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In this study Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 (CZTSe) thin films were grown by a two-stage process that involved sputter deposition of a Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu metallic stack, annealing the stack at various temperatures for 30 min, evaporation of a Se cap over the metallic stack thus forming a precursor layer, and subjecting the precursor layer to a final high temperature reaction step at 550 °C. Different samples were prepared with annealing temperatures of the metallic stacks ranging from 200 °C to 350 °C. The results showed that heat treatment of the metallic stacks did not cause much change in their morphology and elemental composition, however their phase content changed noticeably when the anneal temperature was raised to 250 °C. Specifically, while the metallic films were dominated by CuSn and Cu 5 Zn 8 phases at low temperatures, the dominant phase shifted to Cu 6 Sn 5 at the annealing temperature of 250 °C and higher. Also formation of a distinct Cu 3 Zn 2 phase was observed upon annealing at temperatures at or above 250 °C. After reaction with Se, the CZTSe layer obtained from the metallic film, which was annealed at 250 °C was found to be the best n terms of its composition, crystalline quality and purity, although it contained a small amount of CuSe. The other layers were found to contain small amounts of other secondary phases such as SnSe, CuSe 2 , ZnSe and Cu 2 SnSe 3 . SEM micrographs showed denser structure for CZTSe layers grown from metallic films annealed at or above 250 °C. Optical band gap, resistivity and carrier concentration of the best quality CZTSe film were found to be about 0.87 eV, 2 Ω-cm and 4 × 10 17 cm − 3 , respectively.

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were grown on Mo-coated soda lime glass (SLG) substrates by the sulfurization of DC magnetron-sputtered Zn, Sn and Cu metallic precursors under a sulfur atmosphere at 550 °C for 45 min. Understanding the composition and structure of the CZTS absorber layer is necessary to obtain efficient solar cells. With this aim, x-ray diffractometry, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to investigate the CZTS absorber layers. CZTS absorber films were obtained and found to be Cu-poor and Zn-rich in composition, which are both qualities desired for efficient solar cells. CdS was used as a buffer layer and was grown by the chemical bath deposition technique. The optical properties of CdS films on SLG were searched for using a spectroscopic ellipsometer and the results revealed that the bandgap increases with film thickness increment. CZTS-based solar cells with different CdS buffer layer thicknesses were prepared using a SLG/Mo/CZTS/CdS/ZnO/AZO solar cell configuration. The influence of the CdS buffer layer thickness on the performance of the CZTS solar cells was investigated. Device analysis showed that electrical characteristics of solar cells strongly depend on the buffer layer's thickness. Highly pronounced changes in V OC, fill factor and J SC parameters, which are the main efficiency limiting factors, with changing buffer layer thicknesses were observed. Our experiments confirmed that decreasing the CdS thickness improved the efficiency of CZTS solar cells down to the lowest thickness limit., The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with the project number of 114F341 and the Applied Quantum Research Center (AQuRec)

A HfO2 film was grown by RF magnetron sputtering technique on a Si substrate Using in situ Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE), the film thickness and refractive index were examined as a function of deposition time. Ex situ x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used in depth profile mode to determine the phase evolution of HfO2/Hf/Si multilayer structure after the growth process. The chemical composition and the crystal structure of the film were investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic measurements and x-ray Diffraction in Grazing Incidence (GI-XRD) mode, respectively. The results showed that the film was grown in the form of HfO2 film. According to SE analysis, reactive deposition of HfO2 directly on Hf/Si results to SiO2 interface of about 2 nm. The final HfO2 films thickness is 5.4 nm. After a certain period of time, the XPS depth profile revealed that the film was in the form of Hf-rich Hf silicate with SiO2 interfacial layer. In reference to XPS quantification analysis from top to bottom of film, the atomic concentration of Hf element reduces from 19.35% to 7.13%, whereas Si concentration increases from 22.99% to 74.89%. The phase change of HfO2 film with time is discussed in details., The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK project 113F349)

Vanadium oxide (VOx) thin film has been widely used for IR detectors and it is one of the promising materials for THz detectors due to its high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) values. VOx films with proper TCR values have also high resistance and it restricts bolometer performance especially for uncooled bolometers. To overcome this problem, deposition at elevated temperatures or annealing approach has been accepted and used but gold co-deposition approach has been proposed recently. In this study, vanadium oxide films were fabricated on high resistivity silicon substrates by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering in different O2/Ar atmosphere at room temperature. We investigated influence of oxygen partial pressure during deposition process and fabricated VOx thin films with sufficient TCR values for bolometer applications. In order to decrease resistivity of the deposited films, post annealing and gold doping approaches were performed separately. Effect of both post annealing process and gold doping process on structural and electrical properties of VOx thin films deposited at room temperature were investigated and detailed comparison between these methods were presented. We obtained the best possible approach to obtain optimum conditions for the highly reproducible VOx thin films which have the best resistivity and suitable TCR value for bolometer applications., TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey); 115F549

In this study, we present a new, unique fourcross shaped metamaterial terahertz (THz) filter fabricated from both gold thin films and YBa2Cu3O7-δ high Tc superconducting thin films. A commercial electromagnetic simulation software, CST Microwave Studio, is used to design and optimize the metamaterial filter structures. The proposed fourcross shaped rectangular filter structure consists of periodic metallic rings where strip lines are located at the sides of the ring. Fourcross metamaterial filters are fabricated by using e-beam lithography and ion beam exhing techniques. Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy measurements validated the design predictions for both the center frequencies and bandwidths of the resonances due to the fourcross structures. The resonance switching of the transmission spectra was investigated by lowering the temperature below the critical transition temperature. This resonance switching effect is not observed in filters made up of metals. This novel fourcross rectangular resonator with a temperature-dependent resonance behavior holds great potential for active, tunable and low loss THz devices for imaging, sensing, and detection applications., TUBITAK (114F091); METU research office (BAP-08-011-2016-053); BAGEP Award of the Science Academy in Turkey; Turkish Academy of Sciences

In this study, kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) absorber layers were fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering deposition of metallic Cu-Zn-Sn precursors, followed by an annealing treatment in sulfur vapor atmosphere at 600 °C for 3 min using rapid thermal processing (RTP). Three types of stacked metallic films were prepared and included pre-annealing of Cu-Sn stacks in order to induce preferential Cu-Sn alloying. The chemical composition of the sulfurized films was obtained by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) before and after etching the samples in KCN solution. All CZTS thin films are found to be Cu-poor and Zn-rich. Structural characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy to investigate the impact of pre-annealing on the structural properties of the precursors and final CZTS films. Glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) shows that pre-annealing of the precursors can improve depth homogeneity of the CZTS films. Photoluminescence spectra and the optical band gap energy values are compatible with literature. Selected samples were processed to solar cells and characterized., Turkish Council of Higher Education (YOK)

Terahertz (THz) radiation is in powerful region of electromagnetic spectrum because of prosperous application areas yet deficiency still exists about sources and detectors in despite of improvements of the research field in this range. This gap can be filled by focusing on development of THz detectors. Therefore, bolometers were preferred through many detectors due to detection sensitivity above 1 THz. In this study, Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) single crystals were used to fabricate THz bolometric detector. Bi2212 single crystals were transferred on sapphire substrate by cleavage process and e-beam lithography and ion beam etching were used to fabricate the microchip clean room facilities. Customdesigned cryogenic cryostat was used for a-b axis electrical and THz response measurements with liquid nitrogen cooled system. After electrical measurements, Bi2212 microchips detected the signals using Stefan-Boltzmann Lamp and response time were calculated. This study have shown with our experimental results that Bi2212 single crystals are potential candidates for THz bolometric detectors., Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology (SANTEZ 1386.STZ.2012-1); ASELSAN

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) shows metal-insulator phase transition at nearly 68 °C. This metal-insulator transition (MIT) in VO2 leads to a significant change in near-infrared transmittance and an abrupt change in the resistivity of VO2. Due to these characteristics, VO2 plays an important role on optic and electronic devices, such as thermochromic windows, meta-materials with tunable frequency, uncooled bolometers and switching devices. In this work, VO2 thin films were fabricated by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering in O2/Ar atmosphere on sapphire substrates without any further post annealing processes. The effect of sputtering parameters on optical characteristics and structural properties of grown thin films was investigated by SEM, XRD, Raman and UV/VIS spectrophotometer measurements. Patterning process of VO2 thin films was realized by e-beam lithography technique to monitor the temperature dependent electrical characterization. Electrical properties of VO2 samples were characterized using microprobe station in a vacuum system. MIT with hysteresis behavior was observed for the unpatterned square samples at around 68 °C. By four orders of magnitude of resistivity change was measured for the deposited VO2 thin films at transition temperature. After e-beam lithography process, substantial results in patterned VO2 thin films were observed. In this stage, for patterned VO2 thin films as stripes, the change in resistivity of VO2 was reduced by a factor of 10. As a consequence of electrical resistivity measurements, MIT temperature was shifted from 68 °C to 50 °C. The influence of e-beam process on the properties of VO2 thin films and the mechanism of the effects are discussed. The presented results contribute to the achievement of VO2 based thermochromic windows and bolometer applications., TUBITAK (113F349); University Research Foundation (BAP) 2015-IYTE- 42

In this paper, using a cross-shaped complementary Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)-based metasurface design, the transmission of THz radiation is shown to be filtered within the 3 dB level from maximum in the frequency range of interest (333 GHz). Various metasurface structures primarily composed of cross-shaped openings with a 400 micron unit cell size are patterned on top of 1750 micron thick fused silica substrates. They are patterned using UV lithography methods after the films were grown using DC sputtering. The fabricated structures were characterized using Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS) measurement technique. The measured transmission agrees well with the simulation of the structure for four different samples with different geometries. These results suggest that metasurface and/or metamaterial patterns based on ITO in visibly transparent media can be utilized for filtering of frequencies in the long wavelength spectrum. These types of filters can be very useful in the near future for THz communication and security applications. ©, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey TUBITAK (114F091); Middle East Technical University-Northern Cyprus Campus (METU-NCC) Grant BAP-FEN-16-K-8; BAGEP Award of the Science Academy in Turkey

In this study Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) compound layers were grown using a two-stage technique that involved deposition of metallic precursors (Cu, Zn, and Sn) and Se in the first stage, followed by reaction of all the species at temperatures between 525 °C and 600 °C, during the second stage of the process. Two sets of samples, one with Cu-poor, Zn-rich and the other with Cu-rich, Zn-rich compositions, were prepared and their structural, optical and electrical properties were measured. XRD analyses showed the characteristic peaks of CZTSe regardless of the Cu content and the processing temperature. However, for samples reacted at temperatures of 575 °C and 600 °C a Cu2-xSe secondary phase separation was detected for all films suggesting that the reaction temperatures should be limited to values below 575 °C in a two-stage process such as ours. Excessive Sn loss was also present in samples processed at the highest temperatures. Raman scattering measurements confirmed formation of the CZTSe kesterite structure, and also indicated a small ZnSe phase, which could not be detected by XRD. Scanning electron micrographs demonstrated dense film structure with the Cu-rich films having smoother morphology. Optical characterization showed that increasing the Cu content in the compound layers caused a reduction in the optical band gap values due to increased interaction between the Cu-3d orbital electrons and the Se-4p orbital electrons. Electrical measurements showed that the carrier concentration increased with Cu content.

In this study, we developed a microbolometer chip fabricated from high temperature superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) single crystals for the terahertz (THz) detection. For the manufacturing of the microbolometer chips, Bi2212 single crystals were transferred on substrate in the thin film like form and electron beam lithography, ion beam etching techniques were used. Resistance versus temperature behavior of the bolometer chips were performed by four probe technique in liquid nitrogen cryostat. Bi2212 microchips were integrated and characterized using in our custom-designed cryogenic bolometer system instead of expensive and massive cooling systems. The fabricated microchips significantly detected signals from the Stefan-Boltzmann lamp which includes a portion of THz radiation. The detected power and response time were studied for Bi2212 thin film like microbolometer chips. Our results demonstrated the feasibility of improved Bi2212 microchips could be used for bolometric detection for THz applications., Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology (SANTEZ 1386.STZ.2012-1)

In this study, we have investigated the spectral performance of resonant terahertz (THz) bandpass filters which were produced from thin films with a metal-mesh shape. The aforementioned filters were fabricated from titanium, copper and indium tin oxide thin films on fused silica substrates by UV lithography with an array of cross-shaped apertures. Since the mesh period, cross-arm length and its width specify the spectral characteristics of the filters, we were able to reveal the performance of these filters experimentally using both a THz time domain spectrometer and a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. A commercial electromagnetic simulation software, CST microwave studio, was used to verify the experimental data. The transmission of the filters are in the range 20–55 % at their relevant center frequencies. To our knowledge this study is the first to show that fabricated patterns based on ITO thin films can be used to filter THz radiation., TUBITAK (114F091)

Generation of powerful THz radiation from intrinsic Josephson Junctions (IJJs) of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) may require mesas with large lateral dimensions. However, there are difficulties in fabrication of perfect rectangular mesas. The lateral angles of mesas should be close to 90 degrees to obtain IJJs with same planar dimensions for synchronization of IJJs. We patterned Ta/photoresist and photoresist/Ta/photoresist masks on Bi2212 and used selectiveionetchingtoovercomethethickphotoresistlayershading on the lateral dimension of mesa during the ion-beam etching. The reactive ion-beam etchings have been done with ion beams of Ar, N2 and O2, and we have obtained mesas about 1 µm with lateral angle of approximately 50 to 75°, which is better than the mesas fabricated with photoresist mask., TUBITAK (Scientific and Technical Council of Turkey) project No. 108T238.

We present a thermal analysis of a patterned mesa on a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi2212) single crystal that is based on tunneling characteristics of the c-axis stack of ~800 intrinsic Josephson junctions in the mesa. Despite the large mesa volume (e.g., 40x300x1.2 micron3) and power dissipation that result in selfheating and backbending of the current-voltage curve (I-V), there are accessible bias conditions for which significant polarized THz-wave emission can be observed. We estimate the mesa temperature by equating the quasiparticle resistance, Rqp(T), to the ratio V/I over the entire I-V including the backbending region. These temperatures are used to predict the unpolarized black-body radiation reaching our bolometer and there is substantial agreement over the entire I-V. As such, backbending results from the particular Rqp(T) for Bi2212, as first discussed by Fenton, rather than a significant suppression of the energy gap. This model also correctly predicts the observed disappearance of backbending above ~60 K., 4 pages, 2008 Applied Superconductivity Conference

We have observed intense, coherent, continuous and monochromatic electromagnetic (EM) emission at terahertz frequencies generated from a single crystalline mesa structure of the high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ intrinsic Josephson junction system. The mesa is fabricated by the Argon-ion-milling and photolithography techniques on the cleaved surface of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ single crystal. The frequency, ν, of the EM radiation observed from the sample obeys simple relations: ν = c/nλ = c/2nw and ν = 2eV/hN, where c is the light velocity in vacuum, n the refractive index of a superconductor, λ the wave length of the EM emission in vacuum, w the shorter width of the mesa, V the voltage applied to the mesa, N the number of layers of intrinsic Josephson junctions, e and h are the elementary charge and the Planck constant, respectively. These two relations strongly imply that the mechanism of the emission is, firstly, due to the geometrical resonance of EM waves to the mesa like a cavity resonance occuring in the mesa structure, and forming standing waves as cavity resonance modes, and secondly, due to the ac-Josephson effect, which works coherently in all intrinsic Josephson junctions. The peculiar temperature dependence of the power intensity emitted form samples shows a broad maximum in a temperature region between 20 and 40 K, suggesting that the nonequilibrium effect plays an essential role for the emission of EM waves in this system. The estimated total power is significantly improved in comparison with the previous report [L. Ozyuzer et al., Science 318 (2007) 1291, K. Kadowaki, et al., Physica C 437-438 (2006) 111, I.E. Batov, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 88 (2006) 262504], and reached as high as 5 μW from single mesa with w = 60 μm at 648 GHz, which enables us to use it for some of applications. So far, we succeeded in fabricating the mesa emitting EM waves up to 960 GHz in the fundamental mode in the w = 40 μm mesa, whereas the higher harmonics up to the 4-th order were observed, resulting in a frequency exceeding 2.5 THz. In sharp contrast to the previous reports [K. Kadowaki, et al., Physica C 437-438 (2006) 111, M.-H. Bae, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, (2007) 027002], all the present measurements were done in zero magnetic field. Lastly, a plausible theoretical model for the mechanism of emission is discussed., US-DoE contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 and Japan Science and Technology Agency CREST project

The aim of this study is to investigate temperature dependence of electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube (CNT)/polyester nanocomposites from room temperature to 77 K using four-point probe test method. To produce nanocomposites, various types and amounts of CNTs (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 wt.%) were dispersed via 3-roll mill technique within a specially formulized resin blend of thermoset polyesters. CNTs used in the study include multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNT) with and without amine functional groups (-NH2). It was observed that the incorporation of carbon nanotubes into resin blend yields electrically percolating networks and electrical conductivity of the resulting nanocomposites increases with increasing amount of nanotubes. However, nanocomposites containing amino functionalized carbon nanotubes exhibit relatively lower electrical conductivity compared to those with non-functionalized carbon nanotubes. To get better interpretation of the mechanism leading to conductive network via CNTs with and without amine functional groups, the experimental results were fitted to fluctuation-induced tunneling through the barriers between the metallic regions model. It was found that the results are in good agreement with prediction of proposed model., TÜBİTAK-JÜLİCH 5 Project

International Conference on Superlattices, Nano-structures and Nano-devices, ICSNN-2006; Istanbul; Turkey; 30 July 2006 through 4 August 2006, Tunneling characteristics of HgBr2 intercalated superconducting Bi2212 single crystals have been obtained by using 10×10 μm2 intrinsic Josephson junction stacks, so called mesa structures. The spin degenerate current is driven along the c-axis with Au layer using point contact tunneling assembly at 4,2 K. The spin polarized current is also driven along the c-axis of crystals with Au/Co/Au multilayer. In order to understand the role of ferromagnetic layer (Co), quasiparticle branches are examined with and without magnetic field. The magnetic field evolution of switching currents are obtained for gaining further insight about the spin injection through the stack, TÜBİTAK TBAG-2031

The effect of electro-annealing in vacuum and air on the optical and electrical properties of ITO thin films grown by large area DC magnetron sputtering was investigated. Moreover, the performances of the electro-annealed ITO thin films in vacuum and air were compared. Electro-annealing was performed by applying 0.75, 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50 A constant ac current to the ITO thin films. It was observed that the crystallinity of the films was better for the ITO thin films electro-annealed in vacuum. The changes in sheet resistance of electro-annealed ITO thin films with applied currents were detailed. The transmittance of the films increased for both electro-annealing in vacuum and air. A correlation between band-gap and resistivity for all of the electro-annealed thin films was observed.

The rapid increase in applications of terahertz waves requires new techniques to obtain continuous wave terahertz sources. Mesa structures fabricated from high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) single crystal have been observed as an intense, coherent, continuous electromagnetic wave source in the terahertz (THz) frequency region. However, in order to produce coherent radiation with high applicable power, we need large mesa structures that enter a collective electromagnetic state in which their oscillations are largely synchronized in phase. On the other hand, large mesa structures cause a heating problem. In this study, we report on the critical current density dependence of mesa area and the crystal inhomogeneity to understand heating problems in large area mesas for terahertz radiation. Since the doping dependence of Bi2212 is an important parameter, the as-grown Bi2212 crystals were heat-treated at various temperatures under vacuum conditions. We have fabricated triple mesa structures from Bi2212 single crystal using e-beam lithography and argon ion beam etching techniques with same area and with different area on the same chip. We investigated and compared characteristics of triple mesas which are on the same chip and next to each other. In this way, we searched the crystal inhomogeneity in triple mesa structures and studied the critical current density dependence of mesa area to obtain high emission power for the THz radiation. Our experimental results clearly show that the Josephson critical current density is decreasing when the area of mesa is increasing. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., TUBITAK (110T248); SANTEZ (1386.STZ.2012-1)

A needle-shaped metallic FeGa1.3 phase oriented in a specific direction and uniformly distributed within a GaSb matrix was grown by a vertical Bridgman method. Strain-gauge characteristics, such as strain-sensitivity coefficient (S), temperature coefficient of strain sensitivity (TCS) and temperature coefficient of resistance, of GaSb and GaSb-FeGa1.3 eutectic alloy have been investigated in the range of 200 to 400 K under deformation up to strains of 1.3 × 10-3. The value of S of the GaSb-FeGa1.3 composition is measured to be 40 ± 5 and its TCS is about 0.2% deg-1 when the current is perpendicular to the needles and the needles are parallel to the plane of the gauge substrate. The strain-sensitivity characteristics are linear and hysteresis free in the investigated temperature range in the aforementioned direction. It was found that GaSb-FeGa1.3-based strain gauges possess better deformation characteristics than GaSb-based gauges., NATO under a Collaborative Linkage Grant No. PST.CLGN 978434. Turkish Academy of Sciences, in the framework of the Young Scientist Award Program (LO/TUBA-GEBIP/2002-1-17).

SiO2 thin films have been obtained by 1064 nm Nd: YAG laser oxidation of p-Si in the presence of O2. The thickness uniformity, dielectric and electrical properties of the layers have been studied. The effect of both the laser beam energy density and the substrate temperature on the oxide growth is also discussed. It was established that there exists an interval of laser beam energy density in which the oxidation occurs without surface melting. The oxidation process is controlled by the laser beam energy density rather than by the substrate temperature (673-748 K) and the higher laser power results in a thicker oxide. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to provide information on the oxide composition. XPS results revealed that the as-grown oxide is a mixed layer of SiO2 and Si2O, which are distributed nonuniformly through the depth. MOS capacitors fabricated on the grown oxide exhibited typical capacitance-voltage, conductance-voltage characteristics. However, the density of interface states and oxide charge density were found to be higher than the typical values of thermally grown oxides. The quality of the oxide layers can be further improved by optimization of the process parameters and/or by post-processing of the grown films. It is concluded that the SiO2 films formed by the technique of Nd: YAG laser-enhanced oxidation at low temperature are potentially useful for device applications., TÜBİTAK TBAG/U68; Bulgarian National Science Foundation under Contract F-901

Eutectic alloys of GaSb-FeGa1.3 were prepared by the vertical Bridgman method. A microstructure with the needle-shaped metallic FeGa1.3 phase oriented in a specific direction and uniformly distributed within the GaSb matrix was obtained. In GaSb-FeGa1.3 eutectics, the electrical and thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, thermoelectric power and Hall coefficients were investigated in a wide temperature range. These properties were measured at different mutual directions of current, thermal flow, magnetic field and metal phase inclusions. The influence of metallic inclusions on these properties was revealed and the distinctive characteristics of electron and phonon processes were established., NATO under Collaborative Linkage Grant PST.CLGN 978434 and the Turkish Academy of Science in the framework of a Young Scientist Award (LO/TUBA-GEBIP/2002-1-17)

Proceedings of the Conference on Spectroscopies in Novel Superconductors, Break-junction tunneling data are reported in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ over a wide range of hole concentration from underdoped to overdoped. The strong conductance peaks in the superconducting state reveal a single gap consistent with d-wave symmetry. In addition, sharp dips are observed at a voltage, Ω/□, measured with respect to the gap edge. These features are shown to be reproduced in other junction types from the literature including atomically resolved STM and □-axis mesas, establishing their intrinsic character. Trends are observed with doping and temperature which link the dip to the resonance spin excitation and indicate that the quasiparticles are strongly coupled to this mode.

It is demonstrated that tunneling spectra in various high T c cuprates display generic features. The principal conductance peaks in superconductor-insulator-normal metal (SIN) junctions indicate the superconducting gap in the density of states (DOS). Higher energy features include a dip and hump structure with a strength that is asymmetric in bias voltage. The dip and hump features follow the doping trends of the superconducting gap, Δ, with a rough scaling as ∼2Δ and ∼3Δ respectively. Tunneling spectra in underdoped Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8+δ display a more pronounced hump feature suggestive of a second gap in the DOS. It is observed that the hump feature in the tunneling density of states is consistent with other experimental observations of the so-called high energy pseudogap which may have magnetic origins.

The effect of electromagnetic wave irradiation on the phase dynamics of intrinsic Josephson junctions in high temperature superconductors is investigated. We predict three novel effects by variation of the radiation amplitude and frequency: changing of the longitudinal plasma wavelength at parametric resonance; double resonance of the Josephson oscillations with radiation and longitudinal plasma wave; charging of superconducting layers in the current interval corresponding to the Shapiro step. The "bump" structure in IVC recently observed experimentally is demonstrated. We also observe ragged Shapiro steps at double resonance.

We fabricated rectangular mesa structures of superconducting Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O 8+d (Bi2212) using e-beam lithography and Ar ion beam etching techniques for terahertz (THz) emission. c-axis resistance versus temperature (R-T), current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and bolometric THz power measurements were performed to characterize Bi2212 mesas. The emission frequency of mesas was determined using a Michelson interferometer setup which also demonstrates polarized emission. Interference patterns of THz radiation from Bi2212 mesas were detected by various detectors such as a liquid helium cooled silicon composite bolometer, a Golay cell and a pyroelectric detector. An emitted power as high as 0.06mW was detected from Bi2212 mesas. For the first time, most of the pumped power was extracted as THz emission from a Bi2212 mesa. The radiation at 0.54THz was detected using the Michelson interferometric setup., TUBITAK (110T248); Alexander von Humboldt foundation

Efficiency of solar panels degrades as a result of organic contamination such as airborne particles, bird droppings and leaves. Any foreign object on photovoltaic panels reduces the sunlight entering the absorbing surface of the solar panels. Since this leads to a major problem decreasing in energy production, solar panels should be cleaned. The self-cleaning method can be preferred. There are some methods to clean the surface of solar panels. Among the self-cleaning materials, TiO2 is the most preferable ones because of its powerful photocatalytic properties. In this study, photocatalytic TiO2 were produced in two different nanostructures: nanofibers and thin films. TiO2 nanofibers were successfully produced by electrospinning. TiO2 thin films were fabricated by reactive magnetron sputtering technique. Both TiO2 nanofiber and thin film structures were heat-treated to form TiO2 in anatase phase at 600 °C for 2 h in air. Then, they were evaluated by SEM analyses for morphology, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses for phase structures, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the chemical state and atomic concentration, and UV-spectrometer for photocatalytic performance. The results indicate that photocatalytic and transmittance properties of TiO2 thin films are better than those of nanofibers. Consequently, TiO2 based thin films exhibit better performance for solar cell applications due to the surface cleanliness.

In this study, the effects of partial Sb 3+ ion substitutions for the Y sites and the Cu sites on the superconducting properties of YBa 2Cu 3O y (Y123) ceramic superconductors were investigated. The samples were prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method and the properties of the samples were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, AC magnetic susceptibility measurements, scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The critical temperatures were determined to be in the range of 80-92 K for both Systems I and II. It was found that Sb-addition leads to the formation of the non-superconducting YBa 2SbO 6 phase, which has a negative effect on the critical temperature, since the highest critical temperature was measured for pure Y123. However, the increasing substitution level has a negligible effect on the X-ray diffraction analysis peak intensities of the superconducting phases. In addition, SEM images showed that Sb substitution decreases the grain size and modifies the microstructure development, which makes the samples denser.

The main criticism raised in the preceding Comment concerns our suggestion that sharp conduction peaks in Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O 8+δ mesas, along with absent dip-hump features, may, in general, be a result of self-heating. The author points to the variety of experimental configurations, matrix-element effects, and doping dependencies that might allow a diversity of conductance spectra. We argue that numerous mesa studies (with fixed matrix elements) firmly establish the systematic development of sharp conductance peaks with increased self-heating, and thus, the issue of nonuniversality of tunneling characteristics is not relevant. The author mentions a number of studies that show that the mesa is superconducting near the conductance peak voltage. This is not in dispute and indicates a misinterpretation of our analysis that is clarified here. To address further comments on the technical details of our heating model, we reiterate that our conclusions are independent of our model but rather are based solely on experimental data that are not in dispute., US Department of Energy, Office of Science Laboratory, operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 and TUBITAK (Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey) Project No. 106T053; Turkish Academy of Sciences, Young Scientist Award Program (Grant No. LO/TUBA-GEBIP/2002-1-17)

30th URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, URSIGASS 2011; Istanbul; Turkey; 13 August 2011 through 20 August 201, Rectangular Bi2Sr2CaCu2O 8+δ (Bi2212) mesa structures were fabricated on as-grown Bi2212 single crystal superconductors using standard photolithography and Ar ion beam etching techniques. We have performed c-axis resistance versus temperature (R-T), current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and bolometer measurements. Furthermore, in contrast to previous studies, the emission frequency was determined using interferometer set up instead of FTIR. The interference patterns were detected outside the cryostat after traveling long way through ambient space. The emission frequency calculated by Fourier transform of interference data is consistent with Josephson frequency-voltage relation. © 2011 IEEE., Scientific and Technical Council of Turkey project no. 110T248

In this study, the polypropylene-zeolite composite films having 2-6 wt % natural zeolite were coated with a thin film of aluminum (Al) by magnetron sputtering, and the contribution of the Al coating on film properties was investigated. The samples were characterized by EDX, X-ray diffraction, SEM, AFM, UV-visible spectroscopy, and water vapor permeation analyses. The surface of the films coated with a smooth Al film having 98-131 nm thickness. EDX revealed that Al percentage on the surface appeared to be as 8-10 wt % indicating contribution of polymer surface under Al film to analysis. XRD analysis showed that the grain size of Al at the surface was 22-29 nm. The surface roughness increased after Al-coating process. The transmission of coated films was very low for both UV and visible regions of the light spectrum. Permeation analysis indicated that water vapor permeation was lower for Al-coated material., State Planning Organization (2002K 120390)

Evidence for the validity of the pairing glue interpretation of high temperature superconductivity is presented using a modified Eliashberg analysis of experimental superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunneling data in ${\mathrm{B}}_{2}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}{\mathrm{CaCu}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{8}$ (Bi2212) over a wide range of doping. This is accomplished by extracting detailed information on the diagonal and anomalous contributions to the quasiparticle self-energy. In particular, a comparison of the imaginary part of the anomalous self-energy $\mathrm{Im}\ensuremath{\Phi}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ and the pairing glue spectral function ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{2}F(\ensuremath{\omega})$ used in the model is consistent with Hubbard model simulations in the literature. In addition, the real part of the diagonal self-energy for optimal doped Bi2212 bears a strong resemblance to that obtained from photoemission experiments.

The c-axis current-voltage I(V) characteristics have been obtained on a set of mesas of varying height sculpted on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) crystals intercalated with HgB2. The intercalation, along with the small number of junctions in the mesa, N = 6–30, minimizes the degree of self-heating, leading to a consistent Josephson critical current, IC, among junctions in the mesa. The Bi2212 crystals with a bulk TC =74 K are overdoped and display negligible pseudogap effects allowing an accurate measure of the normal state resistance, RN. These properties make themesas nearlyideal for the determinationof the Josephson ICRN product.Wefind ICRN valuesconsistently ∼30% of the quasiparticle gap parameter, /e, which was measured independently using a mechanical contact, break junction technique. The latter was necessitated by higher bias heating effects in the mesas which prevented direct measurements of the superconducting gap. These values are among the highest reported and may represent the maximum intrinsic value for ICRN. The results indicate that the c-axis transport is a mixture of coherent and incoherent tunneling., UChicago Argonne, LLC, operator of Argonne National Laboratory, a US Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, operated under contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. TUBITAK (Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey) project number 106T053. L.O. Turkish Academy of Sciences, in the framework of the Young Scientist Award Program (LO/TUBA-GEBIP/2002-1-17).

30th URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, URSIGASS 2011; Istanbul; Turkey; 13 August 2011 through 20 August 2011, We work on a frequency tunable solid state device to meet the needs of continuous, coherent, powerful terahertz emission sources that fill practically important terahertz gap. High temperature superconducting (HTS) coherently oscillating Josephson junctions in Bi2Sr2CaCu 2O8+δ (Bi2212) crystal make this approach very promising. Since doping dependence of Bi2212 is an important parameter, Bi2212 crystals are annealed in vacuum or purified argon gas flow at 425°C. For further processing we pattern both single and double rectangular mesa structures by using electron beam lithography on the cleaved surface of the crystal. Resistance-temperature (R-T), and current-voltage behavior (I-V) measurements achieved. © 2011 IEEE., Scientific and Technical Council of Turkey project no. 110T248

Anomalously high and sharp peaks in the conductance of intrinsic Josephson junctions in Bi2 Sr2 CaCu2 O 8+δ (Bi2212) mesas have been commonly interpreted as superconducting energy gaps but here we show they are a result of strong self-heating. This conclusion follows directly from a comparison to the equilibrium gap measured by tunneling in single break junctions on equivalent crystals. As the number of junctions in the mesa, N, and thus heating increase, the peak voltages decrease and the peak width abruptly sharpens for N≥12. Clearly these widely variable features vs N cannot all represent the equilibrium properties. Our data imply that the sharp peaks represent a transition to the normal state. That it occurs at the same dissipated power for N=12-30 strongly implicates heating as the cause. Although peak sharpening due to heating is counterintuitive, as tunneling spectra usually broaden at higher temperatures, a lateral temperature gradient, leading to coexistence of normal hot spots and superconductive regions, qualitatively explains the behavior. However, a more uniform temperature profile cannot be ruled out. As the peak's width and voltage in our shortest mesa (N=6) are more consistent with the break junction data, we propose a figure of merit for Bi2212 mesas, the relative conductance peak width, such that small values signal a crossover into the strong self-heating regime. © 2010 The American Physical Society., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science Laboratory DE-AC02-06CH11357; TÜBİTAK Project No. 106T053

Recently, we experimentally demonstrated that rectangular mesa structures of intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJ) in Bi2Sr2CaCu 2O8+d (Bi2212) can be used as a compact solid-state generator of continuous, coherent and polarized terahertz (THz) radiation. In the present work, we will exhibit tall mesas (over 600 junctions) which were fabricated using UV lithography, e-beam lithography with photoresist and e-beam lithography with a Ti selective etching technique. We will present measurements of the c-axis resistance as a function of temperature and of current-voltage characteristics of THz emitting mesas with lateral sizes ranging from 30 × 300 to 100 × 300νm2. Furthermore, we will discuss the dependence of the characteristics of the mesa structures on the oxygen doping level of the Bi2212 crystals. We will also experimentally show that the voltage-frequency relation of the ac Josephson effect has to match the cavity resonance for successful emission., TÜBİTAK project no. 108T238 and US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences-Materials Sciences, under contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357

The microstructure and tensoresistive properties of GaSb-FeGa1.3 eutectic composites doped with 0.1% Co have been investigated. It was found that the Co impurity atoms mainly accumulate in the metallic inclusions. The length of the inclusions in GaSb-FeGa1.3〈Co〉 was measured to be about half of those in undoped GaSb-FeGa1.3 eutectics. The tensometric characteristics of gauges based on GaSb-FeGa1.3〈Co〉 have been found to be more thermostable than undoped samples. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tunneling in Ca C6 crystals reproducibly reveals superconducting gaps Δ of 2.3±0.2 meV that are ∼40% larger than reported earlier. In an isotropic s -wave scenario, that puts Ca C6 into the class of very strongly coupled superconductors, since 2Δ k Tc ∼4.6, implying that soft Ca phonons are primarily involved in the superconductivity. This conclusion explains the relatively large Ca isotope effect found recently for Ca C6, but it could also signal a strong anisotropy in the electron-phonon interaction., U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357

Compact solid-state sources of terahertz (THz) radiation are being sought for sensing, imaging, and spectroscopy applications across the physical and biological sciences. We demonstrate that coherent continuous-wave THz radiation of sizable power can be extracted from intrinsic Josephson junctions in the layered high-temperature superconductor Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 . In analogy to a laser cavity, the excitation of an electromagnetic cavity resonance inside the sample generates a macroscopic coherent state in which a large number of junctions are synchronized to oscillate in phase. The emission power is found to increase as the square of the number of junctions reaching values of 0.5 microwatt at frequencies up to 0.85 THz, and persists up to ∼50 kelvin. These results should stimulate the development of superconducting compact sources of THz radiation.

Tunneling data on La1.28 Sr1.72 Mn2 O7 crystals confirm Coulomb interaction effects through the E dependence of the density of states. Importantly, the data and analysis at high energy E show a pileup of states: most of the states removed from near the Fermi level are found between ∼40 and 130 meV, from which we infer the possibility of universal behavior. The agreement of our tunneling data with recent photoemission results further confirms our analysis., US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences—Materials Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357

To investigate the effect of polarized current on tunneling characteristics of intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs), spin- polarized and spin-degenerate current have been injected through the c-axis of HgBr2 intercalated Bi2.1Sr1.5Ca1.4Cu2O8+delta (Bi2212) single crystals on which 10 times 10 mum2 mesas have been fabricated. These two spin conditions are achieved by depositing either Au (15 nm)/Co (80 nm)/Au (156 nm) multilayers or single Au film on HgBr2 intercalated Bi2212 with Tc = 74 K followed by photolithography and Ar ion beam etching. The I-V characteristics have been measured with and without a magnetic field parallel to c-axis at 4.2 K. A fine, soft Au wire is used to make a gentle mechanical contact on the top of a particular mesa in the array. Tunneling conductance characteristics were obtained and the magnetic field dependence of sumgap voltage peaks was investigated. These peaks do not change in position with increasing magnetic field for both contact configurations. In addition, the temperature dependence of tunneling characteristics of the IJJs are obtained and existence of pseudogap feature is observed above Tc for HgBr2 intercalated Bi2212.

We report tunneling results in intrinsic Josephson junction (IJJ) stacks fabricated in the form of square micromesas on HgBr2 intercalated Bi2.1Sr1.4Ca1.5Cu2O 8+δ (Bi2212) single crystals using photolithography and Ar ion milling techniques. Self-heating is the most common problem encountered in interlayer tunneling and it is likely to reduce the reliability of IJJ data. Although intercalation reduces heating a hundredfold, it still needs to be minimized substantially in order to approach the authentic superconducting energy gap observed by tunneling using more conventional junctions. We report tunneling characteristics of two mesas with the same height but different sizes (5 × 5 μm2 and 10 × 10 μm2) to show that heating effects are strongly related to IJJ stack size. For the smaller mesa, we observed an energy gap close to that seen in single SIN (S: superconductor, I: insulator, N: normal metal) and SIS break junctions as well as the dip and hump structures at high bias. The subgap data of 5 × 5 μm2 mesa were successfully fit with a momentum averaged d-wave model using convenient parameters. Thus our data is consistent with the predominant pairing symmetry suggested by point contact tunneling, break junction, scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and angle resolved photoemission measurements in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ.

A d-wave, Eliashberg analysis of break-junction and STM tunneling spectra on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+Î (Bi2212) reveals that the spectral dip feature is directly linked to strong electronic coupling to a narrow boson spectrum, evidenced by a large peak in I'2F(I). The tunneling dip feature remains robust in the overdoped regime of Bi2212 with bulk Tc values of 56Â Ka62Â K. This is contrary to recent optical conductivity measurements of the self-energy that suggest the narrow boson spectrum disappears in overdoped Bi2212 and therefore cannot be essential for the pairing mechanism. The discrepancy is resolved by considering the way each technique probes the electron self-energy, in particular, the unique sensitivity of tunneling to the off-diagonal or pairing part of the self-energy.

MgB2/Mg composites were prepared using a metal matrix composite fabrication method that offers the potential to produce superconducting wires as an alternative approach to the powder in tube process. To obtain composites, MgB2 and Mg powders were mixed at different weight fractions and uniaxially pressed in a cylindrical die under the pressure of 0.5 and 1.0GPa for two hours at various temperatures. The x-ray diffraction technique was used for phase identification. Temperature dependence of resistivity and magnetization measurements were carried out to determine superconducting properties. The effects of composite fabrication temperature and the addition of the Mg on the mechanical properties of MgB2/Mg composites were investigated. For this purpose, the compressive mechanical testing was performed to measure the elastic modulus and fracture strength values of the composites. It was found that the relative weight fraction of the Mg and the fabrication conditions of the composites have considerable effect on the superconducting and mechanical properties of the composites., TÜBİTAK: TBAG-2031 and LO/TUBA-GEBIP/2002-1-17

The tunneling spectra of high-temperature superconductors on Bi2 Sr2 CaCu2 O8+δ (Bi-2212) reproducibly show a high-bias structure in the form of a dip-hump at voltages higher than the gap voltage. Of central concern is whether this feature originates from the normal state background or is intrinsic to the superconducting mechanism. We address this issue by generating a set of model conductance curves-a "normal state" conductance that takes into account effects such as the band structure and a possible pseudogap, and a pure superconducting state conductance. When combined, the result shows that the dip-hump feature present in the experimental conductance curves cannot be naively attributed to a normal state effect. In particular, strong dip features found in superconductor-insulator-superconductor data on optimally doped Bi-2212, including negative dI dV, cannot be a consequence of an extrinsic pseudogap. However, such features can easily arise from state-conserving deviations in the superconducting density of states, e.g., from strong-coupling effects., Grant No. LO/TUBA-GEBIP/2002-1-17 and DOE High Energy Physics Division W-31-109-ENG-38

Tunneling spectroscopy measurements are reported on optimally-doped and overdoped Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu2O 8+δ single crystals. A novel point contact method is used to obtain superconductor-insulator-normal metal (SIN) and SIS break junctions as well as intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJ) from nanoscale crystals. Three junction types are obtained on the same crystal to compare the quasiparticle peaks and higher bias dip/hump structures which have also been found in other surface probes such as scanning tunneling spectroscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. However, our IJJ quasiparticle spectra consistently reveal very sharp conductance peaks and no higher bias dip structures. The IJJ conductance peak voltage divided by the number of junctions in the stack consistently leads to a significant underestimate of Δ when compared to the single junction values. The comparison of the three methods suggests that the markedly different characteristics of IJJ are a consequence of nonequilibrium effects and are not intrinsic quasiparticle features.

The superconducting properties of multi-layered high temperature superconductors (HTS) result mainly from the CuO2 planes, while the other structural components behave simply as charge reservoirs. Using these perfect-layered structures of HTS, arrays of mesas have been fabricated on the surfaces of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) single crystals using hotolithography and argon ion beam etching techniques. These arrays have current-voltage (I-V) characteristics that consist of some branches corresponding to different intrinsic Josephson junctions in the mesas, The surface topography and heights of the mesas were examined with atomic force microscopy. Due to the small mesa area, conventional wire bonding techniques are not applicable. A novel method, point contact tunneling apparatus with a sharp Au tip, was used to obtain the I-V characteristics of the fabricated intrinsic Josephson junctions, below the critical temperature of Bi2212. Since the ultimate goal was to obtain an ordered group of mesas with small lateral dimensions, to eliminate heating effects during I-V measurements, we showed that submicron-sized mesas could be characterized by the new technique., TÜBITAK: TBAG-2031; Turkish Academy of Sciences: LO/TUBA-GEBIP/2002-1-17

The discovery of superconducting MgB2 (39 K) draws attention to it as a new material for applications based on superconductivity. Many researchers successfully synthesized MgB2 using commercial boron and magnesium. In this study, elementary boron was obtained via an acid leaching process, after reacting B2O3, and Mg in an argon atmosphere at 800°C. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) results revealed that the powder obtained from the reaction was boron in 92% purity with magnesium as the major impurity. Superconducting MgB2 was produced from this boron and magnesium, in an argon atmosphere at 900°C, by a conventional solid-state reaction. Superconducting MgB2 powders were compressed in a dye to pellets by a hot pressing technique at 500°C and 1 GPa. The microstructural properties of the MgB2 were determined by X-ray Diffraction Spectroscopy, EDX, and Scanning Electron Microscopy techniques. The electrical properties of the fabricated MgB 2 were examined by resistivity measurements in a closed-cycle cryopump system, between 20 and 300 K. The critical temperature (Tc) of the MgB2 pellets was around 32 K.

The affect of full bulk spin polarization and intrinsic tunnel barriers on the surface of layered manganites were studied using a combination of surface-sensitive x-ray and tunnelling process. The surface bilayer of air-cleaved layered manganites forms an antiferromagnetic insulating nanoskin composed of a single bilayer unit. It was shown that for the quasi-two-dimensional bilayer manganites the outermost Mn-O bilayer is affected while the next bilayer displays the full spin polarization of the bulk. The results show that the outermost bilayer act as an intrinsic barrier between the fully spin-polarized bilayer beneath and a subsequently deposited ferromagnetic counterelectrode., US Department of Energy (DOE), Basic Energy Sciences: W-31-109-ENG-38

Superconducting MgB2 composite wires were prepared by packing blend of MgB2 inside of Cu tubes using powder in tube (PIT) method. The produced samples of the wires were then characterised by using SEM, XRD and AC susceptibility measurements, The measured fundamental susceptibility is compared with Bean model. We have obtained an empirical functions for the penetration field Hp = Hα(1-t)β, where t is the reduced temperature. In addition, ac losses were calculated at the same fixed temperatures to compare theoretical solutions. There is a qualitative agreement between the experimental results and theory., DPT 2002-K-120130-5 and TÜBİTAK (Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey) TBAG-2215