The requirements for fitting bcc metals within the EAM format are discussed and, for comparative purposes, the EAM format is cast in a normalized form. A general embedding function is defined and an analytic first- and second-neighbor model is presented. The parameters in the model are determined from the cohesive energy, the equilibrium lattice constant, the three elastic constants, and the unrelaxed vacancy formation energy. Increasing the elastic constants, increasing the elastic anisotropy ratio, and decreasing the unrelaxed vacancy formation energy favor stability of a close-packed lattice over bcc. A stable bcc lattice relative to close packing is found for nine bcc metals, but this scheme cannot generate a model for Cr because the elastic constants of Cr require a negative curvature of the embedding function.

The interface of a copper-sapphire couple that was irradiated with a nanosecond pulsed-exeimer laser was studied by transmission electron microscopy. Deposited layers of 30 or 100 nm thickness were laser treated with energy densities in the range of 0.5 to 0.75 J/cm2. Two different atmospheres were used during these treatments, viz., air or a mixture of argon-4 vol. % hydrogen. The copper film and a thin alumina layer were melted by the laser pulse. Two well differentiated regions could be observed in the modified layer. The region closer to the unmodified substrate consisted of epitaxially regrown alumina with crystallites misoriented up to 10° relative to the substrate sapphire orientation, while precipitate particles could be seen closer to the resolidified copper. The nature of the precipitates generated in the second region was dependent on the atmosphere present during the treatment. In air a trirutile-like compound was obtained which is either oxygen or copper deficient. In an argon atmosphere a compound having a hexagonal structure closely related to sapphire was observed, where copper substituted for some aluminum. These observations are in agreement with a previously developed mathematical model that predicts melting of a thin substrate layer.

The thermodynamic equilibrium of structures consisting of a thin film silicide (TiSi2 or CoSi2) on doped Si (with As or B) is investigated. Isothermal sections of the ternary phase diagrams for Ti–Si–B, Co–Si–B, Ti–Si–As, and Co–Si–As have been evaluated, indicating the stability of high B concentrations in Si underneath a CoSi2 layer, the instability of high As concentrations in Si underneath a CoSi2 layer, and of B and As concentrations underneath a TiSi2 layer. The obtained thermodynamic predictions agree very well with experimental results (i) on the redistribution of dopants during silicide formation, (ii) on the diffusion of dopants from an ion implanted silicide, and (iii) on the stability of highly doped regions underneath the silicide, both for the case of TiSi2 and CoSi2. It is shown that even though the inaccuracy of reported thermodynamic data is substantial, thermodynamic calculations provide a useful guidance and are consistent with the experimental results.

Phase formation was studied for Ni/Ti/Si and Ni/TiSi2 structures processed by vacuum RTP. Intermetallic compounds Ni3Ti and Ti2Ni form sequentially above 425 °C for metal bilayers Ni/Ti on Si, as Ni diffuses into Ti. When the temperature reaches 550 °C, Si becomes mobile and diffuses into the Ni–Ti compound, resulting in the growth of a ternary phase Ti4Ni4Si7, (V phase). If Ni is in excess with respect to this ternary silicide, a separate layer of Ni silicide grows between the substrate and the V phase, due to the fact that Ni is the main diffusing species. For the case of an excess Ti, the Si atoms are the most mobile species during Ti silicidation. Below 700 °C, TiSi2 grows with a C 49 structure whereas a mixture of TiSi2 C 54 and V phase forms at high temperature, without phase separation in distinct layers. Ni is also a fast diffuser in TiSi2. The activation energy for the diffusion along the grain boundaries of the Ti silicide is about 1.25 ± 0.2 eV. For these Ni/TiSi2 samples too, the same V phase starts to grow at the metal/silicide interface.

Oxygen ions were implanted into (100) oriented single crystal Si at energies in the range of 0.6 to 2 MeV at normal and oblique (60°) incidences. Oxygen concentration profiles were measured using the 16O(d, α)14N nuclear reaction for 900 keV deuterons. The experimentally measured oxygen distributions were subsequently fitted to the theoretical profiles calculated assuming the Pearson VI distribution. The distribution moments (Rp, ΔRp, ΔR⊥ skewness, and kurtosis) were deduced as the best fit parameters and compared to the computer simulation results (TRIM 87 and PRAL). Whatever the calculation method, the measured Rp and ΔRp values are close to those predicted by the theory. Deeply buried SiO2 layers were formed using a single step implantation and annealing process. A dose of 1.8 × 1018/cm2 of 2 MeV O+ was implanted into the Si substrate maintained at a temperature of 550 °C. The implanted samples were characterized using the Rutherford backscattering (RBS)/channeling technique and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). The implanted samples were subsequently annealed at 1350 °C for 4 h in an Ar ambient. The annealing process results in creating a continuous SiO2 layer, 0.4 μm thick below a 1.6 μm thick top single crystal silicon overlayer. The buried SiO2 layer contains the well-known faceted Si inclusions. The density of dislocations within the top Si layer remains lower than the XTEM detection limit of 107/cm2. Between the Si overlayer and the buried SiO2 a layer of faceted longitudinal SiO2 precipitates is present. A localized dislocation network links the precipitates to the buried SiO2 layer.

The injection and storage characteristics of electrical charge in off-stoichiometric SiO2 films have been studied using two types of capacitor structures: (A) a simple capacitor formed with an off-stoichiometric SiO2 film deposited on either p- or n-type silicon substrate and a metallic (Al) contact, and (B) a structure similar to (A) but with a thin (100 Å or 500 Å) SiO2 layer between the Si substrate and the off-stoichiometric SiO2. The flat band voltage shifts measured from high frequency capacitance versus voltage curves of these devices were used to study the accumulation of charge in the off-stoichiometric SiO2 layer induced by applied voltage pulses. The width of these pulses was in the range of 10 ms to 100 μs and the amplitude was in the range of 0 to 80 volts. The role of the SiO2 layer in the (B) type structures is to inhibit or reduce charge injection to or from the Si substrate at low applied voltage amplitudes. This effect originates initial shifts of the flat band voltage of opposite polarity to those observed in the case of (A) type structures. The relaxation of the stored charges was monitored by measuring the shifts of the flat band voltage as a function of time when both electrical contacts were connected to ground potential.

Amorphous carbon films have been deposited on silicon 〈111〉 and quartz substrates by pulsed ruby laser vaporization from pyrolytic graphite. Depositions have been carried out at different substrate temperatures, and the properties of the deposited carbon films have been studied using IR and UV–VIS transmission, ellipsometry, and laser-Raman spectroscopies. Chemical and electrical resistivity measurements have also been performed. It is shown that the film properties depend critically on the substrate temperature and that at the substrate temperature of 50 °C films with substantial proportion of sp3 hybridized orbitals are obtained.

In current processes of diamond growth, the substrate temperature is in general around 600–900 °C. In the case of diamond-like carbon, the substrate temperature is lower, around 25–200 °C. There are many superior properties of diamond compared with diamond-like carbon; however, the high temperature requirement to grow diamond precludes many technologically important substrate materials such as zinc sulfide for an infrared window or electronic devices on which protective diamond layers are to be coated. The present approach is a hot filament DC glow discharge of hydrocarbon gases. A graphite hot filament cathode is inserted in a discharge cylinder tube anode. The discharge voltage is in the range of 50 to 250 volts at a methane gas pressure of about 100 microns. A negative biased voltage of 100 volts is applied between the cathode and the substrate. A magnetic field of 1 kG is applied near the cathode-anode assembly. At a substrate temperature of 200–400 °C, the deposited film on silicon crystal is confirmed by an electron diffraction pattern to consist of microcrystalline diamond.

Raman spectra are reported for consolidated nanophase TiO2 particles in their as-compacted state and after annealing at a variety of temperatures up to 1273 K. The Raman-active bands normally observed for the rutile form of TiO2 were present in as-compacted samples having average grain sizes in the range from about 10 to 100 nm. However, significant broadening of these bands was found, which was uncorrelated with initial grain size, but not necessarily with other synthesis-related factors. This broadening decreased upon isochronal annealing at elevated temperatures in air. Based upon these observations, it is concluded that nanophase TiO2 in the as-consolidated state contains significant defect concentrations within the rutile grains and that these intragrain defects and the grain-boundary regions as well have local atomic structures with the rutile symmetry, albeit with some short-range displacements. Some sporadic sample regions containing small amounts (<5%) of the anatase form of TiO2 were also found; these traces of anatase transformed to rutile upon annealing in air at temperatures above 883 K.

A new Monte Carlo simulation procedure is developed for the initial stages of sintering of randomly packed particles. This simulation takes into account the possibility of crack initiation due to the stresses generated by the sintering particles and can accommodate both localized stresses and stress propagation. This procedure is used to investigate the sintering of two-dimensional aggregates of copper particles, and the results are compared with the results of model experiments available in the literature. The two-dimensional simulations presented here lead to shrinkage in area, decreases in perimeter, and particle rearrangements that are physically consistent with the expected behavior and experimental results. The proposed procedure can be extended to accommodate more complex features of sintering and to account for the material-dependent effects of stresses. It can also be used as a probe of sintering of bulk materials with random microstructure and to identify and design model experiments.

Barium aluminosilicate glasses are being investigated as matrix materials in high-temperature ceramic composites for structural applications. Kinetics of crystallization of two refractory glass compositions in the barium aluminosilicate system have been studied by differential thermal analysis (DTA), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From variable heating rate DTA, the crystallization activation energies for glass compositions (wt. %) 10BaO–38Al2O3–51SiO2–1MoO3 (glass A) and 39BaO–25Al2O3–35SiO2–1MoO3 (glass B) were determined to be 553 and 558 kJ/mol, respectively. On thermal treatment, the crystalline phases in glasses A and B were identified as mullite (3Al2O3 · 2SiO2) and hexacelsian (BaO · Al2O3 · 2SiO2), respectively. Hexacelsian is a high-temperature polymorph which is metastable below 1590 °C. It undergoes structural transformation into the orthorhombic form at ∼300 °C accompanied by a large volume change which is undesirable for structural applications. A process needs to be developed where stable monoclinic celsian, rather than hexacelsian, precipitates out as the crystal phase in glass B.

Mg–Ti–spinel formation has been observed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy at the interface of TiN(100) films and MgO(100) substrates for films grown at substrate temperatures higher than 800 °C and for samples post-annealed at 850 °C. The TiN films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering onto cleaved (100)-oriented MgO substrates. The spinel formed 5 nm epitaxial layers along the interface with occasional (111) wedges growing into the MgO. The orientational relationships were found to be TiN(100)|spinel(100)|MgO(100) and TiN[001]|spinel[001]|MgO[001]. The spinel composition is suggested to be Mg2TiO4.

Photon emission accompanying the fracture of an epoxy and single crystal MgO is examined for evidence of deterministic chaos by means of the autocorrelation function, the Fourier transform, the correlation integral of Grassberger and Procaccia, and the fractal box dimension. A positive Lyapunov exponent is also obtained from the epoxy phE data. Each of these measures is consistent with a significant degree of deterministic chaos associated with attractors of relatively low dimension. A typical epoxy fracture surface was analyzed for fractal character by means of the slit island technique, yielding a fractal dimension of 1.32 ± 0.03. The fractal dimensions of the fracture surface and the photon emission data (box dimension) of the epoxy are in good agreement. These observations suggest that fluctuations in photon emission intensity during fracture reflect the production of fractal surface features as they are being produced and thus provide important information on the process of dynamic crack growth.