This thesis presents the fundamental research and latest findings on novel flexible/wearable photovoltaic technology, and comprehensively summarizes the rapid developments in flexible photovoltaics, from traditional planar solar cells to fiber solar cells. It discusses the rational design of fiber solar cell materials, electrodes and devices, as well as critical factors including cost, efficiency, flexibility and stability . Furthermore, it addresses fundamental theoretical principles and novel fabrication technologies and their potential applications. The book provides practical information for university researchers and graduate students interested in flexible fiber photovoltaics, and inspires them to design other novel flexible/wearable electronics and textiles.

1 Automatisierung von Vakuumbeschichtungsanlagen.- 1.1 Vorbemerkungen.- 1.2 Steuerungssysteme.- 1.3 Materialfluss.- 1.3.1 Batch-Anlagen.- 1.3.2 Durchlauf-Anlagen (in-line-Anlagen).- 1.3.3 Cluster-Anlagen.- 1.3.4 Bandanlagen.- 1.4 Automatisierung von Teilsystemen.- 1.4.1 Pumpsatz-Steuerungen.- 1.4.2 Druckregelungen.- 1.4.2.1 Druckregelung durch Saugvermoegen.- 1.4.2.2 Druckregelung durch Gasfluss.- 1.4.3 Substrattransport.- 1.4.4 Substrattemperatur.- 1.4.4.1 Heizeinrichtungen.- 1.4.4.2 Messen und Regeln der Substrattemperatur.- 1.4.5 Automatisierung von Verdampfern.- 1.4.5.1 Widerstands-Verdampfer.- 1.4.5.2 Induktive Verdampfer.- 1.4.5.3 Elektronenstrahl-Verdampfer.- 1.4.6 Automatisierung von Sputterprozessen.- 1.4.6.1 Gleichstrom-Sputtern.- 1.4.6.2 Hochfrequenz-Sputtern.- 1.4.6.3 Magnetfeld-Verstellung.- 1.4.6.4 Plasma-Erkennung.- 1.4.7 Schichtdicke und Rate.- 1.4.7.1 Schichtdickenregelung.- 1.4.7.2 Abschalt-Kriterien.- 1.4.7.3 Ratenregelung.- 1.4.8 Reaktivprozesse.- 1.5 Beispiele fur die Automatisierung von Beschichtungsprozessen.- 1.5.1 Prozesssteuerung fur Aufdampfanlagen.- 1.5.2 Prozesssteuerung fur Sputter-Durchlauf-Anlagen.- 1.5.3 Automatisierung von CVD-Anlagen.- 2 Messungen an Dunnen Schichten wahrend des Beschichtungsprozesses.- 2.1 Bestimmung der Schichtdicke durch Widerstandsmessung.- 2.2 Ratenmessung durch Teilchen-Ionisierung und -Anregung.- 2.2.1 UEberblick.- 2.2.2 Ionensonde.- 2.2.3 Massenspektrometer.- 2.2.4 EIES.- 2.3 Schichtdicken und Aufdampfratemessung mit Schwingquarz.- 2.3.1 Einleitung und Ruckblick.- 2.3.1.1 Frequenz-Messmethode.- 2.3.1.2 Periodenzeit-Messmethode.- 2.3.1.3 Z-Match(R)-Verfahren.- 2.3.1.4 Zweifrequenz-oder Auto-Z-Match(R)-Verfahren.- 2.3.2 Sensor-Kennlinie (Massenempfindlichkeit).- 2.3.3 Grenzen der Genauigkeit und des Verwendungsbereichs.- 2.3.3.1 Einfluss des angewandten Verfahrens.- 2.3.3.2 Einfluss der Materialdichte.- 2.3.3.3 Schicht-Relaxation.- 2.3.3.4 Auswirkung intrinsischer Schichtspannungen.- 2.3.3.5 Temperatureinfluss.- 2.3.3.5.1 Frequenz-Temperaturkennlinie des Quarzes.- 2.3.3.5.2 Frequenz-Temperaturkennlinie des vollstandigen Messkopfes.- 2.3.3.6 Auftreten und Ursachen von Frequenzsprungen.- 2.3.3.6.1 Grenzschicht Quarz-Elektrode.- 2.3.3.6.2 Kopplung mit Nebenmoden.- 2.3.3.7 Anzeige der Messquarz-Restverwendungsdauer.- 2.3.3.7.1 Warnung bei Erreichen einer bestimmten Frequenzanderung.- 2.3.3.7.2 Dampfungs-bzw. materialabhangige Anzeige der Restverwendungsdauer.- 2.3.4 Schlussfolgerung und Zusammenfassung.- 2.4 Optische Messverfahren.- 2.4.1 Eilipsometer.- 2.4.2 Optische Prozesstechnik.- 2.4.2.1 Vorbemerkungen.- 2.4.2.2 Systematik der optischen Schichtdickenmessung.- 2.4.2.3 Monochromatische optische Schichtdickenmessung.- 2.4.2.3.1 Triggerpunktabschaltung/Extremwertabschaltung.- 2.4.2.3.2 Fehlerkompensation der direkten Messmethode bei Extremwertabschaltungen von ?/4-Schichtsystemen.- 2.4.2.3.3 Triggerpunktabschaltung mit On-Line-Korrektur.- 2.4.2.3.4 Probleme bei der Umsetzung der monochromatischen Schichtdickenmessung in die Praxis.- 2.4.2.3.5 Prozessfotometer fur die monochromatische optische Schichtdickenmessung.- 2.4.2.4 Breitbandige optische Schichtdickenmessung/ On-line-Nachoptimierung.- 2.4.3 Beispiele fur die Berechnung und Realisierung von Systemen aus dunnen Schichten.- 2.4.3.1 Matrixmethode zur Berechnung optischer Schichtsysteme.- 2.4.3.2 Eigenschaften einer Einfachschicht.- 2.4.3.3 Symmetrische Schichtsysteme.- 2.4.3.4 Schichtsysteme aus ?/4-und ?/2-Schichten.- 2.4.3.5 Rechnerunterstutzter Entwurf von Schichtsystemen.- 2.5 Schichtdickenbestimmung durch Wagung im Vakuum.- 2.6 Bestimmung der Schichtdicke und der Schichtzusammensetzung durch Roentgenemission und Roentgenfluoreszenz.- 2.7 Atomemissionsspektroskopie.- 3 Messungen an dunnen Schichten nach beendetem Beschichtungsprozess.- 3.1 Messung der thermischen Leitfahigkeit.- 3.1.1 Allgemeines.- 3.1.2 Experimentelle Bestimmung.- 3.2 Elektrische Leitfahigkeit.- 3.2.1 Definition.- 3.2.2 Bestimmungs

This book introduces laser pulse heating and thermal stress analysis in materials surface. Analytical temperature treatments and stress developed in the surface region are also explored. The book will help the reader analyze the laser induced stress in the irradiated region and presents solutions for the stress field. Detailed thermal stress analysis in different laser pulse heating situations and different boundary conditions are also presented. Written for surface engineers.

This book presents the latest advances in research to analyze mechanical damage and its detection in multilayer systems. The contents are linked to the Rilem TC241 - MCD scientific activities and the proceedings of the 8th RILEM International Conference on Mechanisms of Cracking and Debonding in Pavements (MCD2016). MCD2016 was hosted by Ifsttar and took place in Nantes, France, on June 7-9, 2016. In their lifetime, pavements undergo degradation due to different mechanisms of which cracking is among the most important ones. The damage and the fracture behavior of all its material layers as well as interfaces must be understood. In that field, the research activities aims to develop a deeper fundamental understanding of the mechanisms responsible for cracking and debonding in asphalt concrete and composite (e.g. asphalt overlays placed on PCC or thin cement concrete overlay placed on asphalt layer) pavement systems.

Reactive and functional polymers are manufactured with the aim of improving the performance of unmodified polymers or providing functionality for different applications. These polymers are created mainly through chemical reactions, but there are other important modifications that can be carried out by physical alterations in order to obtain reactive and functional polymers. This volume presents a comprehensive analysis of these reactive and functional polymers. Reactive and Functional Polymers Volume Two considers the coupling, crosslinking and grafting reactions to improve the compatibility of reactive and functional polymer blends. In this book, world-renowned researchers have participated, including Dr. Sabu Thomas (Editor-in-chief for the journal 'Nano-Structures & Nano-Objects'). With its comprehensive scope and up-to-date coverage of issues and trends in Reactive and Functional Polymers, this is an outstanding book for students, professors, researchers and industrialists working in the field of polymers and plastic materials.

Since the publication of volume 3 in 1982 there has been a revival of research on magnetism and a pronounced increase in interest from both the scientific and the technological side. Volume 5 therefore contains chapters that provide the reader with an insight into modern trends in magnetism and new achievements in this area. The topics dealt with here include the increased activity and investigations of the magnetism of magnetic superconductors and investigations of the magnetic properties of hydrides, the understanding of first-order magnetic processes and of quadrupolar interactions in 4f systems and their role in magnetic ordering and magneto-elastic effects, and the magnetism of strongly enhanced itinerant alloys and compounds and the magnetism of Invar alloys.

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive account of the recent developments in the recycling of plastic waste material. It presents state-of-the-art procedures for recycling of plastics from different sources and various characterization methods adopted in analyzing their properties. In addition, it looks into properties, processing, and applications of recycled plastic products as one of the drivers for sustainable recycling plastics especially in developing countries. This book proves a useful reference source for both engineers and researchers working in composite materials science as well as the students attending materials science, physics, chemistry, and engineering courses.

This thesis focuses on the nanomanufacturing of graphene-a newly discovered, two-dimensional material with extraordinary properties-in order to realize its numerous potential applications. Combining experimental implementation with theoretical modelling, it investigates three classes of graphene nanostructure fabrication using particle beam irradiation: (i) doping of graphene using low energy nitrogen irradiation; (ii) joining of graphene sheets with laser and C, N, and Ar ion beam irradiation; and (iii) fabrication of graphene nanopores by means of focused ion beam and electron beam irradiation. The feasibility of the nanomanufacture of graphene using particle beam irradiation is demonstrated by various experimental methods, and the mechanisms involved under different types of beam irradiation are revealed using theoretical calculations. Further, the book analyzes the mechanical and electrical properties of the fabricated graphene nanostructures by means of atomic simulations to predict the application potentials of the proposed methods. The findings help promote the implementation of graphene-structure applications in industry.

"Advances in Calcium Phosphate Biomaterials" presents a comprehensive, state-of-the-art review of the latest advances in developing calcium phosphate biomaterials and their applications in medicine. It covers the fundamental structures, synthesis methods, characterization methods, and the physical and chemical properties of calcium phosphate biomaterials, as well as the synthesis and properties of calcium phosphate-based biomaterials in regenerative medicine and their clinical applications. The book brings together these new concepts, mechanisms and methods in contributions by both young and veteran academics, clinicians, and researchers to forward the knowledge and expertise on calcium phosphate and related materials. Accordingly, the book not only covers the fundamentals but also open new avenues for meeting future challenges in research and clinical applications.

Besim Ben-Nissan is a Professor of Chemistry and Forensic Science at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia"

Electric control of magnetic properties, or inversely, magnetic control of dielectric properties in solids, is called a magnetoelectric effect and has long been investigated from the point of view of both fundamental physics and potential application. Magnetic and dielectric properties usually show minimal coupling, but it recently has been discovered that magnetically induced ferroelectricity in some spiral magnets enables remarkably large and versatile magnetoelectric responses. To stabilize such helimagnetism, magnetic frustration (competition between different magnetic interactions) is considered the key. In the present work, two of the most typical frustrated spin systems-triangular lattice antiferromagnets and edge-shared chain magnets-have systematically been investigated. Despite the crystallographic simplicity of target systems, rich magnetoelectric responses are ubiquitously observed. The current results published here offer a useful guideline in the search for new materials with unique magnetoelectric functions, and also provide an important basis for a deeper understanding of magnetoelectric phenomena in more complex systems.

This book describes medical applications of photochemistry. In the first part, a general introduction to photochemistry and related phototechnologies is provided. In the second part, photochemistry-based medical applications for diagnostics (biochips and bioimaging) and therapeutics (biomaterials for artificial organs, medical adhesives, dental materials, drug-delivery systems, tissue engineering, and photodynamic therapy) are described, with examples of recent research. The year 2015 is the International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies. Light plays a vital role in our daily lives and is important in many interdisciplinary scientific fields in the twenty-first century. Light-based concepts have revolutionized medicine, including areas such as oncology, molecular biology, and surgery. Although photochemistry has contributed significantly to medicine directly and through photochemical fabrication of biomaterials, a book giving a comprehensive overview of recent progress has not been published until now. The aim of this book is to highlight the contributions of photochemistry in interdisciplinary fields of chemistry and medical engineering. This book will be useful for chemists who are interested in medical applications of photochemistry and engineers who are eager to learn the principles of photochemistry to enable its use in practical applications.

Chemical reactions and growth processes on surfaces depend on the diffusion and re-orientation of the adsorbate molecules. A fundamental understanding of the forces guiding surface motion is thus of utmost importance for the advancement of many fields of science and technology. To date, our understanding of the principles underlying surface dynamics remains extremely limited, due to the difficulties involved in measuring these processes experimentally. The helium-3 spin-echo (HeSE) technique is uniquely capable of probing such surface dynamical phenomena. The present thesis extends the field of application of HeSE from atomic and small molecular systems to more complex systems. Improvements to the supersonic helium beam source, a key component of the spectrometer, as well as a detailed investigation of a range of five-membered aromatic adsorbate species are presented. The thesis provides a comprehensive description of many aspects of the HeSE method - instrumentation, measurement and data analysis - and as such offers a valuable introduction for newcomers to the field.

Fourier Transform Infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR) was first developed by William Coblentz in 1905 for analytical purposes. It has been established as a powerful analytical method to analyze a wide range of materials. The most convenient way to analyze the molecular structure was to prepare KBr pellets with small amount of chemical species. Currently, the development of the Universal Attenuated Total Reflectance (UATR) allows the use of ZnSe-Diamond crystal to acquire FTIR spectra directly from the sample with no special preparation. These traditional FTIR analyses have been made with devices capable of performing single measurements, thus, providing a single IR spectrum of the sample. Recent major technological development in FTIR instrumentation was development of microscopes and imaging systems. These devices are now capable of imaging larger sample area, providing not only spectroscopic information but also spatial distributional information. In addition, the development of Focal Point Array (FPA) has made FTIR imaging an emerging area of chemical imaging research. The aim of this book is to summarize in a single document the research work that is being performed using UATR and IR imaging in selected emerging applications in plant materials and biological samples. This book provides the readers new knowledge, updates information, emerging applications, and understanding of the potential use of FTIR Microspectroscopy.

This the sixth volume of six from the Annual Conference of the Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2010, brings together 128 chapters on Experimental and Applied Mechanics. It presents early findings from experimental and computational investigations including High Accuracy Optical Measurements of Surface Topography, Elastic Properties of Living Cells, Standards for Validating Stress Analyses by Integrating Simulation and Experimentation, Efficiency Enhancement of Dye-sensitized Solar Cell, and Blast Performance of Sandwich Composites With Functionally Graded Core.

This book lays down the foundation on the mechanics and design of auxetic solids and structures, solids that possess negative Poisson's ratio. It will benefit two groups of readers: (a) industry practitioners, such as product and structural designers, who need to control mechanical stress distributions using auxetic materials, and (b) academic researchers and students who intend to produce unique mechanical and other physical properties of structures using auxetic materials.

This thesis presents an in-depth theoretical analysis of charge and spin transport properties in complex forms of disordered graphene. It relies on innovative real space computational methods of the time-dependent spreading of electronic wave packets. First a universal scaling law of the elastic mean free path versus the average grain size is predicted for polycrystalline morphologies, and charge mobilities of up to 300.000 cm2/V.s are determined for 1 micron grain size, while amorphous graphene membranes are shown to behave as Anderson insulators. An unprecedented spin relaxation mechanism, unique to graphene and driven by spin/pseudospin entanglement is then reported in the presence of weak spin-orbit interaction (gold ad-atom impurities) together with the prediction of a crossover from a quantum spin Hall Effect to spin Hall effect (for thallium ad-atoms), depending on the degree of surface ad-atom segregation and the resulting island diameter.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of thin film structures in energy applications. Each chapter contains both fundamentals principles for each thin film structure as well as the relevant energy application technologies. The authors cover thin films for a variety of energy sectors including inorganic and organic solar cells, DSSCs, solid oxide fuel cells, thermoelectrics, phosphors and cutting tools.

This book investigates stability loss problems of the viscoelastic composite materials and structural members within the framework of the Three-Dimensional Linearized Theory of Stability (TDLTS). The stability loss problems are considered the development of the initial infinitesimal imperfection in the structure of the material or of the structural members. This development is studied within the framework of the Three-Dimensional Geometrical Non-Linear Theory of the Deformable Solid Body Mechanics. The solution to the corresponding boundary-value problems is presented in the series form in the small parameter which characterizes the degree of the initial imperfection. In this way, the nonlinear problems for the domains bounded by noncanonical surfaces are reduced for the same nonlinear problem for the corresponding domains bounded by canonical surfaces and the series subsequent linearized problems. It is proven that the equations and relations of these linearized problems coincide with the corresponding ones of the well-known TDLTS. Under concrete investigations as stability loss criterion the case is taken for the initial infinitesimal imperfection that starts to increase indefinitely. Moreover, it is proven that the critical parameters can be determined by the use of only the zeroth and first approximations.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have novel properties that make them potentially useful in many applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials science. These characteristics include extraordinary strength, unique electrical properties, and the fact that they are efficient heat conductors. Field emission is the emission of electrons from the surface of a condensed phase into another phase due to the presence of high electric fields. CNT field emitters are expected to make a breakthrough in the development of field emission display technology and enable miniature X-ray sources that will find a wide variety of applications in electronic devices, industry, and medical and security examinations.
This first monograph on the topic covers all aspects in a concise yet comprehensive manner - from the fundamentals to applications. Divided into four sections, the first part discusses the preparation and characterization of carbon nanotubes, while part two is devoted to the field emission properties of carbon nanotubes, including the electron emission mechanism, characteristics of CNT electron sources, and dynamic behavior of CNTs during operation. Part three highlights field emission from other nanomaterials, such as carbon nanowalls, diamond, and silicon and zinc oxide nanowires, before concluding with frontier R&D applications of CNT emitters, from vacuum electronic devices such as field emission displays, to electron sources in electron microscopes, X-ray sources, and microwave amplifiers. Edited by a pioneer in the field, each chapter is written by recognized experts in the respective fields.

The few-body problem (FBP), the essence of which is the Schroedinger equation is not solvable for more than two interacting particles. Atomic collisions are ideally suited to study the FBP because the underlying force is essentially understood and because simple systems can be studied for which kinematically complete experiments are feasible. The book would cover various experimental and theoretical approaches in atomic collision research.

This book presents the main research advances in the field of photofunctional rare earth hybrid materials. The first chapter discusses the fundamental principles, ranging from rare earth, rare earth luminescence, luminescent rare earth compounds and photofunctional rare earth hybrid materials. The main body of the book consists of six chapters exploring different kinds of photofunctional hybrid materials, such as hybrids based on organically modified silica; organically modified mesoporous silica; functionalized microporous zeolite and metal-organic frameworks; polymer or polymer/silica composite; and multi-component assembly of hybrids. It also includes a chapter introducing the photofunctional application of these hybrid materials. It is a valuable resource for a wide readership in various fields of rare earth chemistry, chemical science and materials science.

This book provides excellent techniques for detecting and evaluating biofilms: sticky films on materials that are formed by bacterial activity and produce a range of industrial and medical problems such as corrosion, sanitary problems, and infections. Accordingly, it is essential to control biofilms and to establish appropriate countermeasures, from both industrial and medical viewpoints. This book offers valuable, detailed information on these countermeasures. It also discusses the fundamentals of biofilms, relates various substrates to biofilms, and presents a variety of biofilm reactors. However, the most important feature of this book (unlike others on the market) is its clear focus on addressing the practical aspects from an engineering viewpoint. Therefore, it offers an excellent practical guide for engineers and researchers in various fields, and can also be used as a great academic textbook.

This thesis explores a route to induce and control the structure formation process in thin films by the use of strong electric fields. We investigate, establish and apply the use of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) lithography as a versatile patterning tool on the sub-micrometre and nanometre length scales for functional materials. Thin films are ubiquitous, they are found in nature and used in almost every aspect of daily life. While film instabilities are often undesirable in nature and technology, they can be utilized to produce structures by precisely controlling the destabilization of the film. EHD lithography utilizes instabilities induced by means of an electric field to fabricate periodic structures. EHD patterning is set to become a competitive candidate for low-cost lithographic technology for a number of applications. Herein, the applied potential of this lithographic process is explored by expanding its applicability to a broad range of materials and by a simultaneous patterning of multilayer systems or functional polymers yielding hierarchical architectures with novel functionalities.
EHD pattern formation enables for instance, the fabrication of multi-scale structured arrays as surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active platforms. Furthermore, crystalline and conductive polymers are patterned using the EHD approach and the underlying structure formation mechanisms are discussed. This extension towards functional material systems offers interesting prospects for potential applications. Findings of this thesis are very promising for use in optoelectronic devices.

This book presents studies and discussions on anionic redox, which can be used to boost the capacities of cathode electrodes by providing extra electron transfer. This theoretically and practically significant book facilitates the implementation of anionic redox in electrodes for real-world use and accelerates the development of high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries, as energy storage systems, are playing a more and more important role in powering modern society. However, their energy density is still limited by the low specific capacity of the cathode electrodes. Based on a profound understanding of band theory, the author has achieved considerable advances in tuning the redox process of lithium-rich electrodes to obtain enhanced electrochemical performance, identifying both the stability mechanism of anionic redox in lithium-rich cathode materials, and its activation mechanism in these electrode systems.

In the past several decades, the research on spin transport and magnetism has led to remarkable scientific and technological breakthroughs, including Albert Fert and Peter Gr nberg's Nobel Prize-winning discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in magnetic metallic multilayers. Handbook of Spin Transport and Magnetism provides a comprehensive, balanced account of the state of the art in the field known as spin electronics or spintronics. It reveals how key phenomena first discovered in one class of materials, such as spin injection in metals, have been revisited decades later in other materials systems, including silicon, organic semiconductors, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and carefully engineered nanostructures. The first section of the book offers a historical and personal perspective of the field written by Nobel Prize laureate Albert Fert. The second section addresses physical phenomena, such as GMR, in hybrid structures of ferromagnetic and normal metals. The third section discusses recent developments in spin-dependent tunneling, including magnetic tunnel junctions with ferroelectric barriers. In the fourth section, the contributors look at how to control spin and magnetism in semiconductors. In the fifth section, they examine phenomena typically found in nanostructures made from metals, superconductors, molecular magnets, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, and graphene. The final section covers novel spin-based applications, including advanced magnetic sensors, nonvolatile magnetoresistive random access memory, and semiconductor spin-lasers. The techniques and materials of spintronics have rapidly evolved in recent years, leading to vast improvements in hard drive storage and magnetic sensing. With extensive cross-references between chapters, this seminal handbook provides a complete guide to spin transport and magnetism across various classes of materials and structures.