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PEO/PVDF–HFP [poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)] solid polymer electrolyte blend incorporating varying weights of LiTFSI [lithium bis (trifluoromethane) sulfonimide] salt was prepared. The blend with 20 wt.% of salt that exhibits maximum ionic conductivity was subjected to microstructural modification by exposing to low-energy ions of oxygen at different fluences. The ionic conductivity of the system increases by one order in magnitude when subjected to oxygen ion irradiation. The dielectric loss tangent curves are used to extract ions relaxation time. The relaxation time τ of the system is reduced from 1.42 to 0.71 μs upon irradiation which indicates enhanced segmental motion due to a rise in amorphous region in polymer matrix. The ion activation energy in the system decreases to 0.041 eV from 0.063 eV. Dielectric studies suggest an increase in dipoles in the irradiated systems possibly due to polymer chain scission in the matrix. The increase in disordered phase by ion irradiation is supported by change in crystallinity from 24% for the unirradiated systems to about 14% for the irradiated systems by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. The shift in prominent peaks observed in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy suggests possible scission of the polymer chains.

We have demonstrated 57Fe Zero Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (ZFNMR) as a powerful tool in determining the structural composition of nickel-cadmium spinel ferrites of various compositions of Ni1-x Cdx Fe2O4 from x = 0 to1, which are synthesized via one-step auto combustion technique. The XRD measurements confirm the phase purity of all the samples. Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM) measurements show that saturation magnetization (MS) increases initially (up to x = 0.3) and then decreases for higher concentrations of cadmium. The Fe3+ ions in the inverted spinel ferrite distribute equally among two possible sites (tetrahedral A and octahedral B) with different hyperfine fields. Therefore for x = 0 under the assumption that Ni enters B sites, 57Fe NMR of Fe3+ ions yield two signals of equal integral intensities in spectral lines corresponding to these sites. Thus, for the sample series Ni1-x Cdx Fe2O4, the contribution of Fe3+ nuclei varies for A and B sub-spectra with the substitution of a non-magnetic Cd2+ ion. By measuring the Fe3+ distribution on A and B sites which is determined from relative spectral areas of A and B NMR sub-spectra the cation distribution is estimated and has been verified by the binomial distribution. Further, XRD Rietveld refinement results are also in good agreement with the composition estimated by NMR technique and the ideal composition. We have demonstrated the usefulness of NMR technique to quantify the accurate composition of the mixed spinel ferrite systems using Ni-Cd ferrite as a test case. Further, the estimated inversion parameter (at around x = 0.4), for the studied system, obtained from ZFNMR, XRD, and VSM techniques are in excellent agreement with each other.

The poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) systems consisting of NaBr as a dopant salt are prepared. The stable PEO:NaBr system with 3 wt% of NaBr was subjected to low-energy ion beam irradiation to bring in morphological modification. The irradiated samples are studied using complex impedance spectra to evaluate electrical conductivity and relaxation process in the system. The studies show an increase in conductivity by one order magnitude in the irradiated systems. The dielectric loss tangent (tanδ) curves show a single peak due to strong coupling of ion transport with segmental motion. The resultant relaxation time τ exhibits a continuous decrease indicating increase in segmental dynamics as a result of increased amorphous content in the system. The temperature-dependent studies also indicate that the irradiated systems are more disordered/amorphous compared to pure systems. This fact is further supported by XRD, by observing an increase in peak width associated with reduction in peak intensity. The Raman spectra also support the change in morphology of the system by the appearance of disordered-longitudinal acoustic mode band.

Development of lithium ion batteries employing solid polymer electrolytes as electrolyte material has led to efficient energy storage and usage in many portable devices. However, due to a few drawbacks like lower ionic conductivity of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), studies on SPEs for improvement in conductivity still have a good scope. In the present paper, we report the conductivity studies of a new SPE with low molecular weight poly ethylene glycol (PEG) as host polymer in which a salt with larger anion Lithium trifluro methane sulphonate (LTMS). XRD studies have revealed that the salt completely dissociates in the polymer giving a good stable electrolyte at lower salt concentration. Conductivity of the SPEs has been studied as a function of temperature and we reiterate that the conductivity is a thermally activated process and follows Arrhenius type behavior.

The 85 MeV $^{12}\hbox{C}^{6+}$ and 35 MeV $^{12}\hbox{C}^{3+} $ ion induced forward current gain degradation on 2N 6052 transistor is investigated by $I$ – $V$ measurements before and after irradiation. The decrease in gain for 85 MeV C-ion irradiated transistor is drastic, indicating the device is vulnerable for higher energy irradiation. An increase in the base current leading to degradation of the current gain may be due to displacement damage dose. $C$ – $V$ measurements estimate the effect of irradiation on the doping concentration of the devices. A plot of $(\hbox{1}/C^{2} ) $ versus base-emitter voltage shows that the doping concentration increases marginally upon irradiation. DLTS measurements indicate the cluster defects are produced after irradiation to a fluence of $\hbox{1}\times \hbox{10}^{12}\ \hbox{ions/cm}^{2}$ .

It is a well known fact that conductivity in case of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) is due to hopping of ions assisted by the segmental motion of polymer chains. It is observed that the ionic conductivity in SPEs increases with increase in the concentration of ions. After certain critical concentration the conductivity starts decreasing due to the formation of ion pairs. In this work, an attempt is made to identify the concentration at which ion pair formation occurs and hence improve conductivity by incorporating two different ions (salts) in the polymer matrix. SPEs with mixed conducting species PEOxLiBryNaBr with different concentration of salts have been prepared and investigated. Also an attempt is made to modify the crystalline phase of the host polymer by low energy ion beam (Oxygen ion, O+1 with energy 100 keV) irradiation. These observations place ion irradiation as an effective tool in improving ionic conductivity in SPEs. Using X-ray diffraction spectra and the temperature dependent conductivity studies of SPEs, the effect of mixed ions and ion irradiation on the ionic conductivity of SPEs is investigated and presented.

Solid Polymer Electrolytes (SPEs) lack better conducting properties at ambient temperatures. Various methods to enhance their ionic conductivity like irradiation with swift heavy ions, γ-rays, swift electrons and quenching at low temperature etc., have been explored in the literature. Among these, one of the oldest methods is incorporation of different conducting species into the polymer matrix and/or addition of nano-sized inert particles into SPEs. Various new salts like LiBr, Mg(ClO4)2, NH4I etc., have already been tried in the past with some success. Also various nanoparticles like Al2O3, TiO2 etc., have been tried in the past. In this article, we have investigated an SPE containing Rubidium as a conducting species. Rubidium has a larger ionic size compared to lithium and sodium ions which have been investigated in the recent past. In the present article, we have investigated the conductivity of large sized conducting species and shown the enhancement in the ionic conductivity by addition of nano-sized inert particles.

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have potential applications in solid state electronic and energy devices. The optimum conductivity of SPEs required for such applications is about 10−1 – 10−3 Scm−1, which is hard to achieve in these systems. It is observed that ionic conductivity of SPEs continuously increase with increasing concentration of inorganic salt in the host polymer. However, there is a critical concentration of the salt beyond which the conductivity of SPEs decreases due to the formation of ion pairs. In the present study, solid polymer thin films based on poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) complexed with NaBr salt with different concentrations have been prepared and the concentration at which ion pair formation occurs in PEOxNaBr is identified. The microstructure of the SPE with highest ionic conductivity is modified by irradiating it with low energy O+1 ion (100 keV) of different fluencies. It is observed that the ionic conductivity of irradiated SPEs increases by one order in magnitude. The increa...

In the past two decades, organic conductors have been widely explored for use in different applications. One of the extensively studied organic material for the use in the field of electronic devices is PEDOT:PSS. Organic/inorganic nanocomposite systems have been developed to improve the properties of organic materials. In the present study, we have made an attempt to understand the effect of low energy oxygen ion beam irradiation on the electrical and structural properties of PEDOT:PSS and PEDOT:PSS/TiO2 nanocomposites. The observed reduction in electrical properties in PEDOT:PSS systems may be linked to radiation induced phase change. The nanocomposite systems show better stability to the ion irradiation compared to the pure systems.

Ni/SiO2/Si MOS structures were fabricated on n-type Si wafers and were irradiated with 50 MeV Li3+ ions with fluences ranging from 1×1010 to 1×1012 ions/cm2. High frequency C–V characteristics are studied in situ to estimate the build-up of fixed and oxide charges. The nature of the charge build-up with ion fluence is analyzed. Defect levels in bulk Si and its properties such as activation energy, capture cross-section, trap concentration and carrier lifetimes are studied using deep-level transient spectroscopy. Electron traps with energies ranging from 0.069 to 0.523 eV are observed in Li ion-irradiated devices. The dependence of series resistance, substrate doping and accumulation capacitance on Li ion fluence are clearly explained. The study of dielectric properties (tan δ and quality factor) confirms the degradation of the oxide layer to a greater extent due to ion irradiation.

Commercial npn transistor (2N 2219A) irradiated with 50 MeV Li3+-ions with fluences ranging from 3.1 × 1013 ions cm−2 to 12.5 × 1013 ions cm−2, is studied for radiation induced gain degradation and minority carrier trap levels or recombination centers. The properties such as activation energy, trap concentration and capture cross section of induced deep levels are studied by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) technique. Minority carrier trap levels with energies ranging from 0.237 eV to 0.591 eV were observed in the base–collector junction of the transistor. In situ I–V measurements were made to study the gain degradation as a function of ion fluence. Ion induced energy levels result in increase in the base current through Shockley Read Hall (SRH) or multi-phonon recombination and subsequent transistor gain degradation.

This article presents the theoretical calculation of the variation of displacement damage factors as a function of energy and rad equivalent fluence in bipolar junction transistor for various particulate radiation viz., He, Si, Cl, Ti, Ni, Br, Ag, I, and Au. The calculation is based on the experimental data on γ-ray induced gain degradation in a commercial space borne BJT (2N3019). The method involves the calculation of γ-ray dose (rad(Si)) equivalent of effective particle fluence. The linear energy transfer (LET) in silicon for different particle radiation obtained from TRIM calculation has been used for the conversion of γ-dose into fluence of various particles. The estimation predicts a smooth increase in the displacement damage factor as the mass of the ion increases. Further, the displacement damage factor reaches a maximum at the same value of energy, which corresponds to maximum LET for all heavy ions. The maximum value of damage factor marginally decreases with increasing ion fluence for an ion of...

Over the past three decades, solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have drawn significant attention of researchers due to their prospective commercial applications in high energy-density batteries, electrochemical sensors and super-capacitors. The optimum conductivity required for such applications is about 10{sup −2} – 10{sup −4} S/cm, which is hard to achieve in these systems. It is known that the increase in the concentration of salt in the host polymer results in a continuous increase in the ionic conductivity. However, there is a critical concentration of the salt beyond which the conductivity decreases due to formation of ion pairs with no net charge. In the present study, an attempt is made to identify the concentration at which ion pair formation occurs in PEO: RbBr. We have attempted to modify microstructure of the host polymer matrix by low energy ion (Oxygen ion, O{sup +1} with energy 100 keV) irradiation. Ionic conductivity measurements in these systems were carried out using Impedance Spectroscopy before and after irradiation to different fluencies of the oxygen ion. It is observed that the conductivity increases by one order in magnitude. The increase in ionic conductivity may be attributed to the enhanced segmental motion of the polymer chains. The study revealsmore » the importance of ion irradiation as an effective tool to enhance conductivity in SPEs.« less

Bipolar junction transistors used in switching and amplification applications is examined for their electrical performance after irradiation with 60 MeV boron ions of different fluence. Unirradiated device base current is 5.97×10-5 A while it is 9.03×10-4 A after irradiation with a fluence of 1×1012 ions/cm2. For unirradiated device collector current is 1.22×10-3 A and is 7.31×10-4 A after irradiation to a fluence of 1×1012 ions/cm2. Base current increases whereas collector current decreases after irradiation with a fluence of 1×1012 ions/cm2. The magnitude of decrease in collector current is approximately same as that of the increase in base current, showing the leakage of the collector current due to irradiation. The output collector gain of the unirradiated transistor is 20.5 after irradiation to a fluence of 1×1012 ions/cm2 it has reduced to 0.81. The capacitance measurements for base-emitter junction show that for the unirradiated and irradiated samples, linearity of the curves indicate uniformity of shallow doping concentration. The built in potential (Vbi) for unirradiated device is 2.69V and after irradiation it is 2.52V. The device is also studied for activation energy, trap concentration and capture cross-section of deep levels are studied using deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) technique. Majority carrier trap level is observed with energy Ev+0.784eV.

1H and 19F spin-lattice relaxation times in polycrystalline diammonium hexafluorozirconate have been measured in the temperature range of 10–400 K to elucidate the molecular motion of both cation and anion. Interesting features such as translational diffusion at higher temperatures, molecular reorientational motion of both cation and anion groups at intermediate temperatures and quantum rotational tunneling of the ammonium group at lower temperatures have been observed. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation time results correlate well with the NMR second moment and conductivity studies reported earlier.