In the Nd-Ba-Cu-O system, a directional structure produced by a peritectic reaction has been observed. On heating, the sintered Nd1Ba2Cu3O6+δ (Ndl23) precursor formed a rod-like directional structure of Nd4Ba2Cu2O10 (Nd422) phase. These Nd422 rods became thicker from the melting interface to the solidified interface. The [100] direction of Nd422 crystal is parallel to the axis of Nd422 rod and the sample pulling direction. Moreover, Nd422 rod spacing was observed as a function of growth rate and decreased with an increase of growth rate. In addition, with an increase of growth rate, Ndl23 solidified interface morphologies changed from planar, cellular to equiaxed.

Amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe) films, deposited on silicon substrates at room temperature in a molecular beam epitaxy system, were transformed into a single-crystal film and doped with phosphorus by exposure to KrF laser pulses. Electron channeling patterns showed that laser exposure resulted in crystallization of the undoped a-SiGe films. The SiGe films were doped by laser irradiation, using a phosphorus spin-on-dopant. The sheet resistance of the doped films decreased with increasing numbers of pulses, reaching a value of about ∼ 5 × 104 ohms/□ after 15 pulses. I-V data from mesa-type n-SiGe/p-Si diode devices were used to determine the effect of laser processing on the quality of the SiGe films.

A new method of preparing carbon nanotubes and their derivatives using silica aerogels as a matrix for the deposition of carbon is repeated. We present results of observations of graphite tubes and rings including nested structures in nanometer dimensions using high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, we propose a model for the growth of carbon nanotubes in three steps including nucleation, growth, and closure of tubes.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic measurements of oxidation of the AglnTe2 surface at different temperatures are reported. The results are analyzed quantitatively. The oxidized surface was shown to have TeO2, Te, and In2O3. The presence of In2O is also identified. The experimental results are explained on the basis of the heat of formation.

Single couple thermoelectric generators consisting of n-type FeSi2 and p-type higher manganese silicide were developed and characterized. The leg and the bridge materials were prepared by a powder metallurgical method. Using the Peltier effect the transport properties were measured over the whole working temperature range. Electrical contacts suitable for the hot side could be obtained by conventional vacuum soldering and those for the cold side by ultrasonic soldering. The measured efficiency was in excellent agreement with the calculated values derived from the leg and contact properties.

The surface of cleaved Bi2Sr2 CaCu2O3 (Bi2212) single crystals has been studied by means of scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) at room temperature in ultrahigh vacuum. We obtain atomic images of the BiO surface using logarithmic current mode and conventional mode. It is demonstrated that the Bi atoms in the BiO plane are not missing. Some Bi atoms are depressed down below the BiO surface. STS obtained at different places of the surface shows more or less the same feature, indicating that local electronic density of states does not change much due to the depression or the well-known structural modulation. The possible origins of the variation in the period of the structural modulation in the BiO plane of cleaved Bi2212 single crystals extracted from STM images are also studied.

A bidirectional gradient furnace with sample displacement was used for the growth of large meet-powder-meet-growth (MPMG) YBCO samples. The optimization of the macrogranular structure with consequent extension of the central part of the sample, characterized by large aligned domains, was studied. Considering the large cross section of our samples, we studied the combined effects of different ratios between the longitudinal and transversal temperature gradients, different pulling rates (R = 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 mm/h), and one or more stages at the beginning of the sample growth on grain nucleation, dimension, and orientation. Different mechanical pretreatments of sample surfaces were also tested in order to control domain nucleation. We obtained 20 × 25 × 45 mm3 samples with low misoriented extended domains. Moreover, we were able to vary their c-axis directions from perpendicular to parallel with respect to the sample length.

Aluminum nitride (AlN) powders were produced in an aerosol flow reactor by direct nitridation of aluminum vapor with ammonia and nitrogen in flowing argon. In the presence of excess NH3, pure AlN powders were obtained from 1400 to 1873 K. These powders had higher specific surface areas than commercially available AlN powders. The effects of reactor temperature and gas flow rate on AlN purity, yield, and grain and crystallite size were investigated. The BET grain diameter of AlN increased as the process temperature increased, indicating sintering controlled particle formation and growth. Both the crystallite size and the BET grain size of pure AlN powders slightly decreased as ammonia flow rate was increased. Increasing temperature and flow rate increased the AlN yield.

We have reported here on low-temperature Raman scattering measurements on thin films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (α-Si:H) alloys having different H contents. The Stoke's intensity, 77KITO, scattered at 77 K by the TO-phonon is found to be several times greater than its corresponding magnitude (300KITO) at 300 K. The ratio (77KITO/300KITO) is observed to vary exponentially with an increase in H concentration of the film. After eliminating various possible contributions to the scattering cross section, and therefore to the scattered intensity, this anomalous light scattering at 77 K is attributed to the possibility of polarizability modulation, which is believed to be caused due to a possible reduction in light-induced migration of H in α-Si:H and to the charge-carrier-induced enhancement of electron phonon coupling at 77 K.

The structure of ultrafine gold particles embedded in silica glass by ion implantation has been studied by x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. It is found that the Au–Au interatomic distance in the particles is very similar to that in bulk gold within 0.01 Å. Mean-square relative displacement in the particles is 1.2–1.3 times larger than that in bulk gold.

We have estimated the growth rate of the YBa2Cu3Ox crystal grown from the solution by crystal pulling, in terms of solute diffusion in the liquid with convection. The maximum growth rate deduced from the solute diffusion rate is roughly estimated to be about one order larger than the typical measured value. This implies that the driving force for the surface reaction is significantly larger when compared to the total driving force for the growth of YBa2Cu3Ox crystal in our method.

The main thrust of this paper is to define the concept of industrial ecology and to discuss how its principles may be utilized to reconsider the materials cycle. Simply put, ecological principles imply that we minimize waste during manufacture and ensure that the products are recycled at the end of their useful life. Such a rethought materials cycle has to stress waste minimization and, at the same time, track energy flows and cost considerations simultaneously with the movement of the materials streams. In this paper, special attention is paid to recycling issues in metals production, municipal waste, and also to recycling issues pertaining to electronic materials. Comments are made on the driving forces and the barriers to industrial ecology, including economics, regulation, management and education, and on the international aspects of industrial ecology.

We present a theoretical study of the effective Poisson's ratio of elastic solids weakened by porosity and microcracks. Explicit expressions of the effective Poisson's ratio are obtained using the Mori-Tanaka mean-field approach as applied to macroscopically isotropic solids containing randomly distributed and randomly oriented spheroidal pores. We focus on the influence of pore shape and concentration and devote special attention to the limiting cases of spherical, penny-shape, and needle-shape pores. A key result of this study is that the effective Poisson's ratio depends only on pore concentration, pore shape, and Poisson's ratio of the bulk solid. In other words, it is independent of any other elastic constants of the bulk solid. Also, the ratio of the shear and bulk moduli behaves similarly. Unlike other elastic constants which monotonically decrease with pore concentration, Poisson's ratio may increase, decrease, or remain unchanged as a function of pore concentration, depending on the pore shape and Poisson's ratio of the bulk solid. We discuss ramifications of these findings with regard to the elastic constants of oxide superconductors, especially the bismuth cuprates, which show unusually low Poisson's ratios. We also discuss these low Poisson's ratios, including the possibility of negative Poisson's ratios.

The elastic properties of carbon nitride (CNx) film adhered to a silicon substrate were characterized through impulsive stimulated thermal scattering (ISTS). The lowest-order pseudo-Rayleigh acoustic mode of the film was excited and monitored optically. From the measured acoustic phase velocities, the elastic moduli of the film were determined. The ISTS technique also permits measurements of the CNx thermal diffusivity. The noninvasive optical measurements described can provide a useful guide to refinements in thin film fabrication procedures and for optimization of mechanical and thermal transport properties.

A study was made of the thermal properties of low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) silicon thin films with amorphous and polycrystalline microstructures, produced by varying the substrate temperature. Thermal diffusivity measurements were conducted using a thermal wave technique. The thermal diffusivity of the polycrystalline films was found to be about three times that of the amorphous films, but about one eighth that of bulk silicon single crystals. There was also an indication that the diffusivity increased with deposition temperature above the transition temperature from the amorphous to the polycrystalline state. The relationships between the thermal properties and microstructural features, such as grain size and grain boundary, are discussed.

This paper reports a study of the microstructural evolution of Ag-containing 1223 Tl-Ca-Ba-Cu oxide superconductors in spray-deposited films. The films were formed by spray depositing nitrates of Ca, Ba, Cu, and Ag onto a polycrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia substrate. These deposits were then converted to a mixture of oxides (calcia, calcium-copper oxide, and barium cuprate) and metallic silver by heating in oxygen. When thallium oxide vapor was passed over the film, the thallium was incorporated into the film and the 1223 phase was formed. The evidence strongly suggests that the development of the 1223 superconductor involves the formation of a liquid phase. Our analysis suggests that the initial phase to form a liquid is CaO which contains thallium, barium, copper, and silver. Once this initial liquid is formed, it incorporates more thallium which, in turn, allows it to dissolve other types of oxides present in the film. In this way the liquid spreads across the surface. The equilibrium 1223 phase precipitates from it.

The stability fields of the NdCeCuO (NCCO) films and the Ce0.5Nd0.5O1.75 (CNO) phase grown by laser ablation from the stoichiometric targets, Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4−8, are demonstrated, respectively. The superconducting NCCO films were grown in a specific field below and close to the CuO/Cu2O transition line, i.e., at 700–725°C in 20–50 mTorr, without vacuum annealing. On postdeposition cooling in lower oxygen pressures (<10 mTorr), the superconductivity of the NCCO films was significantly improved without vacuum annealing. The CNO phase usually appeared in the NCCO films at temperatures above 680 °C, and the higher the temperature the greater the CNO phase due to copper loss. A surplus of copper in the NCCO targets effectively suppressed the formation of the CNO phase, and thereby improved the superconductivity of the NCCO films.

Segregation of second-phase particles within Y1Ba2Cu3O7−y domain was investigated in melt-textured Y-Ba-Cu-O with metal oxide (CeO2, SnO2, and ZrO2) addition. It is found that coarse particles (Y2Ba1Cu1O5) are trapped with a special pattern in the interior of Y1Ba2Cu3O7−y domain, while fine BaCeO3 and BaSnO3 particles are present within the remnant liquid-phase region. During the growth of Y1Ba2Cu3O7−y domain, fine particles appear to be pushed out of the advancing Y1Ba2Cu3O7−y /liquid interface toward the liquid phase. The particle segregation that occurred during peritectic growth of the Y1Ba2Cu3O7−y domain was explained in terms of the Uhlmann-Chalmers-Jackson theory based on the particle interaction at solid/liquid interface.

Experiments were performed to evaluate the room-temperature mechanical properties of soy-protein that were compression-molded with varying concentrations of glycerin plasticizer. Specimens exhibited stiff and brittle behavior with good tensile strength reliability based on Weibull statistics analysis. Raising the glycerin concentration from 0 to 20% progressively increased the tensile strain-to-failure from 1.1 to 1.8% and reduced the tensile strength from 42.1 to 23.6 MPa. the tangent modulus from 4.56 to 1.79 GPa, and the Rockwell hardness from R118.4 to R75.7. Ultrasonic measurements indicated that raising the glycerin concentration from 0 to 20% increased Poisson's ratio from 0.348 to 0.409 and reduced Young's modulus from 7.01 to 5.4 GPa and the shear modulus from 2.5 to 1.8 GPa. Significant increases in the tensile strength and the strength reliability resulted from eliminating Griffith's flaws by sieving the press powder before compression molding. Rockwell hardness rapidly decreased upon immersing these plastics in water at 25 °C, an effect which was pronounced for the glycerin-containing specimens.

Hydroxyapatite whiskers have been prepared by the hydrothermal method. The crystals had diameter, length, and aspect ratio in the range of 1–10 μm, 30–50 μm, and 5–20, respectively. Their Ca/P molar ratio varied from 1.59 to 1.62. The morphology of the crystals can easily be controlled by the concentrations of species in the starting solution, while the Ca/P ratio is almost independent of them. Through the reaction with calcite powder at 600 °C, the Ca/P ratio of the whiskers has been improved even to the stoichiometric value of 1.67. Taking into account morphology and chemical composition of the HAp whiskers, they should not be health hazardous and may find applications as substitutes for asbestos and other fibrous materials which presently have restricted use because of their carcinogenic natures.