TY - JOUR A1 - Schott, M. A1 - Szczerba, Wojciech A1 - Kurth, D.G. T1 - Detailed study of layer-by-layer self-assembled and dip-coated electrochromic thin films based on metallo-supramolecular polymers N2 - Electrochromic thin films of metallo-supramolecular polyelectrolytes based on Fe(OAc)2 and 1,4-bis(2,2':6',2''-terpyridin-4'-yl)benzene are readily prepared by layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition or dip-coating on transparent conducting electrode surfaces. By applying a potential, we can switch the color of the films from blue to colorless. Because of the strong absorption and the fast switching speed, the color change can be observed with the eye. The devices show reversible switching and cycle stability. KW - Layer-by-layer self assembly KW - Dip coating KW - Thin films KW - Metallo-supramolecular polyelectrolytes KW - Electrochromism PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/la501590a SN - 0743-7463 SN - 1520-5827 VL - 30 IS - 35 SP - 10721 EP - 10727 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-31734 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schade, U. A1 - Ritter, E. A1 - Bawagan, A.D.O. A1 - Beckmann, Jörg A1 - Aziz, E. F. T1 - Far-infrared absorption measurements on thin polymer films N2 - Interference fringes in the far-infrared spectra of thin films are the result of the coherent adding up of waves and can influence the spectral interpretation by concealing smaller features. A number of methods have been developed in order to eliminate such oscillating features from the transmittance spectrum. The paper critically evaluates the total transmission-reflection technique and applies the method to quantify the spectra of different polymer films. T2 - IRMMW-THz 2014 - 39th International conference on infrared, millimeter, and terahertz waves CY - Tucson, Arizona, USA DA - 14.09.2014 KW - Far-infrared spectra KW - Thin films KW - Total transmission reflection technique KW - Infrared spectroscopy KW - Light absorption KW - Light reflection KW - Polymer films KW - Far-infrared absorption measurements KW - Thin polymer films KW - Interference fringes KW - Spectral interpretation KW - Transmittance spectrum KW - Oscillating features KW - Total transmission-reflection technique KW - Interference KW - Absorption KW - Finite impulse response filters KW - Optical films KW - Optical reflection PY - 2014 UR - http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6956145&isnumber=6955975 SN - 978-1-4799-3877-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1109/IRMMW-THz.2014.6956145 IS - IEEE Catalog No.: CFP14IMM-ART SP - 1 EP - 2 AN - OPUS4-32700 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fahmy, A. A1 - Friedrich, Jörg Florian T1 - Degradation behavior of thin polystyrene films on exposure to Ar plasma and its emitted radiation N2 - Spin-coated films of amorphous polystyrene (PS) were exposed to argon plasma for a few seconds to several minutes. The PS film was either in direct contact with the plasma or was shielded from the direct plasma contact by filters with different cutoff wavelengths in the vacuum UV region or by a Faraday cage (FC) made from metal mesh to prevent the impinging of charged species. Only energy-rich neutrals and plasma radiation may be operative in presence of the FC. lithium fluoride (LiF) filter protects the sample from direct contact with the plasma. Wavelengths of plasma radiation shorter than c. 105 nm (≈ 11.8 eV) were cut off. Glass filters made of fused SiO2 have a cutoff at λ ≈175?nm completely the vacuum UV radiation of plasma (ca. 175 nm ≈ 7.0 eV). These energies are sufficient to produce C–C, C–H bond scissions in case of direct Ar plasma exposure and Ar plasma exposure with use of the LiF filter. Only quartz glass shielding did not produce significant effects on the polymer surface in comparison to the reference PS, either in surface energy or O/C ratio or in IR spectra. Oxygen plasma has worked most aggressive and had etched the PS film, thus establishing a steady state between introduction of new oxygen functionalities and polymer etching. Ar plasma exposure produces also oxidation and etching of the polymer films as the oxygen plasma. Using of a FC during Ar plasma exposure or the LiF filter a slightly weaker oxidation was observed. KW - Polystyrene KW - Plasma treatment KW - Plasma emitted radiation KW - Degradation KW - Thin films PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/01694243.2012.705528 SN - 0169-4243 SN - 1568-5616 VL - 27 IS - 3 SP - 324 EP - 338 PB - VNU Science Press CY - Utrecht AN - OPUS4-26315 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - De Castro, F.A. T1 - Newsletter - Metrology for the manufacturing of thin films KW - Metrology KW - Thin films KW - Optoelectronics KW - Photovoltaics KW - Coatings technology KW - Traceability PY - 2012 UR - http://projects.npl.co.uk/optoelectronic_films/documents/EMRP%20ThinFilms_Newsletter%20Feb%202012.pdf IS - February SP - 1 EP - 4 AN - OPUS4-25505 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Kim, K.J. A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Energy dispersive electron probe microanalysis (ED-EPMA) of elemental composition and thickness of Fe-Ni alloy films N2 - The elemental composition of thin Fe-Ni alloy films deposited on silicon substrates were determined by electron probe microanalysis with an energy dispersive spectrometer using the STRATAGem software. The work was part of ample inter-laboratory comparisons organized in the frame of CCQM/SAWG (Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance/Surface Analysis Working Group). Therefore, the evaluation of the measurement uncertainties is treated in detail. By having the mass coverage and estimating a layer density, the layer thickness could be derived. KW - Thin films KW - Fe-Ni KW - Energy dispersive electron probe microanalysis (ED-EPMA) KW - STRATAGem KW - k-values KW - Mass coverage KW - Elemental composition KW - Thickness KW - CCQM PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.4975 SN - 0142-2421 SN - 1096-9918 VL - 44 IS - 11-12 SP - 1459 EP - 1461 PB - Wiley CY - Chichester AN - OPUS4-27139 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abou-Ras, D. A1 - Caballero, R. A1 - Fischer, C.-H. A1 - Kaufmann, C.A. A1 - Lauermann, I. A1 - Mainz, R. A1 - Mönig, H. A1 - Schöpke, A. A1 - Stephan, C. A1 - Streeck, C. A1 - Schorr, S. A1 - Eicke, A. A1 - Döbeli, M. A1 - Gade, B. A1 - Hinrichs, J. A1 - Nunney, T. A1 - Dijkstra, H. A1 - Hoffmann, V. A1 - Klemm, D. A1 - Efimova, V. A1 - Bergmaier, A. A1 - Dollinger, G. A1 - Wirth, Thomas A1 - Unger, Wolfgang A1 - Rockett, A.A. A1 - Perez-Rodriguez, A. A1 - Alvarez-Garcia, J. A1 - Izquierdo-Roca, V. A1 - Schmid, T. A1 - Choi, P.-P. A1 - Müller, M. A1 - Bertram, F. A1 - Christen, J. A1 - Khatri, H. A1 - Collins, R.W. A1 - Marsillac, S. A1 - Kötschau, I. T1 - Comprehensive comparison of various techniques for the analysis of elemental distributions in thin films N2 - The present work shows results on elemental distribution analyses in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films for solar cells performed by use of wavelength-dispersive and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) in a scanning electron microscope, EDX in a transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron, angle-dependent soft X-ray emission, secondary ion-mass (SIMS), time-of-flight SIMS, sputtered neutral mass, glow-discharge optical emission and glow-discharge mass, Auger electron, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, by use of scanning Auger electron microscopy, Raman depth profiling, and Raman mapping, as well as by use of elastic recoil detection analysis, grazing-incidence X-ray and electron backscatter diffraction, and grazing-incidence X-ray fluorescence analysis. The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films used for the present comparison were produced during the same identical deposition run and exhibit thicknesses of about 2 µm. The analysis techniques were compared with respect to their spatial and depth resolutions, measuring speeds, availabilities, and detection limits. KW - Elemental distributions KW - Comparison KW - Depth profiling KW - Chemical mapping KW - Thin films KW - Solar cells KW - Chalcopyrite-type KW - Cu(In,Ga)Se2 PY - 2011 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927611000523 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 17 IS - 5 SP - 728 EP - 751 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-24506 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Cappella, Brunero T1 - Mechanical properties of thin polymer films on stiff substrates N2 - Force–displacement curves have been acquired with a commercial atomic force microscope on thin films of poly(n-butyl methacrylate) on glass substrates in order to examine the so-called 'mechanical double layer' topic, i.e. the influence of the substrate on the mechanical properties of the film in dependence of the film thickness. The hyperbolic fit, a novel semi-empirical equation introduced in previous articles, has been further corroborated. The interpretation of this equation has been deepened, yielding a quantitative and demonstrative characterization of the mechanical properties of double layers. Provided that the Young's moduli of bulk polymer and substrate are measured from the deformation curves, this mathematical model permits to fit the deformation–force curves on the double layers and to determine the thickness of the polymer films in wide range (0–200 nm). KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Indentation KW - Rheology KW - Polymers KW - Thin films PY - 2010 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sca.20196 SN - 0161-0457 SN - 1932-8745 VL - 32 IS - 5 SP - 282 EP - 293 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken, NJ AN - OPUS4-22681 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rybachuk, Maksym A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Sahre, Mario A1 - Männ, Marion A1 - Beck, Uwe A1 - Bell, J. M. T1 - Near infrared optical materials from polymeric amorphous carbon synthesized by collisional plasma process N2 - The synthesis of polymerlike amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin-films by microwave excited collisional hydrocarbon plasma process is reported. Stable and highly aromatic a-C:H were obtained containing significant inclusions of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV). PPV confers universal optoelectronic properties to the synthesized material. That is a-C:H with tailor-made refractive index are capable of becoming absorption-free in visible (red)-near infrared wavelength range. Production of large aromatic hydrocarbon including phenyl clusters and/or particles is attributed to enhanced coagulation of elemental plasma species under collisional plasma conditions. Detailed structural and morphological changes that occur in a-C:H during the plasma synthesis are also described. KW - Kohlenstoffschichten KW - Plasmachemie KW - PA-CVD KW - Amorphous state KW - Carbon KW - Coagulation KW - Hydrogen KW - Optical materials KW - Plasma collision processes KW - Plasma deposition KW - Refractive index KW - Thin films PY - 2010 DO - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3431292 SN - 0003-6951 SN - 1077-3118 VL - 96 IS - 21 SP - 211909-1 - 211909-3 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville, NY AN - OPUS4-21365 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Labahn, Diana A1 - Mix, Renate A1 - Schönhals, Andreas T1 - Dielectric relaxation of ultrathin films of supported polysulfone N2 - The dynamic glass transition (α relaxation, structural relaxation) of ultrathin polysulfone films prepared between aluminum electrodes is investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. As a main result, it is found that the glass transition temperature Tg does not depend on the thickness of the polymeric layer down to a thickness of 10 nm. For thicknesses lower than 10 nm, an increase of Tg is observed. A more detailed analysis of the temperature dependence of the relaxation rates reveals that the Vogel temperature increases and the fragility decreases systematically with decreasing film thickness d. Further, the dielectric strength Δε decreases with decreasing d. This is discussed by the formation of a surface layer of adsorbed polysulfone segments having a reduced molecular mobility with regard to the time scale characteristic of the glassy dynamics of bulk polysulfone. Plotted versus inverse film thickness Δε decreases linearly with 1/d and becomes zero for an extrapolated length scale of 10 nm. From that it is concluded that the thickness of the adsorbed boundary layer is about 5 nm. Contact-angle measurements were carried out to confirm the strong interaction between aluminum and polysulfone. It is also shown that preparation details like annealing conditions strongly influence the glass transition of supported ultrathin films. KW - Adsorbed layers KW - Aluminium KW - Annealing KW - Contact angle KW - Dielectric relaxation KW - Electrodes KW - Glass transition KW - Polymer films KW - Thin films PY - 2009 DO - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.79.011801 SN - 1539-3755 SN - 1063-651X VL - 79 IS - 1 SP - 011801-1 - 011801-9 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville, NY AN - OPUS4-19050 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Swaraj, Sufal A1 - Oran, Umut A1 - Lippitz, Andreas A1 - Schulze, Rolf-Dieter A1 - Friedrich, Jörg Florian A1 - Unger, Wolfgang T1 - Surface Analysis of Plasma-Deposited Polymer Films, 4 - In situ Characterization of Plasma-Deposited Ethylene Films by XPS and NEXAFS N2 - XPS and NEXAFS spectroscopy were used for the chemical characterization of pulsed plasma-deposited ethylene films before and after exposure to ambient air. The influence of external plasma parameters on the spectroscopic results was investigated. Information on the chemical character of the plasma-polymerized films, such as the regularity of the primary structure, the amount of long-living radicals, and branching or cross-linking or both was derived from this data. Irregularity and radical concentration for post-plasma reactions of the plasma-deposited films increased with the duty cycle or power. A decreased level of monomer fragmentation and, consequently, an increase in regularity is partially concluded from the experimental data when the monomer pressure is increased. The concentration of surface radicals available for post-plasma reactions also increased with monomer pressure. The correlation found between the degree of the post-plasma oxygen incorporation and the variation of the various external parameters agreed with earlier ToF-SSIMS findings. KW - ESCA/XPS KW - NEXAFS KW - Plasma polymerization KW - Polyethylene (PE) KW - Thin films PY - 2005 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.200400070 SN - 1612-8850 SN - 1612-8869 VL - 2 IS - 4 SP - 310 EP - 318 PB - Wiley-VCH Verl. CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-11940 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hübert, Thomas A1 - Shimamura, Aki A1 - Klyszcz, Andreas T1 - Electrical Properties of Carbon Black and Ruthenium Dioxide Embedded Silica Films N2 - The electrical properties of sol–gel-derived films can be tailored by embedding conductive particles of ruthenium dioxide or carbon black in an insulating amorphous SiO2 silica matrix. The preparation process included an acid hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane and methyltrimethoxysilane. Then alcohol solutions of ruthenium chloride or carbon black were added. Films of filler concentration up to 60 vol.% were prepared by dip coating and then dried and heat-treated at various temperatures up to 600_°C. The D.C. resistance of the films can be varied within the range of 109 to 10–2 OHgr sdot cm. A non-linear dependence on filler composition in the films was observed for both systems, which is explained by a modified percolation theory. A percolation threshold of 5.5 vol.% for SiO2-RuO2 or 50 vol.% for SiO2-C films, whereby the resistance drastically decreases, was determined. Moreover the temperature dependency of resistance and the current-voltage characteristics of the films can also be explained by this geometric model. KW - Sol-gel KW - Thin films KW - Carbon black KW - Ruthenium dioxide KW - Percolation phenomena PY - 2004 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-004-5777-5 SN - 0928-0707 SN - 1573-4846 VL - 32 SP - 131 EP - 135 PB - Kluwer Academic Publ. CY - Dordrecht AN - OPUS4-6909 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Seah, M.P. A1 - Spencer, S.J. A1 - Bensebaa, F. A1 - Vickridge, I. A1 - Danzebrink, H. A1 - Krumrey, M. A1 - Gross, Thomas A1 - Österle, Werner A1 - Wendler, E. A1 - Rheinländer, B. A1 - Azuma, Y. A1 - Kojima, I. A1 - Suzuki, N. A1 - Suzuki, M. A1 - Tanuma, S. A1 - Moon, D.W. A1 - Lee, H.J. A1 - Cho, H.M. A1 - Chen, H.Y. A1 - Wee, A. T. S. A1 - Osipowicz, T. A1 - Pan, J.S. A1 - Jordaan, W.A. A1 - Hauert, R. A1 - Klotz, U. A1 - van der Marel, C. A1 - Verheijen, M. A1 - Tamminga, Y. A1 - Jeynes, C. A1 - Bailey, P. A1 - Biswas, S. A1 - Falke, U. A1 - Nguyen, N.V. A1 - Chandler-Horowitz, D. A1 - Ehrstein, J.R. A1 - Muller, D. A1 - Dura, J.A. T1 - Ultra-thin SiO2 on Si, Part V: Results of a CCQM Pilot Study of Thickness Measurements KW - SiO2 KW - Thin films KW - Thickness KW - XPS KW - Ellipsometry KW - TEM PY - 2003 SN - 1473-2734 SP - 57 pages AN - OPUS4-4118 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Procop, Mathias A1 - Radtke, Martin A1 - Krumrey, M. A1 - Hasche, K. A1 - Schädlich, S. A1 - Frank, W. T1 - Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) measurement of thin-film thickness in the nanometre range N2 - The thickness of thin films of platinum and nickel on fused silica and silicon substrates has been determined by EPMA using the commercial software STRATAGEM for calculation of film thickness. Film thickness ranged in the order 10 nm. An attempt was made to estimate the confidence range of the method by comparison with results from other methods of analysis. The data show that in addition to the uncertainty of the spectral intensity measurement and the complicated fitting routine, systematic deviation caused by the underlying model should be added. The scattering in the results from other methods does not enable specification of a range of uncertainty, but deviations from the real thickness are estimated to be less than 20%. KW - Electron probe microanalysis KW - EPMA KW - Thin films KW - Thickness measurement KW - X-rays PY - 2002 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-002-1514-5 SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 374 SP - 631 EP - 634 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-7090 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beck, Uwe A1 - Smith, D.T. A1 - Reiners, Georg A1 - Dapkunas, S.J. T1 - Mechanical properties of SiO2 and Si3N4 coatings: a BAM/NIST co-operative project N2 - Mechanical properties, i.e. hardness and elastic modulus, of amorphous SiO2 and Si3N4 PE-CVD coatings have been studied for two coating thicknesses (0.1 and 1.0 µm) and two substrate materials (fused silica, i.e. Herasil, and borosilicate glass, i.e., BK7) using low load instrumented indentation. The coating systems are being considered for possible use as reference materials for thin film mechanical property test methods. Single layers of SiO2 and Si3N4 and a multilayer stack consisting of five double layers of SiO2/Si3N4 (individual layer thickness: 0.1 µm) were investigated on both substrate materials. A special plasma pre-treatment of the substrates prior to deposition ensured that coating adhesion exceeded inner film stress for all systems considered. The applied indentation load ranged from 700 down to 0.1 mN and resulted in indentation depths from more than 1 µm to about 15 nm. The influence of coating thickness and the effect of the substrate on the measurement of hardness and elastic modulus of the films are discussed, with emphasis on the effects of indentation depth vs. coating thickness on the observed coating properties. One coating–substrate system (1.0 µm Si3N4 on Herasil) out of ten was found to be above a critical threshold for tensile cracking of the coating. In this system, termed ‘overcritical’, tensile cracks occurred both prior to, and as a result of, indentation, indicating that Berkovich indentation may also be used to probe residual film stress. KW - Indentation KW - Hardness KW - Modulus KW - Silica KW - Silicon nitride KW - Coatings KW - Thin films PY - 1998 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6090(98)00989-4 SN - 0040-6090 VL - 332 IS - 1-2 SP - 164 EP - 171 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-25443 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -