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ContributorsWasbotten, Leia (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-30
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Description
As crystalline silicon solar cells continue to get thinner, the recombination of carriers at the surfaces of the cell plays an ever-important role in controlling the cell efficiency. One tool to minimize surface recombination is field effect passivation from the charges present in the thin films applied on the cell

As crystalline silicon solar cells continue to get thinner, the recombination of carriers at the surfaces of the cell plays an ever-important role in controlling the cell efficiency. One tool to minimize surface recombination is field effect passivation from the charges present in the thin films applied on the cell surfaces. The focus of this work is to understand the properties of charges present in the SiNx films and then to develop a mechanism to manipulate the polarity of charges to either negative or positive based on the end-application. Specific silicon-nitrogen dangling bonds (·Si-N), known as K center defects, are the primary charge trapping defects present in the SiNx films. A custom built corona charging tool was used to externally inject positive or negative charges in the SiNx film. Detailed Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) measurements taken on corona charged SiNx samples confirmed the presence of a net positive or negative charge density, as high as +/- 8 x 1012 cm-2, present in the SiNx film. High-energy (~ 4.9 eV) UV radiation was used to control and neutralize the charges in the SiNx films. Electron-Spin-Resonance (ESR) technique was used to detect and quantify the density of neutral K0 defects that are paramagnetically active. The density of the neutral K0 defects increased after UV treatment and decreased after high temperature annealing and charging treatments. Etch-back C-V measurements on SiNx films showed that the K centers are spread throughout the bulk of the SiNx film and not just near the SiNx-Si interface. It was also shown that the negative injected charges in the SiNx film were stable and present even after 1 year under indoor room-temperature conditions. Lastly, a stack of SiO2/SiNx dielectric layers applicable to standard commercial solar cells was developed using a low temperature (< 400 °C) PECVD process. Excellent surface passivation on FZ and CZ Si substrates for both n- and p-type samples was achieved by manipulating and controlling the charge in SiNx films.
ContributorsSharma, Vivek (Author) / Bowden, Stuart (Thesis advisor) / Schroder, Dieter (Committee member) / Honsberg, Christiana (Committee member) / Roedel, Ronald (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Microwave (MW), thermal, and ultraviolet (UV) annealing were used to explore the response of Ag structures on a Ge-Se chalcogenide glass (ChG) thin film as flexible radiation sensors, and Te-Ti chalcogenide thin films as a material for diffusion barriers in microelectronics devices and processing of metallized Cu. Flexible resistive radiation

Microwave (MW), thermal, and ultraviolet (UV) annealing were used to explore the response of Ag structures on a Ge-Se chalcogenide glass (ChG) thin film as flexible radiation sensors, and Te-Ti chalcogenide thin films as a material for diffusion barriers in microelectronics devices and processing of metallized Cu. Flexible resistive radiation sensors consisting of Ag electrodes on a Ge20Se80 ChG thin film and polyethylene naphthalate substrate were exposed to UV radiation. The sensors were mounted on PVC tubes of varying radii to induce bending strains and annealed under ambient conditions up to 150 oC. Initial sensor resistance was measured to be ~1012 Ω; after exposure to UV radiation, the resistance was ~104 Ω. Bending strain and low temperature annealing had no significant effect on the resistance of the sensors. Samples of Cu on Te-Ti thin films were annealed in vacuum for up to 30 minutes and were stable up to 500 oC as revealed using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and four-point-probe analysis. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) indicates Cu grain growth up to 500 oC and phase instability of the Te-Ti barrier at 600 oC. MW processing was performed in a 2.45-GHz microwave cavity on Cu/Te-Ti films for up to 30 seconds to induce oxide growth. Using a calibrated pyrometer above the sample, the temperature of the MW process was measured to be below a maximum of 186 oC. Four-point-probe analysis shows an increase in resistance with an increase in MW time. XRD indicates growth of CuO on the sample surface. RBS suggests oxidation throughout the Te-Ti film. Additional samples were exposed to 907 J/cm2 UV radiation in order to ensure other possible electromagnetically induced mechanisms were not active. There were no changes observed using XRD, RBS or four point probing.
ContributorsRoos, Benjamin, 1990- (Author) / Alford, Terry L. (Thesis advisor) / Theodore, David (Committee member) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
The overall objective of this project is to optimize the development of magnetic ferrite thin films targeted for enabling low-loss broadband communication devices, miniaturized low-microwave inductors and electromagnetic noise suppressors. The focus of this objective is to design and build a reactor and improve the spin-spray process. Each film is

The overall objective of this project is to optimize the development of magnetic ferrite thin films targeted for enabling low-loss broadband communication devices, miniaturized low-microwave inductors and electromagnetic noise suppressors. The focus of this objective is to design and build a reactor and improve the spin-spray process. Each film is then characterized and optimized to have a high permeability and high frequency in the range of 500 MHz - 3 GHz. Films produced by the µ-droplet deposition regime yields a higher Snoek's product than the continuous liquid layer regime. The highest Snoek's product occurs when it is deposited at an oxidant pH of 8.28. The Ni-Zn-Co ferrite magnetic domains were imaged using the Lorentz TEM in which multi-grain domains are experimentally observed for the first time.
ContributorsRay, Nicole M (Author) / Petuskey, William T. (Thesis advisor) / Diaz, Rodolfo E. (Committee member) / Chamberlin, Ralph V. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Integrated photonics requires high gain optical materials in the telecom wavelength range for optical amplifiers and coherent light sources. Erbium (Er) containing materials are ideal candidates due to the 1.5 μm emission from Er3+ ions. However, the Er density in typical Er-doped materials is less than 1 x 1020 cm-3,

Integrated photonics requires high gain optical materials in the telecom wavelength range for optical amplifiers and coherent light sources. Erbium (Er) containing materials are ideal candidates due to the 1.5 μm emission from Er3+ ions. However, the Er density in typical Er-doped materials is less than 1 x 1020 cm-3, thus limiting the maximum optical gain to a few dB/cm, too small to be useful for integrated photonics applications. Er compounds could potentially solve this problem since they contain much higher Er density. So far the existing Er compounds suffer from short lifetime and strong upconversion effects, mainly due to poor quality of crystals produced by various methods of thin film growth and deposition. This dissertation explores a new Er compound: erbium chloride silicate (ECS, Er3(SiO4)2Cl ) in the nanowire form, which facilitates the growth of high quality single crystals. Growth methods for such single crystal ECS nanowires have been established. Various structural and optical characterizations have been carried out. The high crystal quality of ECS material leads to a long lifetime of the first excited state of Er3+ ions up to 1 ms at Er density higher than 1022 cm-3. This Er lifetime-density product was found to be the largest among all Er containing materials. A unique integrating sphere method was developed to measure the absorption cross section of ECS nanowires from 440 to 1580 nm. Pump-probe experiments demonstrated a 644 dB/cm signal enhancement from a single ECS wire. It was estimated that such large signal enhancement can overcome the absorption to result in a net material gain, but not sufficient to compensate waveguide propagation loss. In order to suppress the upconversion process in ECS, Ytterbium (Yb) and Yttrium (Y) ions are introduced as substituent ions of Er in the ECS crystal structure to reduce Er density. While the addition of Yb ions only partially succeeded, erbium yttrium chloride silicate (EYCS) with controllable Er density was synthesized successfully. EYCS with 30 at. % Er was found to be the best. It shows the strongest PL emission at 1.5 μm, and thus can be potentially used as a high gain material.
ContributorsYin, Leijun (Author) / Ning, Cun-Zheng (Thesis advisor) / Chamberlin, Ralph (Committee member) / Yu, Hongbin (Committee member) / Menéndez, Jose (Committee member) / Ponce, Fernando (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Microwave dielectrics are widely used to make resonators and filters in telecommunication systems. The production of thin films with high dielectric constant and low loss could potentially enable a marked reduction in the size of devices and systems. However, studies of these materials in thin film form are very sparse.

Microwave dielectrics are widely used to make resonators and filters in telecommunication systems. The production of thin films with high dielectric constant and low loss could potentially enable a marked reduction in the size of devices and systems. However, studies of these materials in thin film form are very sparse. In this research, experiments were carried out on practical high-performance dielectrics including ZrTiO4-ZnNb2O6 (ZTZN) and Ba(Co,Zn)1/3Nb2/3O3 (BCZN) with high dielectric constant and low loss tangent. Thin films were deposited by laser ablation on various substrates, with a systematical study of growth conditions like substrate temperature, oxygen pressure and annealing to optimize the film quality, and the compositional, microstructural, optical and electric properties were characterized. The deposited ZTZN films were randomly oriented polycrystalline on Si substrate and textured on MgO substrate with a tetragonal lattice change at elevated temperature. The BCZN films deposited on MgO substrate showed superior film quality relative to that on other substrates, which grow epitaxially with an orientation of (001) // MgO (001) and (100) // MgO (100) when substrate temperature was above 500 oC. In-situ annealing at growth temperature in 200 mTorr oxygen pressure was found to enhance the quality of the films, reducing the peak width of the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) rocking curve to 0.53o and the χmin of channeling Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) to 8.8% when grown at 800oC. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to study the topography and found a monotonic decrease in the surface roughness when the growth temperature increased. Optical absorption and transmission measurements were used to determine the energy bandgap and the refractive index respectively. A low-frequency dielectric constant of 34 was measured using a planar interdigital measurement structure. The resistivity of the film is ~3×1010 ohm·cm at room temperature and has an activation energy of thermal activated current of 0.66 eV.
ContributorsLi, You (Author) / Newman, Nathan (Thesis advisor) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Singh, Rakesh (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
This research emphasizes the use of low energy and low temperature post processing to improve the performance and lifetime of thin films and thin film transistors, by applying the fundamentals of interaction of materials with conductive heating and electromagnetic radiation. Single frequency microwave anneal is used to rapidly recrystallize the

This research emphasizes the use of low energy and low temperature post processing to improve the performance and lifetime of thin films and thin film transistors, by applying the fundamentals of interaction of materials with conductive heating and electromagnetic radiation. Single frequency microwave anneal is used to rapidly recrystallize the damage induced during ion implantation in Si substrates. Volumetric heating of the sample in the presence of the microwave field facilitates quick absorption of radiation to promote recrystallization at the amorphous-crystalline interface, apart from electrical activation of the dopants due to relocation to the substitutional sites. Structural and electrical characterization confirm recrystallization of heavily implanted Si within 40 seconds anneal time with minimum dopant diffusion compared to rapid thermal annealed samples. The use of microwave anneal to improve performance of multilayer thin film devices, e.g. thin film transistors (TFTs) requires extensive study of interaction of individual layers with electromagnetic radiation. This issue has been addressed by developing detail understanding of thin films and interfaces in TFTs by studying reliability and failure mechanisms upon extensive stress test. Electrical and ambient stresses such as illumination, thermal, and mechanical stresses are inflicted on the mixed oxide based thin film transistors, which are explored due to high mobilities of the mixed oxide (indium zinc oxide, indium gallium zinc oxide) channel layer material. Semiconductor parameter analyzer is employed to extract transfer characteristics, useful to derive mobility, subthreshold, and threshold voltage parameters of the transistors. Low temperature post processing anneals compatible with polymer substrates are performed in several ambients (oxygen, forming gas and vacuum) at 150 °C as a preliminary step. The analysis of the results pre and post low temperature anneals using device physics fundamentals assists in categorizing defects leading to failure/degradation as: oxygen vacancies, thermally activated defects within the bandgap, channel-dielectric interface defects, and acceptor-like or donor-like trap states. Microwave anneal has been confirmed to enhance the quality of thin films, however future work entails extending the use of electromagnetic radiation in controlled ambient to facilitate quick post fabrication anneal to improve the functionality and lifetime of these low temperature fabricated TFTs.
ContributorsVemuri, Rajitha (Author) / Alford, Terry L. (Thesis advisor) / Theodore, N David (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Libby Larsen is one of the most performed and acclaimed composers today. She is a spirited, compelling, and sensitive composer whose music enhances the poetry of America's most prominent authors. Notable among her works are song cycles for soprano based on the poetry of female writers, among them novelist and

Libby Larsen is one of the most performed and acclaimed composers today. She is a spirited, compelling, and sensitive composer whose music enhances the poetry of America's most prominent authors. Notable among her works are song cycles for soprano based on the poetry of female writers, among them novelist and poet Willa Cather (1873-1947). Larsen has produced two song cycles on works from Cather's substantial output of fiction: one based on Cather's short story, "Eric Hermannson's Soul," titled Margaret Songs: Three Songs from Willa Cather (1996); and later, My Antonia (2000), based on Cather's novel of the same title. In Margaret Songs, Cather's poetry and short stories--specifically the character of Margaret Elliot--combine with Larsen's unique compositional style to create a surprising collaboration. This study explores how Larsen in these songs delves into the emotional and psychological depths of Margaret's character, not fully formed by Cather. It is only through Larsen's music and Cather's poetry that Margaret's journey through self-discovery and love become fully realized. This song cycle is a glimpse through the eyes of two prominent female artists on the societal pressures placed upon Margaret's character, many of which still resonate with women in today's culture. This study examines the work Margaret Songs by discussing Willa Cather, her musical influences, and the conditions surrounding the writing of "Eric Hermannson's Soul." It looks also into Cather's influence on Libby Larsen and the commission leading to Margaret Songs. Finally, a description of the musical, dramatic, and textual content of the songs completes this interpretation of the interactions of Willa Cather, Libby Larsen, and the character of Margaret Elliot.
ContributorsMcLain, Christi Marie (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Puerto Rico has produced many important composers who have contributed to the musical culture of the nation during the last 200 years. However, a considerable amount of their music has proven to be difficult to access and may contain numerous errors. This research project intends to contribute to the accessibility

Puerto Rico has produced many important composers who have contributed to the musical culture of the nation during the last 200 years. However, a considerable amount of their music has proven to be difficult to access and may contain numerous errors. This research project intends to contribute to the accessibility of such music and to encourage similar studies of Puerto Rican music. This study focuses on the music of Héctor Campos Parsi (1922-1998), one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century in Puerto Rico. After an overview of the historical background of music on the island and the biography of the composer, four works from his art song repertoire are given for detailed examination. A product of this study is the first corrected edition of his cycles Canciones de Cielo y Agua, Tres Poemas de Corretjer, Los Paréntesis, and the song Majestad Negra. These compositions date from 1947 to 1959, and reflect both the European and nationalistic writing styles of the composer during this time. Data for these corrections have been obtained from the composer's manuscripts, published and unpublished editions, and published recordings. The corrected scores are ready for publication and a compact disc of this repertoire, performed by soprano Melliangee Pérez and the author, has been recorded to bring to life these revisions. Despite the best intentions of the author, the various copyright issues have yet to be resolved. It is hoped that this document will provide the foundation for a resolution and that these important works will be available for public performance and study in the near future.
ContributorsRodríguez Morales, Luis F., 1980- (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Buck, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Kopta, Anne (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
The dissolution of metal layers such as silver into chalcogenide glass layers such as germanium selenide changes the resistivity of the metal and chalcogenide films by a great extent. It is known that the incorporation of the metal can be achieved by ultra violet light exposure or thermal processes. In

The dissolution of metal layers such as silver into chalcogenide glass layers such as germanium selenide changes the resistivity of the metal and chalcogenide films by a great extent. It is known that the incorporation of the metal can be achieved by ultra violet light exposure or thermal processes. In this work, the use of metal dissolution by exposure to gamma radiation has been explored for radiation sensor applications. Test structures were designed and a process flow was developed for prototype sensor fabrication. The test structures were designed such that sensitivity to radiation could be studied. The focus is on the effect of gamma rays as well as ultra violet light on silver dissolution in germanium selenide (Ge30Se70) chalcogenide glass. Ultra violet radiation testing was used prior to gamma exposure to assess the basic mechanism. The test structures were electrically characterized prior to and post irradiation to assess resistance change due to metal dissolution. A change in resistance was observed post irradiation and was found to be dependent on the radiation dose. The structures were also characterized using atomic force microscopy and roughness measurements were made prior to and post irradiation. A change in roughness of the silver films on Ge30Se70 was observed following exposure. This indicated the loss of continuity of the film which causes the increase in silver film resistance following irradiation. Recovery of initial resistance in the structures was also observed after the radiation stress was removed. This recovery was explained with photo-stimulated deposition of silver from the chalcogenide at room temperature confirmed with the re-appearance of silver dendrites on the chalcogenide surface. The results demonstrate that it is possible to use the metal dissolution effect in radiation sensing applications.
ContributorsChandran, Ankitha (Author) / Kozicki, Michael N (Thesis advisor) / Holbert, Keith E. (Committee member) / Barnaby, Hugh (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012