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We have developed a pressure calibration method in the high-pressure THz ESR system using induction coils set outside the pressure cell. The pressure is calibrated using alternating current (AC) magnetization measurements of the superconducting transition temperature of tin set inside the pressure cell with an ESR sample. The system fits the developed pressure cell with a wide frequency range of 0.05–0.8 THz. The pressure range was extended to 2.8 GPa. The ESR system was applied to the well-known cobalt Tutton’s salt $$({\text {NH}}_{4})_{2} {\rm {Co}}({\text {SO}}_{4})_{2}\cdot {\rm {6H}}_{2} {\text {O}}$$ , and its g principal values at 0 GPa were determined as $$g_{1}=6.61$$ , $$g_{2}=3.05$$ , and $$g_{3}=2.94$$ for the first time. Furthermore, we succeeded in observing the large change in these g values with pressure.

This paper reports the improvement of electrical, ferroelectric and endurance of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) thin-film capacitors by implementing W electrode. The W/HZO/W capacitor shows excellent pristine 2Pr values of 45.1 μC/cm2 at ±6 V, which are much higher than those of TiN/HZO/W (34.4 μC/cm2) and W/HZO/TiN (26.9 μC/cm2) capacitors. Notably, the maximum initial 2Pr value of W/HZO/W capacitor can reach as high as 57.9 μC/cm2 at ±7.5 V. These strong ferroelectric polarization effects are ascribed to the W electrode with a fairly low thermal expansion coefficient which provides a larger in-plane tensile strain compared with TiN electrode, allowing for enhancement of o-phase formation. Moreover, the W/HZO/W capacitor also exhibits higher endurance, smaller wake-up effect (10.1%) and superior fatigue properties up to 1.5 × 1010cycles compared to the TiN/HZO/W and W/HZO/TiN capacitors. Such improvements of W/HZO/W capacitor are mainly due to the decreased leakage current by more than an order of magnitude compared to the W/HZO/TiN capacitor. These results demonstrate that capping electrode material plays an important role in the enhancement of o-phase formation, reduces oxygen vacancies, mitigates wake-up effect and improves reliability.

Substitution of lead (Pb) with tin (Sn) is a very important way to reduce the bandgap of metal halide perovskite for applications in solar cells, and near infrared (NIR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), etc. However, mixed Pb/Sn perovskite becomes very disordered with high trap density when the Sn molar ratio is less than 20%. This limits the applications of mixed Pb/Sn perovskites in optoelectronic devices such as wavelength tunable NIR perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs). In this work, we demonstrate that alkali cations doping can release the microstrain and passivate the traps in mixed Pb/Sn perovskites with Sn molar ratios of less than 20%, leading to higher carrier lifetime and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). The external quantum efficiency (EQE) of Sn0.2Pb0.8-based NIR PeLEDs is dramatically enhanced from 0.1% to a record value of 9.6% (emission wavelength: 868 nm). This work provides a way of making high quality mixed Pb/Sn optoelectronic devices with small Sn molar ratios.

Most of the global Sn resources are from granite-related ore deposits, which form in response to cassiterite precipitation from hydrothermal fluids. However, the physical and chemical controls on the efficiency of Sn extraction from upper crustal plutons by exsolving magmatic fluids are still unclear. In this study, we determine the partition coefficient of Sn between aqueous fluids and granitic melts ( D S n f l u i d / m e l t ) at 800 °C, 150 MPa and the fO2 of the Ni-NiO buffer. To obtain equilibrium partition coefficients, a new experimental method has been used relying on local equilibrium between silicate melt and microscopic-sized fluid bubbles. The latter formed synthetic fluid inclusions in the quenched glasses, which in turn were analyzed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry along with the enclosing glass. The results show that at constant aluminum saturation index (ASI = 1.05–1.08) of the silicate melt, D S n f l u i d / m e l t increases from 1.9 to 35.0 as the total Cl concentration ( m C l t o t a l ) in fluid increases from 1.0 to 16.6 mol/kg H2O. At a fixed m C l t o t a l = 2 mol/kg H2O, D S n f l u i d / m e l t increases from 4.3 to 10.6 as the HCl concentration in the solution increases from 0.15 to 0.79 mol/kg H2O, which in turn is a function of the ASI of the melt (ASI = 1.06–1.29). Numerical modeling suggests that Sn is extracted by magmatic fluids from upper crustal plutons most efficiently at the late stage of crystallization and degassing. At a similar degree of crystallization, granitic magma with lower initial water concentration and higher ASI will separate a fluid phase with higher Sn concentration and thus has higher Sn mineralization potential. Due to the relatively high D S n f l u i d / m e l t value, fluids exsolved from highly evolved magmas can sequester enough Sn to form Sn deposits and the sub-solidus remobilization of Sn from granite bodies is not a pre-requisite for ore genesis.

This paper presents compositional modifications on lead-free material system based on barium titanate to optimize its electrocaloric (EC) properties. By addition of strontium and tin we prepared solid solutions of Ba1-xSrxSnyTi1-yO3 (BSSnT-100∙x-100∙y) which allow for shifting of maximum EC effect to room temperature as well as broadening the temperature range of high EC temperature changes Δ T E C . Bulk ceramic samples of BSSnT were prepared by solid-state reaction route and the influence of Sn:Sr ratio on dielectric and ferroelectric properties was investigated. The EC temperature change was measured directly using resistance welded thermocouple wires. Most promising results could be achieved for BSSnT-18−6.5, which showed a maximum Δ T E C of 0.49 K around 30 °C with Δ T E C > 0.3 K in the temperature range from 10 °C to 50 °C under a comparatively low electric field change of 2 V μm−1.

In this article, the electrical properties of nMOSFET devices with different high-k Al₂O₃ capping layer thickness and TiN electrode have been systematically studied at deep cryogenic temperatures ranging from 10 to 300 K. The threshold voltage $V_{TH}$ , transconductance $g_{m}$ , carrier mobility μ, mobility attenuation factor θ , and subthreshold swing (SS) are extracted using the $I_{DS}$ - $V_{GS}$ curves and Y-function method at different temperatures. It is indicated that: 1) all the electrical parameters ( $V_{TH}$ , $g_{m}$ , μ, θ , and SS) show strong temperature dependence in the range of studied temperatures and 2) temperature-dependent electrical properties of nMOSFET devices will modulate at various cryogenic temperatures ascribed to the presence of the Al₂O₃ capping layer on the SiO₂ dielectric layer, which increases the oxide trap density and consequentially adjusts the threshold voltage and mobility of the devices.

A concept of a liquid tin anode-indirect carbon air fuel cell (LTA-ICFC) are described. Experimental setups for analysis of LTA-ICFC polarisations of an operational electrochemical reactor of the LTA-ICFC are presented. Results from Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) Analysis of the electrochemical reactor of the LTA-ICFC are shown and analysed.The rate-determining step of the system is concluded. The charge-transfer resistance did not show considerable differences at 700-800 °C. This can be implied that the charge-transfer resistance is not the rate-limiting step of the transport processes of the fuel cell. The increase of the Warburg impedance concurrently with the resistance to fit mass-transport loss (R3) suggests that the rate-limiting step for the LTA-ICFC in voltage recovery mode is the diffusion of the oxide ions through SnO2 layer. The increment of mass transport lost, R3, of the cell causes the slowly increase of the cell’s voltage over the voltage from 0.7-0.8 V at 700, 750, and 800 °C.

Lead tin sulphide (Pb-Sn-S) thin films (TFs) were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates via the electrochemical deposition process using lead (II) nitrate [Pb(NO3)2], tin (II) chloride dehydrate [SnCl2.2H2O] and thiacetamide [C2H5NS] precursors as sources of lead (Pb), tin (Sn) and sulphur (S). The solution of all the compounds was harmonized with a stirrer (magnetic) at 300k. In this study, we reported on the improvements in the properties (structural and optical) of Pb-Sn-S TFs by varying the deposition time. We observed from X-ray diffractometer (XRD) that the prepared material is polycrystalline in nature. UV-Vis measurements were done for the optical characterizations and the band gap values were seen to be increasing from 1.52 to 1.54 eV with deposition time. In addition to this, the absorption coefficient and refractive index were also estimated and discussed.

Tin (Sn)-doped orthorhombic gallium oxide (κ-Ga2O3) films were grown on (0001) sapphire by mist chemical vapor deposition. It is known that κ-Ga2O3 is more stable than α-Ga2O3 (corundum) but less stable than β-Ga2O3 (monoclinic). This thermodynamic stability means an optimal growth temperature (Tg) of the κ-phase (600-650 °C) is also in between the two. At first, it was observed that Sn doping induced the κ-phase during the growth of the β-phase (Tg = 700 °C). Interestingly, Sn could also promote the κ-phase even under the growth condition that strongly favors the α-phase (Tg = 450 °C). The postgrowth annealing tests at 800-1000 °C showed that the thermal stability of the κ-phase depends on the Sn concentration. The higher the Sn concentration, the more stable the phase. The one with the highest Sn content showed no phase transition from κ to β after annealing at 800, 900, and 1000 °C for 30 min each. This enhancement of thermal stability promises more reliable high-power and high-frequency devices for which κ-Ga2O3 is suitable. Although there was no correlation between Sn-induced phase stabilization and the crystal quality, cathodoluminescence revealed that increasing Sn concentration led to the strong suppression of the radiative recombination at 340 nm from the vacancy-related donor-acceptor pairs. This observation suggests that the phase stabilization by Sn could be related to a specific Ga site Sn replaces in the orthorhombic structure.

In this research work, we have successfully improved the thermoelectric properties of Zinc tin oxide thin films by controlling the post annealing duration. Initially, zinc tin oxide thin films were grown by direct evaporation of zinc and tin metal powder using the thermal evaporation method. After deposition, post growth annealing of the grown thin films was performed at 500 °C for different annealing durations (0.5, 1, 1.5 & 2 h). XRD data show the structural transformation from amorphous to mixed phases of Zn2SnO4, ZnSnO3, ZnO, and SnO2 with the increase in post-growth annealing duration. While the sample annealed for 2 h represent only two phases of ZnO and ZnSnO3. UV–vis data shows the decrease in band gap value from 3.8 to 3.61 eV with the increase in annealing duration. Seebeck data suggested the improvement in the Seebeck coefficient value from 24 to 104 μV/°C with the increase in annealing time duration while the electrical conductivity value was also improved from 34 to 63 S/cm. This increase in Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity was associated with the phase transformation into ZnSnO3 by suppression of un-wanted secondary phases leads to a high power factor up to 3.1 × 10−4 Wm−1K−2. In addition, we have also performed Raman and SEM as supplementary measurements to support our purposed argument.

We study the impact of different interlayers (ILs) and ferroelectric materials on charge trapping during the endurance fatigue of Si ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET) with TiN/Hf x Zr1- x O2/ interlayer/Si (MFIS) gate-stack. We have fabricated FeFET devices with different interlayers (SiO2 or SiON) and Hf x Zr1- x O2 materials ( ${x} =0.75$ , 0.6, 0.5) and directly extracted the charge trapping during endurance fatigue. We find that: 1) under the same equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) condition, the increase of dielectric constant and interlayer thickness suppresses charge trapping and improves the endurance characteristics; 2) charge trapping effect is experimentally verified to be the origin of endurance fatigue; and 3) as the spontaneous polarization ( ${P}_{\text {s}}{)}$ of the Hf x Zr1- x O2 decreases from $25.9~ \boldsymbol {\mu } \text{C}$ /cm2 (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2) to $20.3~ \boldsymbol {\mu } \text{C}$ /cm2 (Hf0.6Zr0.4O2), the charge trapping behavior decreases, resulting in the slow degradation rate of memory window (MW) during program/erase cycling; in addition, when ${P}_{\text {s}}$ further decreases to $8.1~ \boldsymbol {\mu }\text{C}$ /cm2 (Hf0.75Zr0.25O2), the initial MW nearly disappears (only ~0.02 V). Thus, the reduction of ${P}_{\text {s}}$ could improve endurance characteristics. On the contrary, it can also reduce the MW. Our work helps design the MFIS gate-stack to improve endurance characteristics.

In this work, novel mixtures based on silicon and tin materials were synthesised via reaction of 2.407, 5.247, 7.195, or 9.59 g of tin chloride dihydrate with 6 g of sodium metasilicate pentahydrate. The samples, which were synthesised using 2.407, 5.247, 7.195, and 9.59 g, are abbreviated as T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively. XRD confirmed that these mixtures consist of amorphous Sn/Si, sodium tin silicate, tin oxide, and sodium silicate. The average crystallite size of T1, T2, T3, and T4 samples is 5.23, 8.13, 12.26, 15.72 nm, respectively. The synthesised mixtures were used as adsorbents for the removal of methylene blue and crystal violet dyes from aqueous media. 15 min, pH 6, and 298 Kelvin are regarded as the optimum conditions for the removal of studied dyes using T1, T2, T3, and T4 samples. The adsorption process of crystal violet or methylene blue dyes was fitted well with the Langmuir equilibrium isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic parameters confirmed that the removal of crystal violet and methylene blue dyes is chemical, spontaneous, and exothermic. The maximum adsorption capacity of T1, T2, T3, and T4 samples towards crystal violet dye is 34.81, 36.83, 29.46, and 11.98 mg/g, respectively. Also, the maximum adsorption capacity of T1, T2, T3, and T4 samples towards methylene blue dye is 30.13, 29.33, 17.09, and 13.43 mg/g, respectively. HCl: butanol (1:3) can efficiently desorb the dyes for three cycles of adsorption/desorption. Hence, the adsorbents can be used successfully several times for the removal of crystal violet and methylene blue dyes.

In this article, we report on the high dc and RF performance of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors that employ Ti/Au/Al/Ni/Au metallization stack with shallow trench etching ohmic contact (STEOC). An excellent ohmic contact performance including low contact resistance ( ${R}_{C}$ ) of $0.28~\Omega \cdot $ mm and smooth surface morphology have been achieved simultaneously. Atomic force microscope (AFM) reveals a highly smooth surface morphology with a root mean square (rms) roughness of 6.3 nm even after 810 °C high-temperature annealing (HTA), achieving an improvement of 79% as compared to the conventional Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contact (COC). A high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) showed a glossy morphology with a continuous and uniform TiN layer formed in the interface for the STEOC sample, while a bumpy morphology caused from the Ni-Al complexes balling up and TiN island penetrating into the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure were observed for the conventional sample. Consequently, the fabricated transistors with the STEOC process show a high output current of 1.52 A/mm and low ON-resistance ( ${R}_{ \mathrm{ ON}}$ ) of $2.09~\Omega $ mm. In addition, a high current cutoff frequency ( ${f}_{T}$ ) of 60 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency ( ${f}_{\text {max}}$ ) of 150 GHz were obtained for the STEOC HEMT with a gate length ( ${L}_{\text {g}}$ ) of 150 nm. Sub-6 GHz continuous-wave mode power sweep measurements deliver a high power-added-efficiency (PAE) of 67%. These results show the significant potential of the STEOC process to facilitate the development of GaN-based power amplifier (PA) applied for 5G.

This work investigated the thermal treatment to separate and concentrate economically valuable materials from laminates of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules (i.e., photovoltaic modules without the aluminum frame and the junction box). Chemical characterization of the metal content was performed by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). The polymers of the backsheet were also characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The influence of the atmosphere (oxidizing and inert) on the decomposition of the backsheet was investigated by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). Moreover, non-comminuted samples were tested for 4 thermal time lengths (30, 60, 90, and 120 min) in the furnace under ambient air. The degradation of the polymers was measured and 3 material fractions were obtained: silicon with silver and residual polymers (SS), glass and copper ribbons. Furthermore, there was no statistical difference between the mass losses of the samples submitted for 90 (13.62 ± 0.02 wt.%) and 120 min at 500 °C (p-value = 0.062). In the SS fraction, silver was 20 times more concentrated than in the ground photovoltaic laminate and 30 times more concentrated than high silver concentration ores. The SS fraction (about 6 wt.%) also presented low copper concentration and a high concentration of lead (hazardous metal). About 79 wt.% glass was obtained, as well as 1% copper ribbons (55.69 ± 6.39% copper, 23.17 ± 7.51% lead, 16.06 ± 2.12% tin). The limitations of the treatment and its environmental impact are discussed, and suggestions for industrial-scale application are given.

A thin film of cobalt selenide is deposited on the fluorescence tin oxide-coated glass surface material using a simple chemical growth technique. In this article, we report on the study of photoelectrochemical characteristics (PEC), including current–voltage, capacitance–voltage characteristics, photovoltaic power output, and spectral response in dark and light conditions. For the above parameter study, we prepared using cobalt selenide and carbon electrode (using polysulfide as electrolyte), the battery configuration is expressed as n-CoSe/NaOH (1 M) + Na2S (1 M) + S (1 M)/C (graphite). The performance of the cobalt selenide thin film material the resulted values of respective series (RS) and shunt (RSh) resistance 2.280 kΩ and 1.224 Ω, respectively. The efficiency and fill factor of these PEC cells were found to be 0.899 and 28.72%. The junction ideality value are found to be (nD) is 0.69 in the dark and 2.72 in the light (nL). The M–S plots are constructed using C−2 against applied bias voltage (with respect to SCE) for CoSe PEC cell. The positive slope of the M–S plot confirms n-type conductivity of the CoSe films. The carrier density values of the samples obtained from the M–S plots varied from 3.48 × 1014 cm−3.

In this study, we examine the effect of oxygen vacancies ( ${V}_{O}$ ) near the back surface of p-type tin monoxide (SnO) semiconductors on the device performance of its thin-film transistors (TFTs). Non-stoichiometry of the SnO surface layer was controlled through oxidant exposure conditions during alumina (Al2O3) growth using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). During the initial period of Al2O3 deposition, trimethylaluminum precursors absorbed oxygen from the SnO layer and created the ${V}_{O}$ , which can form a ${V}_{O}$ -rich region at the Al2O3/SnO interface. By modulating the oxygen plasma density during the PEALD process, the ${V}_{O}$ was effectively controlled, allowing the electrical characteristics to transition from ambipolar behavior to ${p}$ -channel only conduction. This study demonstrates the importance of the back surface of SnO, suggesting a new perspective of ambipolar behavior in p-type SnO semiconductors.

In this letter, 5 nm-thick HZO ultra-thin ferroelectric capacitors with excellent remanent polarization ( $\text{P}_{\mathrm {r}}$ ) and reliability are presented. The TiN/HZO/TiN metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) capacitor stack was deposited consecutively in the same atomic layer deposition (ALD) system without breaking the vacuum (i.e. “ in-situ ” like) to improve the interface quality between TiN electrodes and HZO ferroelectric layer. The samples show high $\text{P}_{\mathrm {r}}$ of $20.5~\mu \text{C}$ /cm2 (i.e. 2P $_{\mathrm {r}}= 41\,\,\mu \text{C}$ /cm2) under driving voltage of 3 V with low coercive voltage of approximately 0.6 V. The robustness of the MFM capacitor was presented by the outstanding endurance characteristics for keeping 2P $_{\mathrm {r}}$ value higher than $20~\mu \text{C}$ /cm2 after 1010 cycles at a high electric field of 5 MV/cm without breakdown, though the $\text{P}_{\mathrm {r}}$ values gradually degrade with cycles at low field (i.e. 2.4 MV/cm). The highly robust endurance characteristics of the 5nm-thick HZO MFM capacitor indicate the good interface quality achieved in this study.

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Using the reactive DC magnetron sputtering of two separate single-element Ti and Pb targets, a TiN–Pb composite coating was deposited onto a substrate made of VT6 titanium alloy. The studies are carried out on currents on the Pb cathode of 0.2 and 0.1 A and two fixed values of the argon flow rate of 6.0 or 8.5 cm3/min, as well as the flow rate of nitrogen supplied to the chamber varying from experiment to experiment. The composition of the coatings is determined by energy dispersive analysis. It is shown that the amount of lead in the coatings ranges from 0.5 to 16%, depending on the current on the Pb cathode and reactive gas consumption N. The microhardness and wear of the coatings are determined for each deposition mode. Depending on the ratio of argon and nitrogen fluxes, the thickness of the coatings varies from 1.9 to 5.2 μm. The effect of the deposition parameters of magnetron TiN–Pb coatings on the structure and phase composition is investigated by the X-ray diffraction method. It is shown that, at a current value of 0.2 on the Pb cathode, the coating consists of Pb and PbO and, at a current of 0.1 A, it consists of TiN, Pb, and PbO, while an increase in the ratio of argon and nitrogen fluxes leads to an increase in the fraction of TiN, the intensity of surface saturation, titanium substrate with nitrogen, microhardness, and wear resistance. Under all deposition conditions, the TiN coating is characterized by a typical texture (111), the intensity of which varies nonmonotonically.

The primary focus of this investigation was constructing worthwhile and cost-effective TCO substrate to make low-cost dye-sensitized solar cells entirely. Magnesium tin oxide substrates were prepared at a substrate temperature of 400 °C via nebulizer spray pyrolysis approach with different molar ratios of magnesium and tin (S1–0.1 M:0.4 M and S2–0.1 M:0.5 M) precursors. The annealing temperature was kept at 400 °C for three hours. While analyzing the properties of the prepared substrates, the following results were obtained. The thickness of the prepared samples for S1 and S2 increases from 0.47 to 0.56 μm, respectively. From the XRD results, the prepared samples were rhombohedral inistructure, and the grain size was found to be 31 (S1) and 40 (S2) nm. From the observations of optical studies, the percentage of transmission exceeds 80% and corresponding band-gap values were found to be 3.59 eV (S1) and 3.66 eV (S2). From Hall voltage measurement, it was noted that MgSnO3 shows n-type conductivity. The resistivity value was observed to be low of the order of 10–4 Ω cm which was closer to the resistivity of existing commercially available TCO substrates (for FTO: ~ 7 to ~ 10 Ω cm and for ITO: ~ 8 to ~ 12 Ω cm). FESEM results ensure that the prepared films were leaf-like structures. EDAX analysis shows that the atomic percentage of required elements (Mg, Sn, O) present in the prepared samples. The FTIR analysis ensures the appearance of hydroxyl and water functional groups owing to atmospheric water vapors and the chemical bonding in MgO and MgO–SnO. DSSC’s was fabricated with different combinations of FTO/MTO photoanodes and counter electrodes and the efficiency of the cells has been compared. The maximum efficiency of 3.95% was obtained for the fabricated DSSC using MTO as a substrate for photoanode and counter electrodes which was higher than that of other combinations of FTO/MTO substrates.

DC reactive magnetron sputtering of two separate single-element Ti and Pb targets was used to deposit a TiN–Pb composite coating onto a substrate made of the VT6 titanium alloy. The studies were carried out at Pb cathode currents of 0.2 and 0.1 A and two fixed argon flow rate values of 6.0 or 8.5 cm3/min, and the flow rate of nitrogen supplied to the chamber varying from experiment to experiment. The composition of coatings was determined by energy dispersive analysis. It was shown that the amount of lead in the coatings ranged from 0.5 to 16 wt.% depending on the Pb cathode current and reactive nitrogen consumption. Coating microhardness and wear were determined for each deposition mode. It was found that coating thicknesses varied from 1.9 to 5.2 μm depending on the ratio of argon and nitrogen fluxes. The effect of TiN–Pb magnetron coating deposition parameters on the structure and phase composition was investigated by X-ray diffraction method. It was shown that the coating consists of Pb and PbO at the Pb cathode current of 0.2 A, and of TiN, Pb, and PbO at the current of 0.1 A, while an increase in the ratio of argon and nitrogen fluxes leads to an increase in the fraction of TiN, the intensity of titanium substrate surface saturation with nitrogen, as well as microhardness and wear resistance. Under all deposition conditions the TiN coating features by a typical texture (111), the intensity of which varies nonmonotonically.

Tin monosulfide can be grown in cubic (pi-SnS) and orthorhombic (alpha-SnS) polymorphs by low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD). The optical properties of these polymorphs make them attractive for the realization of plasmonic solar cells with ultrathin absorber layers down to 10 nm in thickness. SnS is also an earth-abundant and nontoxic compound semiconductor of high interest for regular thin-film photovoltaics. To better understand the behavior of the two SnS polymorphs in ultrathin solar cell configurations, we here fabricate, characterize, and analyze a range of such devices. ALD is used to grow SnS and form heterojunctions with zinc oxysulfide [Zn(O,S)], acting as a buffer layer with a composition-tunable bandgap. Apart from the roles of the SnS polymorph and Zn(O,S) composition, the effects of the back contact material and thicknesses of buffer and absorber layers are investigated. Devices using pi-SnS and pure ZnO buffers yield the highest photocurrents (3.1 mA/cm(2)) and higher open circuit voltage (159 mV) than similar alpha-SnS-based devices. Analysis of the equivalent-circuit parameters suggests that interface recombination limits the voltage for these devices. While Zn(O,S) with a higher sulfur content provides chemical passivation of the SnS interface and excessive open circuit voltages above 600 mV, it also exhibits a too high conduction band offset, which hampers current collection. A growth delay during the ALD of Zn(O,S) on SnS initially amplifies the known sulfur-oxygen exchange reaction, such that a sulfur-rich Zn(O,S) region forms next to the SnS interface. This causes a thin ZnS-like barrier to form already for low cycle fractions of the H2S precursor in the ALD super-cycle. Voltage and fill factor trends suggest an optimal SnS absorber layer thickness in the range of 15-35 nm, presenting an opportunity for plasmonic absorption enhancement. Devices with pi-SnS show most promise, but interface recombination versus current-blocking is a dilemma for the SnS/Zn(O,S) heterojunction.

The possibility of synthesizing oxygen-ion conductors based on bismuth molybdate with antimony and tin substituted to the molybdenum sublattice is studied and the specific features of their structure and properties are elucidated. For these compositions, the regions of homogeneity are determined and structure peculiarities are investigated. The unit cell parameters and the volume density of samples are determined. By IR spectroscopic studies, the characteristic frequencies of the metal‑oxygen bonds are determined. The total conductivity of compositions is studied by impedance spectroscopy in the temperature interval from 200 to 825°С. The temperature dependences of conductivity are plotted and its dependences on the concentration are analyzed.

Sb-doped tin oxides (SnO2:Sb) films had been epitaxially grown on 6 H-SiC by metal organic chemical vapour deposit (MOCVD) technology. The Structural and electrical properties of the films were investigated in detail. The obtained SnO2:Sb films have a rutile crystal structure with (100) oriented. The SnO2 with 3 % Sb-doping film had a lowest resistivity of 9.3 × 10− 4Ω·cm and a highest carrier concentration of 3.4 × 1020 cm3. The electrical properties of SnO2:Sb films from room temperature to 10 K with different Sb-doping concentrations were studied well in order to reveal the transport mechanism. Taking the temperature of 150 K as the dividing line, the film were dominated by ion scattering and lattice vibration scattering.

A novel approach to fabricating Nb3Sn SRF cavities and other RF components using an ultra-low-cost melt casting fabrication process has been investigated. This simple, low cost melt casting technique has the potential to be used to fabricate nearly any superconducting Nb3Sn structure using either the Bronze Route (BR), Internal Tin (IT), External Tin (ET) processes as well as normal conducting pure copper (Cu) cavities. Most of the heat treated samples that were examined using SEM/EDX seemed to show a reasonable correlation of Tc onset and transition width (ΔTc) of the ingots initial/starting Sn content to the desired stoichiometric Nb3Sn phase, where the lower starting Sn content coupons resulted in lower Tc's with broader transition widths and the higher starting Sn coupons resulted in higher Tc's with narrower ΔTc's. The best samples had Tc onsets ∼17–18 K and ΔTc's < 2 K. Two samples were further tested for RF surface resistance (Rs) and Quality Factor (Q) at JLAB. These RF measurements were performed at 7.4 GHz using a calorimetric technique and showed two transitions, one at ∼8 K and another at ∼14 K; values of Rs were at least two orders of magnitude higher than similar high quality Nb3Sn films directly deposited substrates by JLAB and with another superconducting transition close to the superconducting transition temperature of niobium. Substantial improvements in the processing variables ranging from higher quality of the initial ingots with higher Sn content, to better electro-polishing and reaction heat treatment regimens will be necessary to realize improved RF performance metrics.

Zinc tin oxide (ZTO) thin films can be deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with adjustable electrical, optical and structural properties. However, the ternary ALD processes usually suffer from low growth rate and difficulty in controlling film thickness and elemental composition, due to the interaction of ZnO and SnO2 processes. In this work, ZTO thin films with different Sn levels are prepared by ALD super cycles using diethylzinc, tetrakis(dimethylamido)tin, and water. It is observed that both the film growth rate and atom composition show nonlinear variation versus [Sn]/([Sn]+[Zn]) cycle ratio. The experimental thickness measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray reflectivity are much lower than the expected thickness linearly interpolated from pure ZnO and SnOx films. The [Sn]/([Sn]+[Zn]) atom ratios estimated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy have higher values than that expected from the cycle ratios. Hence, to characterize the film growth behavior versus cycle ratio, a numerical method is proposed by simulating the effect of reduced density and reactivity of surface hydroxyls and surface etching reactions. The structure, electrical and optical properties of ZTO with different Sn levels are also examined by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscope, Hall measurements and ultraviolet–visible–infrared transmittance spectroscopy. The ZTO turns out to be transparent nanocrystalline or amorphous films with smooth surface. With more Sn contents, the film resistivity gets higher (>1 Ω cm) and the optical bandgap rises from 3.47 to 3.83 eV.

Perovskites compounds (ABO3) have found a great many applications due to the simplicity of the crystal structure, chemical composition, and synthesis methods. The properties of these compounds can be modified by doping at A or B sites. Pure and Ni-doped BaSnO3 perovskite materials have been synthesized by a solid-state technique. The x-ray diffraction pattern suggests the presence of a polycrystalline BaSnO3 cubic phase. Rietveld analysis was carried out with General Structure and Analysis System II software. A tiny nanorod-like growth pattern was observed when the Ni doping concentration is increased to 2 mol%. Raman analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectral studies, and electron spin resonance studies revealed the presence of oxygen vacancies. The substitution of tin by nickel ions and the presence of oxygen deficiency in the material can be the reason for the observed increase in magnetic moment with Ni doping. The nonlinear optical property obtained from the Z scan (open aperture) studies revealed the optical limiting nature of the synthesized samples. The observed nonlinear optical process in the prepared materials has potential applications in optical limiters and eye-protecting devices. The dielectric properties of the synthesized samples have also been investigated.

In this paper, titanium nitride nanoparticles were prepared in three methods; in the first method, titanium nitride nanoparticles were prepared by the ball milling method; in the second and third methods, the nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol–gel and the co-precipitation methods. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV–Vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), for the study of structural, chemical composition, and linear optical properties, respectively. Moreover, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the surface morphology of the samples was investigated. The XRD results showed the effect of calcination in ammonia atmosphere at 1000 °C, obtaining the pure TiN structure. However, because of oxidation in the ambient atmosphere, the titanium oxide phase was created, which was found by EDS spectroscopy and led to the creation of $${\text {TiN}}_{1-x}{\text {{O}}}_{x}$$ alloy with two bandgap energy. The nonlinear optical properties of TiN nanoparticles were studied via the Z-scan technique. The nonlinear optical behavior was found as a function of input pump power and concentration of the TiN nanoparticles. Moreover, the nonlinear optical behavior of the TiN nanoparticles shifts from inverse saturation absorption to saturation absorption with the increase in intensity. Overall, the results showed that the TiN nanoparticles give new potentials in nonlinear optical applications.

A procedure is developed for the separate determination of the Sn(II) and Sn(IV) in the range of 0.05–0.25 M in acidic aqueous and ethylene glycol solutions in the presence of Ni(II), Cu(II), F–, a surfactant (OS-20), and citric or oxalic acids. The direct iodatometric titration of Sn(II) is used before and after the reduction of Sn(IV) with aluminum. The procedure is applicable to the analysis of electrolytes for the deposition of tin and Ni–Sn and Cu–Sn alloys and can be used to monitor changes in the concentrations of Sn(II and IV) as a result of redox processes in electrolytes and the hydrolysis of tin compounds. The interfering effect of copper consists in the interaction of Cu(II) with Sn(II) and Al with the formation of Cu(I) ions, reacting with iodate ions, and is eliminated by the introduction of oxalic acid. The relative error in determining the concentration of tin in the absence of copper(II) ions and in the presence of other components does not exceed 2.2%, and in the presence of Cu(II) the error is 4.3%.

In this research work, substituted tin and vanadium garnets Y2.5Bi0.5Fe2−2xSnxFe3−xVx O12 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) were prepared by mechanochemical processing following with 10 h milling and post-annealing at different temperatures. Physical properties of samples were studied by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Far-infrared spectroscopy (Far-IR), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD patterns of prepared garnets show that the samples are all single phase with garnet structure at 900 °C. Further, the average crystallite size was calculated by Debye–Scherrer, and Williamson–Hall methods. We also studied the magnetic properties of prepared samples by using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Experiments showed that the maximum value of vanadium that can be entered in the garnet structure is 0.2.

Background: Pollution in water is of concern because of its negative influence on human health and impact on ecosystems. Three-dimensional (3D) structures in the form of inverse opals and opals-like structures were constructed on a scale of millimeters for their use in the adsorption of heavy metals adsorption on manganese oxide-covered surfaces. Objective: Manganese oxides both, as commercial powders and as synthesized coatings by the chemical bath method, have a high capacity of lead ions adsorption. The inverse opals and opals-like structures increase the contact area and regulate the flux. Methods: The chemical bath method was used to coating surfaces of inverse opals and opals-like structures. The size of structures was proposed in millimeters to guarantee an easier flow of water. Results: The manganese oxide deposits were predominantly constituted by an amorphous phase. The present crystalline forms were identified as γ − MnO2, ε − MnO2, Birnessite, and pyrolusite. The best adsorption was obtained with Mn(II, III) and Mn(II), with 91.4% and 80.6%, respectively. Conclusion: Mn(II, III) and Mn(II) had approximately three times better performance than oxides of Mn(III), Mn(IV), and chemical bath deposited MnO2 in powder form in the lead adsorption.

Chemistry - a European journal 27(38), 9791-9800 (2021). doi:10.1002/chem.202101126, Multilayered heterostructures comprising of In$_2$O$_3$, SnO$_2$, and Al$_2$O$_3$ were studied for their application in thin-film transistors (TFT). The compositional influence of tin oxide on the properties of the thin-film, as well as on the TFT characteristics is investigated. The heterostructures are fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at 200 °C, employing trimethylindium (TMI), tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin (TDMASn), trimethylaluminum (TMA), and water as precursors. After post-deposition annealing at 400 °C the thin-films are found to be amorphous, however, they show a discrete layer structure of the individual oxides of uniform film thickness and high optical transparency in the visible region. Incorporation of only two monolayers of Al$_2$O$_3$ in the active semiconducting layer the formation of oxygen vacancies can be effectively suppressed, resulting in an improved semiconducting and switching behavior. The heterostacks comprising of In$_2$O$_3$/SnO$_2$/Al$_2$O$_3$ are incorporated into TFT devices, exhibiting a saturation field-effect mobility ($μ_{sat}$) of 2.0 cm$^2$⋅ V$^{−1}$ s$^{−1}$, a threshold-voltage (V$_{th}$) of 8.6 V, a high current on/off ratio (I$_{On}$/I$_{Off}$) of 1.0×10$^7$, and a subthreshold swing (SS) of 485 mV ⋅ dec$^{−1}$. The stability of the TFT under illumination is also altered to a significant extent. A change in the transfer characteristic towards conductive behavior is evident when illuminated with light of an energy of 3.1 eV (400 nm)., Published by Wiley-VCH, Weinheim

Composite ceramics of titanium nitride grains incorporated in an aluminium nitride matrix have been synthesized by high pressure high temperature treatment of a mechanical mixture of AlN–TiN (3 mol % TiN) powders. The microstructure of the samples analysed by means of electron beam microanalysis and Raman spectroscopy shows that the formation of cubic AlN in the composite begins near titanium nitride grains. The areas of mixed chemical composition, which can be assigned to the formation of the solid solutions Al1−xTixN, have been observed at the phase interfaces. The luminescence properties of AlN–TiN ceramics have been considered focusing on the choice of high pressure and high temperature treatment conditions. Three main components at 2.0 eV, 2.4 eV and 3.1 eV are revealed in the cathodoluminescence spectra analysed quantitatively. The observed emission originates from the radiative transitions with participation of valence band states, oxygen-vacancy centres (VAl–ON), nitrogen vacancies VN, and shallow donors which form a complex system of energy levels in the bandgap of the wurtzite-type AlN.

High-performance AlGaN/GaN lateral Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with recess structure and dual metal nitride anodes were demonstrated. With high work-function and nonrecess structure, a NiN anode enhances the breakdown voltage (BV), while a TiN anode reduces the turn-on voltage ( ${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ ) due to its low work-function and contact to the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) layer directly on a recess structure. As the length of the NiN anode ( ${L}_{r}$ ) on the nonrecess region decreases from 75 to 3 $\mu \text{m}$ , ${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ is reduced from 0.56 to 0.30 V, while the reverse leakage current slightly increases from ${3} \times {10}^{-{4}}$ to ${2} \times {10}^{-{3}}$ A/cm2 at the bias of −10 V. The lateral AlGaN/GaN SBD with a ${L}_{r}$ of 3 $\mu \text{m}$ at a distance of cathode–anode ( ${L}_{\text {AC}}$ ) of 20 $\mu \text{m}$ achieves a high BV of 1.62 kV, an ultralow ${V}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ of 0.30 V and a small capacitance of 6.0 pF at zero bias with little degradation on ON-resistance, indicating superior potential application in high-frequency and high-power devices.

The Si-based n- and p-FeFET with 5-nm ferroelectric (FE) HfZrOx(HZO) and high-k AlON interfacial layer (IL) were fabricated for the comparison of memory characteristics and reliability. The memory window (MW) of 1.37 V and 1.25 V are obtained by the n- and p-FeFET respectively by applying pulses of ±3.8 V/ $50~\mu $ s. The typical MW asymmetry for both types of FeFETs is significantly reduced which is attributed to the reduced remanent polarization ( $\text{P}_{\text {r}}$ ) from the highly scaled HZO and the enhanced voltage drop across the HZO as well as the improved interfacial quality from the AlON IL. In addition, the p-FeFET demonstrates a MW of 1.02 V up to $10^{{5}}$ cycles with a long pulse $10^{-{4}}\text{s}$ , superior to that of the n-FeFET due to the mitigated hot-electrons induced hole generation. Furthermore, the p-FeFET shows comparable retention performance with the n-FeFET. These results indicate that the p-FeFET possesses the competence of future memory applications without adding process complexity and introducing new substrate material.

This study investigates the effectiveness of sludge in coagulation-flocculation treatment for suspended solids (SS) removal from landfill leachate using Tin (IV) chloride and Jatropha curcas seed (...

Tin (II) oxide (SnO) thin films were deposited onto indium-doped tin oxide (ITO), fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and glass substrates using the thermal evaporation technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns revealed that the evaporated SnO film was an amorphous structure. The shape and size distributions of surface grains for SnO/ITO, SnO/FTO, and SnO/glass were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The purity of the SnO onto ITO, FTO, and glass substrates was confirmed using Raman spectra. Tauc's relation for SnO/ITO, SnO/FTO, and SnO/glass thin films indicated the occurrence of direct transitions. The redshift of the E g Opt correlated with the grown of SnO nanoparticles. The electronic polarizability, dielectric constants, energy loss functions, and optical conductivity constants were directly derived from the extinction coefficient (k), and refractive index (n). In addition, the nonlinear susceptibility χ ( 3 ) , non-linear refractive index n ( 2 ) and nonlinear absorption coefficient (βc) were valued based on the semi-empirical relation for SnO/ITO, SnO/FTO, and SnO/glass. The SnO/ITO films displayed higher nonlinear parameters than SnO/FTO films. Therefore, SnO/ITO will be a promising optical system in the nonlinear optics field.

Barium strontium titanate (BaxSr1-xTiO3; BST) thin films exhibiting superior dielectric tunability have many technological applications. BST thin films with various Ba/Sr ratios were facilely produced on TiN-coated Si substrates by a hydrothermal-galvanic couple (HT-GC) method in mixed Ba(CH3COO)2 and Sr(CH3COO)2 alkaline solutions. A cubic single phase of BST films with the perovskite structure was obtained. Epitaxial-like growth in that strongly preferred (111) BST films grew over (111)-oriented TiN underlayer was observed for all the obtained films. When increasing the mole fraction of Ba2+ in the reaction solutions, the (111) diffraction peak of BST films shifted toward lower Bragg's angles, indicating a transition from Sr-rich to Ba-rich BST. From the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron probe for microanalysis, BST films with a full range of Ba/Sr ratios were obtained. The Sr ions were more readily incorporated into the films than Ba ions, which is associated with the lower formation energy of SrTiO3. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy revealed a spherical-particulate microstructure of the BST films. The formation mechanisms of the films by such a method were also discussed. The obtained BST films exhibited a promising dielectric tunability that could reach as high as 92%.

In this article, we demonstrate a high-performance Pt/NbO x /Ru selector based on metal–insulator transition (MIT), which exhibits low leakage current ( $5.67\times 10^{-{5}}\,\,\text{A}/$ cm2), excellent endurance (>106), and ultrahigh uniformity (

The effect of the re-heating process on inclusion evolution in Ti-Zr deoxidized low carbon steel was investigated using high-temperature resistance furnace, high-temperature confocal laser scanning microscope, scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive spectrometer, and electron probe microanalysis with wavelength-dispersive spectrometer. The results indicated that compared with as-cast sample, the entire inclusion characteristics in heated samples were affected by the couple effect of heating temperature and holding time. As temperature and holding time increased, the shape of the Ti-Zr oxide changed from an irregular, curved surface to a smooth, spherical surface owing to the outermost layer being enveloped by liquid inclusion of Si-Mn-Al oxide. Additionally, the Ti-Zr oxide composition distribution changed from homogeneous to heterogeneous during heating in the range of 1100 °C to 1400 °C for 2 hours. Finally, different cooling modes had a significant influence on the inclusion characteristics. Compared with cooling by direct water quenching, the process of initial cooling to 1000 °C with furnace cooling and followed by water quenching could increase the number density of nitrides and sulfides, as well as change the unstable oxide to an effective oxide by precipitation of TiN on the surface.

Tin selenide (SnSe) has attracted much attention due to its record ZT value in both pristine and doped crystals. This issue has renewed interest in the single-crystal form of tin-based chalcogenide compounds which possess the same layered structure as SnSe such as tin sulfide (SnS). Due to their natural abundances and low toxicities, SnSe and SnS can be alloyed at reduced the processing cost while maintaining the favorable electrical properties of SnSe. In this research, using the temperature gradient method, we successfully fabricated single crystals of SnS1-xSex with 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. High-quality crystals were obtained, and the electrical properties of those crystals were investigated. The results showed that the p-type crystals have layered structures with lattice constants changing gradually according to Vegard’s law. The value of the band gap monotonically decreased with increasing Se amount (x). The substitution of Se into S sites results in not only a large increase in the electrical conductivity but also a decrease in the Seebeck coefficient; i.e., the electrical conductivity at room temperature increased from 5 × 10–4 (x = 0) to 5.24 S⋅cm−1 (x = 0.8). The Seebeck coefficient decreased from 1069 in SnS to 525 μVK−1 in SnS0.2Se0.8 and to 481 μVK−1 in SnSe at room temperature. This work provides positive information for the growth of large-size SnS–SnSe single crystals.

The effect of V concentration on the microstructure and phase composition of nano-(Ti, V)N composite ceramic coatings prepared by in-situ reactive plasma spraying of mechanically mixed Ti–V powders were investigated using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The microhardness, toughness, wear resistance, and strengthening mechanism of the prepared nano-(Ti, V)N coatings were measured and analysed. The results showed that the nano-(Ti, V)N coating comprised a large proportion of nano-(Ti, V)N grains, which was the solid solution of TiN and VN. All the V atoms completely entered the TiN lattice and the solubility limit of V in TiN is approximately 25 wt%. The grains of the (Ti, V)N (25 wt% V) coating had a face-centred cubic structure and a large quantity of twins; they were primarily equiaxed grains morphology with a few columnar grains. From comparing the experimental statistics, the (Ti, V)N (25 wt% V) coating displayed the highest microhardness (1952 ± 78.5 Hv) and the most even dispersion but a slightly lower toughness compared with the (Ti, V)N (35 wt% V) coating. The (Ti, V)N (25 wt% V) coating with a dense microstructure obtained a high microhardness due to dislocation strengthening, fine grain strengthening, and solid solution strengthening (from the solid solution of VN in TiN). Furthermore, a lower friction coefficient and wear volume loss indicated that the (Ti, V)N (25 wt% V) coating had superior tribological properties and great potential as a wear resistant coating.