Additive-free HIPSN and Y2O3 + Al2O3-doped HPSN are oxidized in air in the temperature range from 1300 to 1500 °C. TEM, SEM, EDS, and XRD are used to analyze the composition and microstructure of the oxide scales in order to determine the oxidation mechanisms. HIPSN exhibits excellent resistance to oxidation in air at temperatures up to 1480 °C due to the formation of a protective silica (cristobalite) scale. No formation of Si2N2O and oxygen-enriched β'-Si3N4 under the silica layer is observed for materials densified without additives. Oxidation rates of additive-containing HPSN are more important due to the formation of a viscous aluminosilicate phase, which easily penetrates along the grain boundaries in the material. Silicon nitride grains in contact with the viscous phase first become enriched in aluminum and oxygen and are then dissolved in the glassy phase. No Si2N2O intermediate layer is formed. The finding of the decisive role of the aluminosilicate in the oxidation process allows one to explain inconsistencies observed in the oxidation kinetics of silicon nitride ceramics. Effects of sintering additives, WC contamination and temperature on the oxidation mechanisms, and structure of oxide scales are discussed.

A new method for the synthesis of complex metal oxides, based on hydrodynamic cavitation, was used to prepare pure phase, nanostructured solid-state materials. The continuous process afforded a wide variety of metal oxides in grain sizes of 1-10 nm. Catalysts, ceramics, superconductors, piezoelectrics, and zeolites were prepared by cavitational synthesis. The method enabled the synthesis of fine particles of metals and metal oxides supported on high surface area supports such as silica, and the synthesis of fine particles of cubic zirconia without ion modification.

Thin films (4-1000 Å) of Pt were deposited via UHV electron beam evaporation at room temperature on monocrystalline, n-type α (6H)-SiC(0001) substrates and examined in terms of chemistry, microstructure, and electrical properties. The as-deposited contacts were polycrystalline and showed excellent rectifying behavior with low ideality factors (n < 1.1) and leakage currents of 5 × 10−8 A/cm2 at −10 V. The Schottky barrier height increased from 1.06 eV before annealing to 1.26 eV after successive 20 min anneals at 450, 550, 650, and 750 °C. In addition, the leakage currents decreased to 2 × 10−8 A/cm2 at −10 V. Interfacial reactions were not observed at annealing temperatures below 750 °C; above this temperature, Pt2Si and C precipitates were identified in the reaction zone.

Using facing target sputtering, crystalline magnetoplumbite-type barium ferrite (BaFe12O19 or BaM) thin films have been prepared in situ at a substrate temperature of 640 °C without postdeposition annealing. Using our facing target sputtering system, BaM thin films grow randomly if they are directly deposited onto Si or thermally oxidized Si substrates. However, deposited onto a sputtered ZnO layer (∼230 Å) on Si substrates, BaM thin films show excellent c-axis out-of-plane texture with a 0.2°c-axis dispersion angle, as indicated by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) reveals that the textured films epitaxially grow on a transition layer, which is formed between BaM and ZnO. No direct epitaxial relation between BaM and ZnO was observed. This transition layer is identified by TEM and XRD as ZnFe2O4, which, from a structure point of view, reduces the lattice mismatch between BaM and ZnO, and also enhances the c-axis out-of-plane epitaxial growth. ZnFe2O4 is a reaction product of BaM and ZnO, as indicated by both TEM and XRD. After ex situ annealing the film in air at 800 °C, the ZnFe2O4 layer becomes thicker at the expense of BaM and ZnO. The lattice parameters of both BaM and ZnO decreased as annealing time increased.

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and time-dependence photoconductivity of the undoped and B-doped diamond films (DF's) before and after annealing were investigated. The boron and hydrogen concentration in diamond films were measured by means of nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and the elastic-recoil detection (ERD) technique, respectively. The results show that induced boron atoms and hydrogen atoms affect the electrical and photocoaductive properties of diamond films. During the annealing process, B concentration kept even, but H content decreased. For undoped diamond films, the escaping of H atoms has great effects on the electrical characteristics, but for B-doped samples, this effect decreases with the increase of B concentration.

We demonstrate the use of a synchrotron radiation source for in situ x-ray diffraction analysis during rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of 0.35 μm Salicide (self-aligned silicide) and 0.4 μm Polycide (silicided polysilicon) TiSi2 Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) gate structures. It is shown that the transformation from the C49 to C54 phase of TiSi2 occurs at higher temperatures in submicron gate structures than in unpatterned blanket films. In addition, the C54 that forms in submicron structures is (040) oriented, while the C54 that forms in unpatterned Salicide films is randomly oriented. Although the preferred oreintation of the initial C49 phase was different in the Salicide and Polycide gate structures, the final orientation of the C54 phase formed was the same. An incomplete conversion of C49 into C54-TiSi2 during the RTA of Polycide gate structures was observed and is attributed to the retarding effects of phosphorus on the transition.

A node-bond percolation model is presented for the gas permeability and pore surface area of the coarse porosity in woven fiber structures during densification by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI). Model parameters include the number of nodes per unit volume and their spatial distribution, and the node and bond radii and their variability. These parameters relate directly to structural features of the weave. Some uncertainty exists in the proper partition of the porosity between “node” and “bond” and between intra-tow and inter-tow, although the total is constrained by the known fiber loading in the structure. Applied to cloth layup preforms the model gives good agreement with the limited number of available measurements.

The interfacial fracture energy of Ti/Al2O3 composites was measured with and without a diffusion barrier at different bonding temperatures by using four-point bending tests. It was found that the interfacial fracture energy increases with increasing bonding temperature up to 950 °C. When the bonding temperature was further raised to 1000 °C, the interfacial fracture energy drops. The decrease of the interfacial fracture energy is due to the formation of the continuous intermetallic compound, Ti3Al, at the interface between Ti and Al2O3. By using a diffusion barrier, the interfacial fracture energy decreases from 25.4 to near O J/m2 and 32.9 to 8.7 J/m2 for applied bonding temperatures of 800 and 900 °C, respectively. This is because the diffusion barrier reduced the diffusion of Al across the interface and into the Ti, thereby preventing a strong chemical bond at the interface. For the composite bonded at 900 °C, the crack propagation was found to occur at the interface between the Ti and Al2O3. The interfacial failure was found to be in the Ti3Al reaction layer for the composite processed at 1000 °C. With a diffusion barrier, the crack propagation path follows several interfaces. Evaluation of the processing temperature on the mechanical properties of the Ti was also obtained by using a nanoindentation technique.

Glass formation and structural properties of the unconventional lead cuprate glasses of compositions (CuO)x (PbO)100−x (mol %), are reported for the first time. X-ray diffraction and electron microscopic studies show that the glass formation occurs for x = 15-50 mol%. The compositional dependence of the density, molar volume, and glass transition temperature suggests that all glass compositions in this domain have the same topology and network connectivity. The glass structure is built up of [PbO4] tetrahedral units. On heat treatment above glass transition temperatures, the glasses crystallize to CuO and PbO. Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectra of the glass compositions consist of broad resonance lines.

The diffusion of water into silica glass is modeled to result from the diffusion of molecular water into the glass and its reaction with the silicon-oxygen network to form SiOH groups. Equations for this diffusion-reaction mechanism are presented and compared with experimental diffusion profiles. At temperatures above about 500 °C the reaction goes to equilibrium, but at lower temperatures it does not, leading to a time dependence of the concentration of surface-reacted OH groups and of their apparent diffusion coefficient. At higher temperatures, the OH groups are nearly immobile, but diffuse far enough to sample neighboring OH groups, leading to a bimolecular reverse reaction. At lower temperatures only OH pairs react, giving a first-order reaction. When water tagged with O18 diffuses into silica, the O18 exchanges with O16 in the silicon-oxygen network of the glass. This process is also controlled by the rate of diffusion of molecular water into the glass, and the rate of O18-O16 exchange. This diffusion-reaction mechanism gives a unified description of the diffusion of water in silica glass from 160 °C to 1200 °C at least.

Improving wettability of the polycarbonate (PC) surface to triple distilled water has been carried out by Ar+ ion irradiation with blowing oxygen gas. The amount of Ar+ was changed from 1014 to 5 × 1016 ions/cm2 at 1 keV energy by a Kaufman-type ion source. Contact angle of the water to PC has been reduced from 78°to 50°with Ar+ irradiation, and to 12°with Ar+ irradiation in various vacuum pressures adjusted by oxygen gas flow rate (0-4 sccm). Strong O-H stretching vibration peaks at about 3370 cm−1 on FT-IR spectra of the polymer appeared after the surface treatments, and the wetting angle of the treated PC was returned to its value (78°) when the PC was exposed in air environment. The minimum contact angles were maintained with the same value when the irradiated polymers were kept in dilute HCl solution. The improved wettability and surface chemical reaction by Ar+ ion irradiation with oxygen was explained by the formation of a hydrophilic functional group. Enhanced adhesion between aluminum and PC was confirmed by the scotch tape test, and was discussed with relation between the hydrophilic group on the polymer surface and the deposited metal.