A flexible nanogenerator (NG) is fabricated with a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) film, where deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the agent for the electroactive β-phase nucleation. Denatured DNA is co-operating to align the molecular -CH2/-CF2 dipoles of PVDF causing piezoelectricity without electrical poling. The NG is capable of harvesting energy from a variety of easily accessible mechanical stress such as human touch, machine vibration, football juggling, and walking. The NG exhibits high piezoelectric energy conversion efficiency facilitating the instant turn-on of several green or blue light-emitting diodes. The generated energy can be used to charge capacitors providing a wide scope for the design of self-powered portable devices.

SummaryWe report on results on the preparation of thin (<100 nm) aluminum oxide (Al2O3) films on silicon substrates using thermal atomic layer deposition (T-ALD) and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) in the SENTECH SI ALD LL system. The T-ALD Al2O3 layers were deposited at 200 °C, for the PE-ALD films we varied the substrate temperature range between room temperature (rt) and 200 °C. We show data from spectroscopic ellipsometry (thickness, refractive index, growth rate) over 4” wafers and correlate them to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results. The 200 °C T-ALD and PE-ALD processes yield films with similar refractive indices and with oxygen to aluminum elemental ratios very close to the stoichiometric value of 1.5. However, in both also fragments of the precursor are integrated into the film. The PE-ALD films show an increased growth rate and lower carbon contaminations. Reducing the deposition temperature down to rt leads to a higher content of carbon and CH-species. We also find a decrease of the refractive index and of the oxygen to aluminum elemental ratio as well as an increase of the growth rate whereas the homogeneity of the film growth is not influenced significantly. Initial state energy shifts in all PE-ALD samples are observed which we attribute to a net negative charge within the films.

The electronic structure of a SnO2 single crystal is determined by employing resonant photoelectron spectroscopy. We determine the core level, valence band, and X-ray absorption (XAS) data and compare these with those of amorphous SnOx thin films. We find similar properties concerning the data of the core levels, the valence band features, and the absorption data at the O1s edge. We find strong signals arising from intrinsic in-gap states and discuss their origin in terms of polaronic and charge-transfer defects. We deduce from the XAS data recorded at the Sn3d edge that the Sn4d10 ground state has contributions of 4d9 and 4d8 states due to configuration interaction. We identify localized electronic states depending on the strength of the 4d-5s5p interaction and of the O2p-to-Sn4d charge-transfer processes, both appear separated from the extended band-like states of the conduction band. For the amorphous SnOx thin films, significant differences are found only in the absorption data at the Sn3d-edge due to a stronger localization of the in-gap states.

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