Silicon oxycarbide glasses can be produced over a range of Si–O–C compositions by the controlled pyrolysis of polymer precursors. We present measurements of the thermal conductivity of a silicon oxycarbide glass after two different heat treatments and two Si–O–C nano-composites, hot-pressed at 1600°C, up to 1000°C and compare them to fused silica, amorphous carbon, and SiC. The temperature depe...

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) containing silicon negative electrodes have been the subject of much recent investigation, because of the extremely large gravimetric and volumetric capacities of silicon. The crystalline-to-amorphous phase transition that occurs on electrochemical Li insertion into crystalline Si, during the first discharge, hinders attempts to link the structure in these systems w...

A technique for determining trap densities as a function of energy in semiconductors is presented. Through differential capacitance measurements, trap states can be accurately measured and profiled within the bandgap as a function of energy. Measurements were carried out on samples made at the Microelectronic Research Center at Iowa State University. Hydrogen profiled nano-crystalline silicon s...

In this work, the low-temperature process steps required for the realization of nano-crystal non-volatile memory cells are discussed. An amorphous silicon film, crystallized using a diode pumped solid state green laser irradiating at 532 nm, is proposed as an active layer. The deposition of the subsequent functional layers (e.g., gate oxide) can be done using CVD and ALD reactors in a cluster t...

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films with nanocrystalline silicon inclusions sa /nc-Si:Hd have received considerable attention due to reports of electronic properties comparable to hydrogenated amorphous silicon sa-Si:Hd coupled with an improved resistance to the light-induced formation of defects. In this study, a /nc-Si:H thin films are synthesized via radio-frequency plasma-enhanced che...

Articles you may be interested in Compositional study of defects in microcrystalline silicon solar cells using spectral decomposition in the scanning transmission electron microscope Appl. Influence of back contact roughness on light trapping and plasmonic losses of randomly textured amorphous silicon thin film solar cells Appl. Photocurrent increase in n-i-p thin film silicon solar cells by gu...

Our primary goal is to increase the stabilized efficiency of thin film silicon solar cells in the substrate (nip) configuration by using textured substrates and tandem structures, based on amorphous (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H). In order to reduce costs of mass-produced thin film solar modules, special attention has been paid in developing processes compatible with plastic fo...

Structural mechanisms in disordered materials like amorphous semiconductors and glasses can be explored with the activation-relaxation technique (ART). The application of a sequence of such mechanisms allows for the generation of well-relaxed structures. The method and its application in the study of the microscopic changes in amorphous silicon and silica glass are reviewed, and two recent impr...

Silicon and oxygen are the two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust but despite the vast scientific literature on crystalline and amorphous silica, new chemistries, structures and applications continue to be discovered for compounds formed from these elements--thus we present here for the first time the formation of new amorphous silica structures that were uniquely synthesized by a bioi...

Microstructures of oxide scales thermally formed on single-crystal silicon carbide were investigated using transmission electron microscopy. The oxide scales were formed on the Si-face of 6H-SiC at 1273-1473 K in dry oxygen. Spherical patterns were observed on the surfaces of the oxidized samples by an optical microscope in some regions. In these regions, cross-sectional transmission electron m...