Aluminum fluoride thin films have potential in both optic and lithium-ion battery applications. AlF 3 thin films have mostly been deposited using physical vapor deposition methods. In this study, we present a new atomic layer deposition process for AlF 3 . Our method makes use of a halide−halide exchange reaction with AlCl 3 and TiF 4 as the precursors. With this new chemistry, thin films of AlF 3 can be deposited at a temperature range of 160−340 °C. The films have been studied by UV−vis spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectance, atomic force microscopy, timeof-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ToF-ERDA), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. At 220 °C, the growth rate of the films is approximately 1.1 Å per cycle, and the refractive index is 1.36 (at 580 nm). The films show only small amounts of Cl and Ti impurities when deposited at high temperatures, as determined by ToF-ERDA. Surface oxidation of the films due to moisture in ambient air is observed.

Integrating the plasma core performance with an edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) that leads to tolerable heat and particle loads on the wall is a major challenge. The new European medium size tokamak task force (EU-MST) coordinates research on ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), MAST and TCV. This multi-machine approach within EU-MST, covering a wide parameter range, is instrumental to progress in the field, as ITER and DEMO core/pedestal and SOL parameters are not achievable simultaneously in present day devices. A two prong approach is adopted. On the one hand, scenarios with tolerable transient heat and particle loads, including active edge localised mode (ELM) control are developed. On the other hand, divertor solutions including advanced magnetic configurations are studied. Considerable progress has been made on both approaches, in particular in the fields of: ELM control with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP), small ELM regimes, detachment onset and control, as well as filamentary scrape-off-layer transport. For example full ELM suppression has now been achieved on AUG at low collisionality with n  =  2 RMP maintaining good confinement . Advances have been made with respect to detachment onset and control. Studies in advanced divertor configurations (Snowflake, Super-X and X-point target divertor) shed new light on SOL physics. Cross field filamentary transport has been characterised in a wide parameter regime on AUG, MAST and TCV progressing the theoretical and experimental understanding crucial for predicting first wall loads in ITER and DEMO. Conditions in the SOL also play a crucial role for ELM stability and access to small ELM regimes.

The atomic layer deposition (ALD) method was applied to grow thin polycrystalline BiFeO3 (BFO) films on Pt/SiO2/Si substrates. The 50 nm thick films were found to exhibit high resistivity, good morphological integrity, and homogeneity achieved by the applied ALD technique. Magnetic characterization revealed saturated magnetization of 25 emu/cm(3) with temperature-dependent coercivity varying from 5 to 530 Oe within the temperature range from 300 to 2 K. Magnetism observed in the films was found to change gradually from ferromagnetic spin ordering to pinned magnetic domain interactions mixed with weak spin-glass-like behavior of magnetically frustrated antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic (AFM-FM) spin ordering depending on the temperature and magnitude of the applied magnetic field. Antiferromagnetic order of spin cycloids was broken in polycrystalline films by crystal sizes smaller than the cycloid length (∼60 nm). Uncompensated spincycloids and magnetic domain walls were found to be the cause of the high magnetization of the BFO films.