Impact of metastable graphene-diamond coatings on the fracture toughness of silicon carbide.

Silicon carbide has excellent mechanical properties such as high hardness and strength, but its applications for body armor and protective coating solutions are limited by its poor toughness. It has been demonstrated that epitaxial graphene-coated SiC can enhance SiC mechanical properties due to the pressure-activated phase transition into a sp3 diamond structure. Here, we show that atomically thin graphene coatings increase the hardness of SiC even for indentation depths of ∼10 µm. Very importantly, the graphene coating also causes an increase of the fracture toughness by 11% compared to bare SiC, which is in contradiction with the general indirect variation of hardness and fracture toughness. This is explained in terms of the presence of a diamond phase under the indenter while the rest of the coating remains in the ultra-tough graphene phase. This study opens new venues for understanding hardness and toughness in metastable systems and for the applications of graphene-coatings.

Investigation of internal electric fields in graphene/6H-SiC under illumination by the Pockels effect.

In this paper, we introduce a method for mapping profiles of internal electric fields in birefringent crystals based on the electro-optic Pockels effect and measuring phase differences of low-intensity polarized light. In the case of the studied 6H-SiC crystal with graphene electrodes, the experiment is significantly affected by birefringence at zero bias voltage applied to the crystal and a strong thermo-optical effect. We dealt with these phenomena by adding a Soleil-Babinet compensator and using considerations based on measurements of crystal heating under laser illumination. The method can be generalized and adapted to any Pockels crystal that can withstand sufficiently high voltages. We demonstrate the significant formation of space charge in semi-insulating 6H-SiC under illumination by above-bandgap light.

Spectral Dependence of the Photoplastic Effect in CdZnTe and CdZnTeSe.

We studied the spectral dependence of the Vickers microhardness HV0.025 of CdZnTe and CdZnTeSe samples upon illumination and found out that it increases over the entire applied spectral range of 1540-750 nm. We also found out that the photoconductivity and microhardness are correlated. We observed changes in the correlation diagram (change of slope and an abrupt change of HV0.025 at several wavelengths of the illuminating light). Based on measurements of the relative changes of the space charge upon illumination using the Pockels effect, we suggest that the observed spectral dependence of positive photoplastic effect in CdZnTe and CdZnTeSe can be explained by the trapping of photoinduced electrons and holes, which affects the motion of the partial dislocations. The underlying physical explanation relies on the assumption that reconstructed bonds break before dislocation glide.

Mapping of inhomogeneous quasi-3D electrostatic field in electro-optic materials.

This paper describes a new method for direct measurement and evaluation of the inhomogeneous electrostatic vector field with translational symmetry in electro-optic materials exhibiting the Pockels effect. It is based on the evaluation of maximum transmittance of low intensity light passing through a sample under a voltage bias. Here, the sample is located between rotating crossed polarizers, and camera images are obtained at each point to determine the electric field. The evaluation procedure is demonstrated using data acquired on a CdZnTeSe quasi-hemispheric semiconductor gamma-ray detector. In addition to CdTe-related compounds, the method can be used for various other materials showing [Formula: see text] symmetry such as GaAs, CdTe, GaP, 3C-SiC, and ZnS. Furthermore, it can be generalized to other crystalline materials showing the Pockels effect. The method can be used to probe the space charge and the electric field in several kinds of electronic components and devices, as well as provide useful data on the role of defects, contact configurations and other surface and bulk inhomogeneities in the material that can affect the distribution of the internal electric field.

Low-Temperature Annealing of CdZnTeSe under Bias.

We performed a gradual low-temperature annealing up to 360 K on a CdZnTeSe radiation detector equipped with gold and indium electrodes under bias at both polarities. We observed significant changes in the detector's resistance and space-charge accumulation. This could potentially lead to the control and improvement of the electronic properties of the detector because the changes are accompanied with the reduction in the bulk dark current and surface leakage current. In this article, we present the results of a detailed study of the internal electric field and conductivity changes in CdZnTeSe detector for various annealing steps under bias taking into account different polarities during annealing and subsequent characterization. We observed that low-temperature annealing results in an increase in the barrier height at the contacts that, in general, reduces the dark current and decreases the positive space charge present in the sample compared to the pre-annealed condition.

Evaluation of CdZnTeSe as a high-quality gamma-ray spectroscopic material with better compositional homogeneity and reduced defects.

X- and gamma-ray detectors have broad applications ranging from medical imaging to security, non-proliferation, high-energy physics and astrophysics. Detectors with high energy resolution, e.g. less than 1.5% resolution at 662 keV at room temperature, are critically important in most uses. The efficacy of adding selenium to the cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) matrix for radiation detector applications has been studied. In this paper, the growth of a new quaternary compound Cd0.9Zn0.1Te0.98Se0.02 by the Traveling Heater Method (THM) is reported. The crystals possess a very high compositional homogeneity with less extended defects, such as secondary phases and sub-grain boundary networks. Virtual Frisch-grid detectors fabricated from as-grown ingots revealed ~0.87-1.5% energy resolution for 662-keV gamma rays. The superior material quality with a very low density of defects and very high compositional homogeneity heightens the likelihood that Cd0.9Zn0.1Te0.98Se0.02 will be the next generation room-temperature detector material.

Infrared LED Enhanced Spectroscopic CdZnTe Detector Working under High Fluxes of X-rays.

This paper describes an application of infrared light-induced de-polarization applied on a polarized CdZnTe detector working under high radiation fluxes. We newly demonstrate the influence of a high flux of X-rays and simultaneous 1200-nm LED illumination on the spectroscopic properties of a CdZnTe detector. CdZnTe detectors operating under high radiation fluxes usually suffer from the polarization effect, which occurs due to a screening of the internal electric field by a positive space charge caused by photogenerated holes trapped at a deep level. Polarization results in the degradation of detector charge collection efficiency. We studied the spectroscopic behavior of CdZnTe under various X-ray fluxes ranging between 5 × 10 5 and 8 × 10 6 photons per mm 2 per second. It was observed that polarization occurs at an X-ray flux higher than 3 × 10 6 mm - 2 ·s - 1 . Using simultaneous illumination of the detector by a de-polarizing LED at 1200 nm, it was possible to recover X-ray spectra originally deformed by the polarization effect.