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Sebastian Calderon

Publications and source records attributed to Sebastian Calderon.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Ferroelectric Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N sputtered thin films on n-type Si bottom electrodes

Ferroelectric Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N thin films are grown on highly doped and plasma treated (100) n-type Si. We demonstrate ferroelectricity for x = <0.01, 0.02, 0.06, 0.08, 0.13, and 0.17 where the n-type Si is both the substrate and bottom electrode. Polarization hysteresis reveals remanent polarization values between 130-140 $\mu$C/cm$^2$ and coercive field values as low as 4 MV/cm at 1 Hz with low leakage. The highest re-sistivity and most saturating hysteresis occurs with B contents between x = 0.06 and 0.13. We also demonstrate the impact of substrate plasma treatment time on Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N crystallinity and switching. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectra reveal an amorphous 3.5 nm SiNx layer at the Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N interface post-plasma treatment and deposition. The first $\sim 5$ nm of Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N is crystallographically defective. Using the n-type Si substrate we demonstrate Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N thick-ness scaling to 25 nm via low frequency hysteresis and CV. Serving as the bottom electrode and sub-strate, the n-type Si enables a streamlined growth process for Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N for a wide range of Al$_{1-x}$B$_x$N compositions and layer thicknesses.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Laser-scanning of induction-melted Al alloys: are they representative of additively manufactured ones?

The bottleneck of alloy design for powder-based additive manufacturing (AM) resides in customized powder production - an expensive and time-consuming process hindering the rapid closed-loop design iterations. This study analyzed an expedited experimental workflow, i.e., multipath laser scanning of induction-melted samples, to mimic rapid solidification of AM to serve as an alternative approach to down-select from the design space. Using Al-Ni-Zr-Er model alloy, comprehensive multi-scale characterizations were performed to compare microstructural features between laser-scanned and laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) samples. Although demonstrating a difference in melt pool geometries, the microstructures in scanning electron microscopy (SEM)- and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)- scale demonstrate a high degree of similarity, in terms of microstructure morphology, grain size, presence of precipitates, and phase distribution. The mechanical performance was evaluated by microhardness tests. The results revealed a 20% reduction in laser-scanned samples compared to LPBF samples, attributed to the thermal history and potential differences in phase fractions. The decreasing trend was also observed in the benchmark alloy showing a 10% absolute error with respect to the model alloy. This study underscores the potential of this workflow to accelerate alloy design in AM by circumventing customized powder production and encourages further exploration across diverse materials and processing parameters.

physics.app-ph