Publications

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Ceramic based nanocomposites have recently demonstrated the ability to provide enhanced permittivity, increased dielectric breakdown strength, and reduced electromechanical strain making them potential materials systems for high energy density applications. A systematic characterization and optimization of barium titanate and PLZT based nanoparticle composites employing a glass or polymer matrix to yield a high energy density component will be presented. This work will present the systematic characterization and optimization of barium titanate and lead lanthanum zirconate titanate nanoparticle based ceramics. The nanoparticles have been synthesized using solution and pH-based synthesis processing routes and employed to fabricate polycrystalline ceramic and nanocomposite based components. The dielectric/ferroelectric properties of these various components have been gauged by impedance analysis and electromechanical response and will be discussed.

Devices with nano-crystalline microstructures have been shown to possess improved electrical properties. Further advantages include lower processing temperatures; however, device fabrication from nano-particles poses several challenges. This presentation describes a novel aqueous synthesis technique to produce large batch sizes with minimal waste. The precipitate is readily converted at less than 550 C to a phase pure, nano-crystalline Pb{sub 0.88} La{sub 0.12}(Zr{sub 0.70} Ti{sub 0.30}){sub 0.97} O{sub 3} powder. Complications and solutions to sample fabrication from nano-powders are discussed, including the use of glass sintering aids to improve density and further lower sintering temperatures. Finally, electrical properties are presented to demonstrate the potential benefits of nano-crystalline capacitors.

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Attractive for numerous technological applications, ferroelectronic oxides constitute an important class of multifunctional compounds. Intense experimental efforts have been made recently in synthesizing, processing and understanding ferroelectric nanostructures. This work will present the systematic characterization and optimization of barium titanate and lead lanthanum zirconate titanate nanoparticle based ceramics. The nanoparticles have been synthesized using several solution and pH-based synthesis processing routes and employed to fabricate polycrystalline ceramic and nanocomposite based components. The dielectric and ferroelectric properties of these various components have been gauged by impedance analysis and electromechanical response and will be discussed.

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Nano-materials have shown unique crystallite-dependent properties that present distinct advantages for dielectric applications. PLZT is an excellent dielectric material used in several applications and may benefit crystallite engineering; however complex systems such as PLZT require well-controlled synthesis techniques. An aqueous based synthesis route has been developed, using standard precursor chemicals and scalable techniques to produce large batch sizes. The synthesis will be briefly covered, followed by a more in-depth discussion of incorporating nanocrystalline PLZT into a working device. Initial electrical properties will be presented illustrating the potential benefits and associated difficulties of working with PLZT nano-materials.

In the past decade, organic optoelectronic devices have made much advances that they become viable technologies. These organic optoelectronic devices involve integration of organics with highly dissimilar materials, e.g. metals, semiconductors, and oxides, with critical device actions taking places at the organic-inorganic interfaces. For examples, in organic photovoltaics, exciton dissociation and carrier separation occur at the donor-acceptor heterojunctions; careful design of junction area and band alignment is critical for optimizing device performance. In this talk, I will show two examples of modifying organic-inorganic interfaces with alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) to improve device performance. Alkanethiols are large band gap molecules that are expected to act as a transport barrier. When the Au cathode in polyfluorene OLEDs is modified with alkanethiol SAMs, the current is found to be lower while the output luminescent intensity higher, leading to higher external quantum efficiency at a given current density. In ZnO-polythiophene hybrid solar cells, increasing alkanethiol SAM length surprisingly leads to higher photocurrent, despite the SAM reduces electron transfer. I will discuss the mechanisms behind these unexpected improvements.

The ceramic nanocomposite capacitor goals are: (1) more than double energy density of ceramic capacitors (cutting size and weight by more than half); (2) potential cost reductino (factor of >4) due to decreased sintering temperature (allowing the use of lower cost electrode materials such as 70/30 Ag/Pd); and (3) lower sintering temperature will allow co-firing with other electrical components.

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