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In this study, antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) thin films were fabricated by the sol–gel dip coating process on glass substrates. After the deposition process, the films were treated by Argon–plasma (Ar-400 Watt). The effect of argon–plasma treatments on the electrical and optical properties of ATO thin films was then investigated as a function of the plasma treatment time. It was found that Ar–plasma treatment increased the electrical conductivity of ATO films, but it decreased the optical transmission of ATO thin films.

Polycrystalline garnet ferrites Dy_3-xNi_x Fe₅O₁₂, where (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) have been prepared by the standard ceramic technique and their crystalline structure were identified by X-ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy. The differential thermal analysis (DTA) reveals two peaks. It is observed that an endothermic peak between 587 and 498 K for all samples which is due to the magnetic phase change from ferrimagnetic to paramagnetic state. The exothermic peak at about 700 K may be attributed to the crystallization of Dy_3-x Ni_xFe₅O₁₂ with garnet structure. DC electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power, charge carrier concentration and charge carrier mobility have been studied at different temperatures: It was found that the DC electrical conductivity increases linearly with increasing temperature ensuring the semiconducting nature of samples. The values of the thermoelectric power were negative for samples of 0.0 < x < 0.4 indicating that the majority of the charge carrier are electrons in these samples while it was positive for sample of x = 0.5 at room temperature, and negative at high temperature. Using the values of the DC electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power, the values of the charge carrier concentration and the charge carrier mobility were calculated. Finally thermal properties have been studied.

CdGa₂S₄ was prepared in powder form by reacting CdS and Ga₂S₃. The powder had a tetragonal crystal structure with lattice parameters, a = 0.559 ± 0.005 nm, c = 1.008 ± 0.009 nm and c/a = 1.803. CdGa₂S₄ films deposited by thermal evaporation of the powder were noncrystalline. After annealing, the CdGa₂S₄ thin films contain crystals with the tetragonal crystal structure. The optical constants (the refractive index n, the absorption index k and the absorption coefficient α) were determined for CdGa₂S₄ thin films in the thickness range 170–452 nm. It was found that both n and k are independent of the film thickness and both are slightly different as deposited and annealed films. The refractive index shows anomalous dispersion in the spectral range 300–700 nm. The high frequency dielectric constant ε_∞ was determined for the as-deposited and after being annealed films. It was found that ε_∞ = 5.12 and 5.52 for the as-deposited and after being annealed films respectively. Graphical representations of (αhν)^r = f(hν) yield three linear parts, indicating the existence of two indirect and one direct allowed transitions. The values of , and for CdGa₂S₄ for the as-deposited and annealed films are presented.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films with thickness 40$\mu$m are irradiated with 3keV argon ion beams with different fluence ranging from $0.5\times 10^{18}$ions.cm${}^{-2}$ to $2\times 10^{18}$ions.cm${}^{-2}$ using locally designed broad ion source. The changes in the PET structure are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The XRD patterns show that the peak intensity decreases with irradiation and the particle size decreases from 65.75 Å for the un-irradiated to 52.80 Å after irradiation. The FTIR indicates partial decrease and reduction in the intensity of the bands due to the degradation of the polymer after ion irradiation. The optical energy band gap decreases from 3.14eV to 3.05eV and the number of carbon cluster increases from 119 to 126 after ion irradiation. The results show a slight increase in the electrical conductivities and the dielectric constant ($\epsilon$). The results indicate the effectiveness of using PET films as capacitors and resistors in industrial applications.

In this paper, we report the influence of low-energy oxygen ion irradiation with fluence ranging from $0.5\times 10^{17}$$\text{ions}\cdot {\text{cm}}^{-2}$ to $1.5\times 10^{17}$$\text{ions}\cdot {\text{cm}}^{-2}$ on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of fresh and annealed (400^∘C, 3h) zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. These films were grown on soda-lime glass (SLG) substrates using the spin-coating method as a low-cost depositing technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study showed the formation of the hexagonal phase of ZnO thin films with preferred orientation along the (002) plane. The crystallite size for fresh and annealed ZnO thin films was in nanoscale and it increased with the annealing temperature. Also, the crystallite size increased with the ion beam irradiation fluence in the case of annealed ZnO films, while it slightly decreased for the fresh ZnO films. The transmittance and absorbance spectra for the ZnO films were investigated in a wide wavelength range. The optical bandgap was specified by using Tauc’s relation. The electrical properties of the ZnO films (fresh and annealed at 400^∘C for 3h) were studied before and after the oxygen ion beam irradiation. Also, the dielectric properties were investigated with respect to frequency at different ion beam irradiation fluences. The comprehensive results showed the dielectric and optical properties are improved due to the induced conductive networks by oxygen ion irradiation.

This study examines the machinability of hybrid fiber metal laminates (HFML), which are made by nickel–chromium alloy (IN-625) metal-cored carbon (Ca)/aramid (Ar) fiber laminate using ultrasonic vibration-coupled microwire electrical discharge machining (UV-$\mu$WEDM). Since UV-$\mu$WEDM parameters significantly impact the erosion rate ($E_R$) and surface undulation ($S_U$), the main objective was to identify the optimal machining parameters. The input variables include the pulse on ($P_{\text{on}}$), pulse off ($P_{\text{off}}$), current ($I_C$), cutting inclination ($C_I$), and servo voltage ($S_V$) coupled with ultrasonic vibration (UV). The empirical findings show that the servo voltage ($S_V$) significantly impacts $E_R$ (73.93%) and $S_U$ (70.02%). The performance categorization order of significant influencing variable is $S_V>P_{\text{off}}>C_I>P_{\text{on}}>I_C$. The desirability interpretation generated the optimum setting for minimizing $S_U$ and maximizing $E_R$ is $P_{\text{on}}=8\mu$s, $P_{\text{off}}=14\mu$s, $S_V=50$V, $I_C=3$A, and $C_I=30^{\circ }$. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images were used to perform the micro-interlayer analysis on the machined surface. Moreover, creating an appropriate HFML is necessary to cut various shapes and sizes to satisfy the demands of diverse applications. 60% of components in the aerospace sector are reportedly rejected in real time due to dimension departure, poor surface finish, and damage found in the final assembly. Investigating the viability of cutting-edge machining techniques like UV-$\mu$WEDM is crucial to minimize damage and improve the quality of HFMLs.

Transparent and conducting aluminium doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films having different Al:Zn ratio were deposited by simple sol–gel technique on glass substrates. The films were characterized by microstructural, optical and electrical studies. It was observed that the films were transparent but highly resistive. The films were annealed at 300°C in an (nitrogen (N₂) + hydrogen (H₂) - 95% + 5%) atmosphere to obtain low resistive films. While the films showed transparency of > 70% in the visible range, the resistivity of the films was of the order of 10^-3 Ω cm. The optical constants of the films were studied by a modified Kramers–Kronig model to study its variation with the change in aluminium (Al) concentration.

This study was based on the hypothesis that spatial–temporal characterization of contaminant-affected redox gradients in a quiescent system could be measured by microbial potentiometric sensor (MPS) arrays incorporated in large, natural biofilm networks. Two experimental chambers, each containing at least 48 equidistantly located MPS electrodes, were fabricated to examine reproducibility of the patterns. The MPS electrodes were exposed to biofilm growth conditions by introducing high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dechlorinated tap water at the bottom of the experimental chamber; and the spatial–temporal changes in the MPS array signals were recorded, which showed that signal trends were correlated to the induced changes in DOC. The results indicated that MPS arrays measured the spatial–temporal changes in the aqueous solution caused by an influx of carbon rich water, which could not be detected by conventional oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) electrodes. Interestingly, the experiments conducted over long time periods revealed unusual behaviors like electrical signaling and possible potentiometrically driven communication within the biofilm. These observed behaviors suggest that biofilms may create a large network through which communication signals can be generated and propagated by inducing changes in electric potentials similar to a sophisticated electronic device.

In our previous study, with the dissipation of quartz crystal through material viscosity is being considered in vibrations of piezoelectric plates, we have the opportunity to obtain electrical parameters from vibration solutions of a crystal plate representing an ideal resonator, in which both full and partial electrodes are considered. In fact, the electrodes of resonators are not symmetrically arranged due to the mounting points of crystal blanks are only in one side. As a result, the study of asymmetric electrodes is necessary for practical applications. Different from previous ones, the vibration solutions will contain both symmetric and anti-symmetric thickness-shear vibrations in the electroded area, which will introduce new boundary conditions. We start with the first-order Mindlin plate equations of a piezoelectric plate for the thickness-shear vibration analysis of a resonator with asymmetric electrodes. The electrical parameters are derived with emphasis on the resistance that is related to the imaginary part of complex elastic constants, or the viscosity. With this approach we can further analyze the actual resonator vibration influenced by the electrode position.

This study was based on the hypothesis that spatial–temporal characterization of contaminant-affected redox gradients in a quiescent system could be measured by microbial potentiometric sensor (MPS) arrays incorporated in large, natural biofilm networks. Two experimental chambers, each containing at least 48 equidistantly located MPS electrodes, were fabricated to examine reproducibility of the patterns. The MPS electrodes were exposed to biofilm growth conditions by introducing high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dechlorinated tap water at the bottom of the experimental chamber; and the spatial–temporal changes in the MPS array signals were recorded, which showed that signal trends were correlated to the induced changes in DOC. The results indicated that MPS arrays measured the spatial–temporal changes in the aqueous solution caused by an influx of carbon rich water, which could not be detected by conventional oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) electrodes. Interestingly, the experiments conducted over long time periods revealed unusual behaviors like electrical signaling and possible potentiometrically driven communication within the biofilm. These observed behaviors suggest that biofilms may create a large network through which communication signals can be generated and propagated by inducing changes in electric potentials similar to a sophisticated electronic device.