating properties.
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| 6. |
- Ivanov, Sergey, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature-dependent structural and magnetic properties of R2MMnO6 double perovskites (R=Dy, Gd; M=Ni, Co)
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-482X .- 0957-4522. ; 29:21, s. 18581-18592
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The structural and magnetic properties of the Dy2CoMnO6, Dy2NiMnO6 and Gd2CoMnO6 double perovskites are investigated using X-ray powder diffraction and squid magnetometry. The materials adopt an orthorhombic structure (space ground Pnma) with disordered Co(Ni)/Mn cations, and exhibit ferrimagnetic transitions near T(C)85, 95, and 115K respectively. T-C was found to monotonously depend on the orthorhombic distortion (a-c)/(a+c) of the compounds. The crystal structure of the compounds was investigated as a function of temperature (16-1100K range), evidencing changes in the BO6 octahedron near T-C. The magnetic entropy changes are estimated for comparison of the magnetocaloric properties to those from literature.
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| 7. |
- Jansson, Ulf, 1960-, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon-containing multi-component thin films
- 2019
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Ingår i: Thin Solid Films. - : Elsevier BV. - 0040-6090 .- 1879-2731. ; 688
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- High entropy alloys (HEAs) have been a hot research area for many years. They are solid solutions of at least five elements in approximately equimolar compositions. The HEAs are assumed to be stabilized by a high entropy of mixing favouring a solid solution phase instead of a mixture of intermetallic phases. The importance of entropy of mixing and the true nature of HEAs are debated but the concept has contributed to an interesting development of new alloys. They idea of stabilizing solid solutions with many elements have recently been expanded to nitrides, borides, oxides and carbides. Furthermore, a growing number of thin film studies of these compounds are now published. In this paper we summarise recent results from studies of carbon-containing multi-component thin films based on the HEA concept. We will summarise some general observations connected to "high-entropy" materials. We also describe some general trends in metal-carbon interactions for transition metals and discuss how they should influence the formation of multi-component carbides. A summary of results on bulk multi-component carbide materials is also presented. We review published studies of carbon-containing multi-component thin films mainly deposited with magnetron-sputtering. The crystal structure, microstructure and properties of these films are described. Finally, we highlight some interesting topics for future research.
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| 8. |
- Johansson, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of oxygen content on structure and material properties of reactively sputtered Al-Ge-O-N thin films
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Alloys and Compounds. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA. - 0925-8388 .- 1873-4669. ; 738, s. 515-527
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ternary Al-Ge-N and quaternary Al-Ge-O-N coatings were deposited by reactive dc magnetron cosputtering of Al and Ge targets in an Ar/N-2 or Ar/N-2/O-2 atmosphere at a substrate temperature of 250 degrees C. The structure and material properties of the coatings were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nanoindentation, UV-vis spectroscopy and optical profilometry. In agreement with literature, the ternary Al-Ge-N coatings were found to be nanocomposite materials with nanocrystalline (Al1-xGex) N-y solid solution phase in a Ge3N4-z amorphous matrix. The Al-Ge-O-N coatings consisted of a nanocrystalline wurzite-type (Al1-xGex)( N1-yOy) solid solution phase for low oxygen concentrations with a possible co-existence of an amorphous Ge-N matrix phase. For higher O contents, the coatings became X-ray amorphous. The mechanical properties of the Al-Ge-O-N films were improved for low oxygen content, as compared to the ternary Al-Ge-N samples, showing an increase in hardness up to 29 GPa and Young's modulus to 320 GPa. The oxygen addition also resulted in an additional design parameter of the optical properties compared to the ternary Al-Ge-N films. The optical absorption edge was thus tuneable towards both shorter and longer wavelength by changing the O and Ge content respectively, and ranged from 302 to 373 nm, corresponding to an optical bandgap (E-04) between 4.1 and 3.3 eV. After annealing of the Al-Ge-O-N coatings in ultra-high vacuum at 500 degrees C, indications of increased thermal stability for the coating with high oxygen content were observed. For the annealed Al-Ge-O-N films the mechanical properties were improved upon heat treatment, while the optical properties were only slightly changed. These results suggests that coatings of the Al-Ge-O-N system could be suitable as protective optical coatings at elevated temperatures.
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| 9. |
- Johansson, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Multicomponent Hf-Nb-Ti-V-Zr nitride coatings by reactive magnetron sputter deposition
- 2018
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Ingår i: Surface & Coatings Technology. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA. - 0257-8972 .- 1879-3347. ; 349, s. 529-539
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multicomponent nitride coatings of the Hf-Nb-Ti-V-Zr system with different Hf content (0-18 at.%) were deposited using reactive dc magnetron sputtering. Coatings with lower Hf content (0-7 at.%) were found to consist of a single solid solution phase with NaCl-type structure (space group Fm-3m). Coatings with higher Hf content (10-18 at.%) showed a two-phase material consisting of cubic Fm-3m and tetragonal I4/m:run solid solution phase. The lattice distortion, estimated by calculating the delta-parameter under the assumption of a single solid solution phase, varied between 3.8 and 4.0% and slightly decreased with increasing Hf content. SEM and TEM cross section images showed a columnar microstructure with columns that were frayed on the surface or throughout the whole column. The column size decreased as Hf content increased. The hardness increased from 8 to 19 GPa with increased Hf content, which most probably is related to the change in microstructure rather than change in lattice distortion. The electrical resistivity for all samples ranged between 231 and 286 mu Omega cm.
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| 10. |
- Lewin, Erik, Dr. 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Spectral artefacts post sputter-etching and how to cope with them - A case study of XPS on nitride-based coatings using monoatomic and cluster ion beams
- 2018
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Ingår i: Applied Surface Science. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 0169-4332 .- 1873-5584. ; 442, s. 487-500
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The issue of artefacts due to sputter-etching has been investigated for a group of AlN-based thin film materials with varying thermodynamical stability. Stability of the materials was controlled by alloying AlN with the group 14 elements Si, Ge or Sn in two different concentrations. The coatings were sputter-etched with monoatomic Ar+ with energies between 0.2 and 4.0 keV to study the sensitivity of the materials for sputter damage. The use of Ar-n(+) clusters to remove an oxidised surface layer was also evaluated for a selected sample. The spectra were compared to pristine spectra obtained after in-vacuo sample transfer from the synthesis chamber to the analysis instrument. It was found that the all samples were affected by high energy (4 keV) Ar+ ions to varying degrees. The determining factors for the amount of observed damage were found to be the materials' enthalpy of formation, where a threshold value seems to exist at approximately -1.25 eV/atom (similar to-120 kJ/mol atoms). For each sample, the observed amount of damage was found to have a linear dependence to the energy deposited by the ion beam per volume removed material. Despite the occurrence of sputter-damage in all samples, etching settings that result in almost artefact-free spectral data were found; using either very low energy (i.e. 200 eV) monoatomic ions, or an appropriate combination of ion cluster size and energy. The present study underlines that analysis post sputter-etching must be carried out with an awareness of possible sputter-induced artefacts.
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| 11. |
- Malinovskis, Paulius, et al.
(författare)
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Synthesis and characterization of multicomponent (CrNbTaTiW)C films for increased hardness and corrosion resistance
- 2018
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Ingår i: Materials & design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-1275 .- 1873-4197. ; 149, s. 51-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multicomponent carbide thin films of (CrNbTaTiW)C (30–40 at.% C) with different metal contents were depos-ited at different temperatures using non-reactive DC magnetron sputtering. The lattice distortion for the metallattice was estimated to vary from about 3 to 5%. Most films crystallized in the cubic B1 structure but Ta/W-rich films deposited at 600 °C exhibited a tetra gonal distortion. X-ray diffraction results sh ow that near-equimolar films exhibited a strong (111) texture. In contrast, Ta/W-rich films exhibited a shift from (111) to(100) texture at 450 °C. The in-plane relationship was determined to MC(111)[-12-1]//Al2O3(001)[110] with alattice mismatch of about 11% along the Al2O3[110] direction. A segregation of Cr to the grain boundaries was ob-served in all films. The microstructure was found to be the most important factor for high hardness. Less denseNb-rich and near-equimolar films deposited at low tem peratures exhib ited the low est hardnes s (12 GPa),while very dense Ta/W-rich high temperature films were found to be the hardest (36 GPa). No correlation wasfound between the lattice distortion and the hardness. Corrosion studies revealed that the multicomponentfilms exhibited excellent corrosion resistance, superior to that of a reference hyper-duplex stainless steel, in1.0 M HCl.
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| 12. |
- Saldan, Ivan, et al.
(författare)
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Surface analysis of nickel nanomaterials electrodeposited on graphite surface
- 2019
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Ingår i: Micro & Nano Letters. - : INST ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY-IET. - 1750-0443. ; 14:12, s. 1233-1237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pure Nickel (Ni) and Nickel-Palladium (Ni-Pd) alloy were electrodeposited on graphite surface via pulse electrolysis in dimethyl sulfoxide in form of rods and nanoparticles with a diameter of similar to 100-350 and similar to 10-35 nm, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of Ni 2p(3/2) region for these nanomaterials suggests on their surface Ni2+ precursor while after Ar+ ion-etching metallic nickel starts to be dominated. Both Pd-0 and Pd2+ for XPS spectra of Pd 3d(5/2) and 3d(3/2) were observed after electrodeposition. Scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray and XPS analysis confirmed electrodeposition of nickel nanomaterials in non-aqueous electrolyte. Using a lower concentration of Ni2+ precursor, nanoparticles with an average particle size of similar to 10-23 nm were prepared on a graphite surface.
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| 13. |
- von Fieant, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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In Situ Formation of Ge Nanoparticles by Annealing of Al-Ge‑N ThinFilms Followed by HAXPES and XRD
- 2019
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Ingår i: Inorganic Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0020-1669 .- 1520-510X. ; 58:16, s. 11100-11109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ge nanoparticles embedded in thin films have attracted a lot of attention due to their promising optical and electronic properties that can be tuned by varying the particle size and choice of matrix material. In this study, Ge nanoparticle formation was investigated for Al-Ge-N based thin films by simultaneous measurements of HAXPES and grazing incidence XRD during in situ annealing in vacuum conditions. As-deposited Al-Ge-N thin films, synthesized by reactive dc magnetron sputtering, consisted of a nanocrystalline (Al1–xGex)Ny solid solution and an amorphous tissue phase of Ge3Ny. Upon annealing to 750 °C, elemental Ge was formed shown by both HAXPES and XRD measurements, and N2 gas was released as measured by a mass spectrometer. Postannealed ex situ analysis by SEM and TEM showed that the elemental Ge phase formed spherical nanoparticles on the surface of the film, with an average size of 210 nm. As the annealing temperature increased further to 850 °C, the Ge particles on the film surface evaporated, while the phase segregation of Ge still could be observed within the film. Thus, these results show the possibility for a controlled synthesis of Ge nanoparticles through annealing of Al-Ge-N thin films to produce materials suitable for use in electronic or optoelectronic devices.
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