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Confocal Raman imaging and spectroscopy has been used in a custom-made flow-cell to map in-situ spatial and temporal growth of siderite and chukanovite on pipeline steel in a hot brine environment, under conditions typical of commercial interest (pH 6.8, temp 80oC, oxygen conc < 10 ppb, 0.5 M NaCl, open circuit potential (OCP)). Ferrite and pearlite domains are found to exhibit an interesting contrast (colour) inversion under sweet environmental conditions compared to their Nital etched contrast – confirmed by identifying the shapes and surrounding of the domains before and after exposure to two different conditions. Ferrite and pearlite phases are found to exhibit differing evolution of the corrosion scale mineralogy, and phase transformation. The process starts by revealing the microstructural phase constituents, significantly the interphase boundaries are identified as the primary sites for scale formation. The ferritic phase forms pure siderite scale while the pearlitic phase shows both siderite and chukanovite scales, with chukanovite transforming into siderite over time. LPR profiles reveal that for carbon steel with a higher pearlite fraction the initial corrosion rate is higher, followed by a faster drop when compared to steel with lower pearlite fraction! Figure 1

A set of bottom-gate Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin film transistors (TFTs) with active layers containing 1, 4 and 8 layers of spin-coated ZnO were fabricated and their electrical characteristics such as transistor transfer and capacitance-voltage characteristics were analyzed. The transconductance of the single-layered ZnO transistor shows a single peak. On the other hand, multiple peaks and humps were observed in the transconductance and capacitance-voltage characteristics of multi-layered ZnO transistors. The multi-layers were grown by reiteration of the spin-coating process, producing ZnO − ZnO interlayer-interfaces. The surface of the ZnO layer in contact with the ambient contains active sites, resulting in chemisorption of ambient gases such as oxygen prior to the deposition of subsequent layers. The chemisorbed species become negatively-charged and form charge sheets, depleting the surface/interface region. It was proposed that the formation of depletion layers at ZnO − ZnO interlayer-interfaces is the main cause for the observed anomaly.

We investigate the effects of Cr/Mo micro-alloying of plain carbon steel on the corrosion behaviour and scale protectiveness in CO2 saturated (sweet) brine (0.5 M NaCl) environment, under hydrodynamic conditions, at 80oC in a slightly acidic environment (pH 6.6). Potentiostatic current transients indicate positive effects of Cr/Mo micro-alloying on an individual as well as synergistic level of the alloyents. Increase in Cr/Mo content appears to reduce the overall current passing through corrosion scale and encourage faster crystallisation. SEM images suggest that Cr/Mo micro-alloying induced formation of thinner scale with better protectiveness. From the mechanistic perspective, we suggest that the addition of small amounts of Cr/Mo modulates the current due to dissolution of iron, as well as the current due to growth of a crystalline layer, by modifying the local environment at the steel surface. Modeling of the hypothesis is currently in progress.

By correlating in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements with electrochemical measurements using a rotating disc electrode, we demonstrate the critical dependence on the local supersaturation of the kinetics of formation of a protective crystalline scale on the surface of carbon steel during CO2 corrosion in brine at elevated temperature. We show that the total current is the sum of a current due to dissolution of iron and a current due to growth of a crystalline layer. We show that the dissolution current and the surface supersaturation are controlled by the thickness of an initially-formed amorphous layer. As in earlier work at room temperature, we infer that the amorphous layer dissolves as a carbonato-iron complex with surface concentration of the dissolving species determined by the electrode potential, and speculate on the importance of the chemistry of this dissolution reaction in determining the corrosion result. We construct a simple transport-reaction model, which shows that the supersaturation is determined by the precipitation rate constant of colloidal FeCO3 and by the product of the current for Fe dissolution and the diffusion boundary layer thickness. Using this model, we show crystal growth rate varying quadratically with supersaturation at pH 6.8 and linearly at pH 7.3. The effects of electrode potential, surface roughness, microstructure and flow are simply to change supersaturation by changing the current density per unit projected area flowing through the amorphous initially formed layer. Variation of brine concentration has no effect. We illustrate the sensitivity to solution flow of the crystallinity of the final scale. We show that siderite is the first crystalline product and that chukanovite follows, with a delay time that decreases with increasing pH. The ratio of chukanovite to siderite is low at sufficiently high pH and increases with decreasing pH, possibly through a maximum. From the results, we advance ideas concerning the importance of local microenvironments and local fluctuations in mass-transport rate. 2017 Elsevier Ltd Scopus

In this review, we discussed the current mechanistic understanding and effects of key parameters on corrosion of carbon and low alloy steel (CLAS) in CO2 environments. In particular, we emphasized on the current understanding related to the mechanism of early stage nucleation of siderite that has evolved from the outcomes of in-situ synchrotron-based X-ray studies under various modes. We also highlighted the effect of the most important environmental and metallurgical factors affecting the corrosion behavior of CLAS. Finally, we addressed the aspects of material chemistry and micro-alloying necessary for achieving the most effective and economic materials system for mitigating corrosion in CO2 environment. Scopus

The enhancement in electrical characteristics of the thin film transistors (TFTs) based on the mixed-stacked amorphous zinc tin oxide (a-ZTO) with an alternating precursor concentration is reported. The channel layers were deposited via sol-gel on oxidised p-Si. The source/drain ohmic contacts were prepared on the ZTO layer, constructing the bottom-gate TFTs. In this investigation, the TFTs with the following three channel layers were fabricated, and their characteristics were compared; (i) four layers produced from 0.05 M precursor solution, (ii) four layers produced from 0.2 M precursor solution, and (iii) four layers with alternating 0.05 and 0.2 M precursor solutions. It was found that the mobility (5.3 cm 2 /V s) of the TFT fabricated with the channel layers with alternating precursor concentration was higher than those with single concentration. Although the mechanism for this mobility enhancement is still being further analysed, it was conjectured that alternating precursor concentration might have reduced the trap density in the transistor channel and/or ZTO/SiO 2 interfaces.

Time-resolved photocurrent (TRPC) spectroscopy with a variable-wavelength sub-bandgap light excitation was used to study the dynamics of the decaying photocurrent generated in the heterostructures of the AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) layers. In AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, reliability of the device is degraded due to the prevalence of current collapse. It is recognized that electrically active deep level defects at the surface/interfaces and the bulk in the HEMTs layers can contribute to the unwanted current collapse effect. Therefore, it is of great importance to analyze the deep level defects if the reliability of the HEMTs device is to be improved. In this research, TRPC spectroscopy was used to elucidate the origin and nature of the deep level defects by analyzing the time evolution of the photocurrent decay excited at different wavelengths of light. The two devices that show similar characteristics for wavelength-dependency on photocurrent generation were chosen, and TRPC spectroscopy was conducted on these devices. Although the two samples show similar characteristics for the wavelength-dependency on photocurrent generation, they exhibited dissimilar time-dependent photocurrent decay dynamics. This implies that TRPC spectroscopy can be used to distinguish the traps which have different origins but have the same de-trapping energy. Scopus

Quantitative fractographic characteristics of 4340 steel is demonstrated for a grain size range of 10−100 µm and hardness range of 41–52 HRC. Double-notched tensile samples were electrochemically charged in-situ with hydrogen in 0.5 m H 2 SO 4 +5 mg/l As 2 O 3 solution for 0–40 min charging time. Hydrogen induced fracture initiations were analyzed by novel metallographic investigation of the “unbroken” notch while the overall fractographic behaviors were examined by the scanning electron microscopic imaging of the fracture surfaces of the actually broken notch. Effect of hydrogen was predominantly manifested as intergranular fracture for the harder samples and quasi-cleavage fracture for the softer counterparts. 10–40 µm samples showed the maximum intensity of the hydrogen induced fracture features (intergranular and/or quasi-cleavage) close to the notch which gradually reduced with increasing distance from the notch. The largest grained samples (100 µm) however showed brittle behavior even in absence of hydrogen with similar intensity of percent fracture features at all distance from the notch, while presence of hydrogen intensified the overall percent brittle fractures with their intensities being highest close to the notch. Finally, the brittle fracture characteristics of the hydrogen embrittled samples were shown to be distinguishably different from that of the liquid nitrogen treated samples of same grain sizes and hardnesses.

We investigate the effects of the presence of trace (100 vppm) H2S on the corrosion behaviour of plain carbon steel and its various micro-alloyed counterparts in a CO2 saturated (sweet) brine (0.5 M NaCl) environment, in a high flow regime (1000 RPM), at 80oC in a slightly acidic environment (pH 6.6). Potentiostatic current transients indicate that the presence of trace amount of trace H2S in a predominantly sweet regime, where the partial pressure ratio of CO2 and H2S (pCO2:pH2S) is ∼10000:1, shows a very different corrosion behaviour for both plain carbon steels and as well as micro-alloyed steels. In presence of trace H2S, current density starts dropping much earlier compared to H2S free standalone CO2 environment. Trace amount of H2S also induces faster passivation of the corrosion scale, especially for alloys with relatively high Mo (0.7 wt.%) and Ni (1.4 wt.%) content, suggesting that Mo and Ni have a strong effect in presence of trace H2S. On the basis of available literature, we speculate that the effects observed in presence of trace H2S is due to the formation of Mackinawite which forms on the steel surface immediately via solid state reaction and micro-alloying with some specific elements catalyzes the formation of mackinawite and/or assists formation of more stable sulfide phase(s), causing a faster current drop and passivation. Modeling of the hypothesis is currently in progress. Keywords: Micro-alloying, CO2 corrosion, Flow effect, RDE, Plain carbon steel, Cr-Mo-Ni steel. Figure: Potentiostatic current transient for various plain carbon and micro-alloyed steels. Condition - pH: 6.6, Temp: 80oC, Flow: 1000 RPM, @ anodic over potential: Open Circuit Potentials (OCP) +150 mV

Hydrogen peroxide vapor has been proposed as a sterilant/decontaminant for usage in buildings and transportation vehicles including emergency vehicles, buses, trains and aircraft. Although the efficacy of the process has been demonstrated, questions regarding the compatibility of vaporized hydrogen peroxide treatments with the many diverse materials of construction have been raised. This paper presents results on the embrittlement of high strength AISI 4340 steel as a result of condensation of the vapor during exposure to vaporized hydrogen peroxide. Notched four point bending samples of AISI 4340 steel were tested using the standard test methods of ASTM F519-06 to quantify susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement in this aggressive service environment. No embrittlement effects were observed for samples exposed to strictly vapor phase hydrogen peroxide for concentrations up to 1000 ppm H2O2 and exposure times of 4.8 h. Higher concentrations of 1300 and 1600 ppm H2O2 led to the condensation of the vapor throughout the process chamber and brittle fracture of samples. These results were confirmed by examination of the fracture surfaces of samples using scanning electron microscopy. Samples that were not considered embrittled possessed dimpled fracture surfaces consistent with ductile failure. Embrittled samples exhibited inter-granular fractures along prior austenitic grain boundaries near the root of the notch – a common characteristic of hydrogen embrittlement.

The dry erosion behavior of API-X120 pipeline steel was investigated, under the erosive interaction of aluminum oxide particulates, in a range of speed (43&ndash, 167 m&middot, s&minus, 1) and impact angle (30&deg, &ndash, 90&deg, ). Erosion behavior is characterized by surface profile measurement, weight loss measurement, and surface morphology analysis by SEM/EDX. Optical profilometry revealed that the eroded area increased with elevating speed of particles while the penetration depth increased with the increases in impact angle as well as particle speed. Percent weight loss and normalized erosion rate indicated that the lower impact angles and higher speeds led to higher materials loss and erosion. SEM analyses on various combinations of impact angles and particle speeds demonstrated the predominant erosion mechanism under those specific conditions, attributed to the intensity of the resolved components of the momentum vector horizontal or normal to the target metal surface under those conditions.

We report on the fabrication and electrical characterization of bottom gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on a sol-gel derived ZnO channel layer. The effect of annealing of ZnO active channel layers on the electrical characteristics of the ZnO TFTs was systematically investigated. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate that the crystal quality of the ZnO improves with increasing annealing temperature. Both the device turn-on voltage (Von) and threshold voltage (VT) shift to a positive voltage with increasing annealing temperature. As the annealing temperature is increased, both the subthreshold slope and the interfacial defect density (Dit) decrease. The field effect mobility (?FET) increases with annealing temperature, peaking at 800 �C and decreases upon further temperature increase. An improvement in transfer and output characteristics was observed with increasing annealing temperature. However, when the annealing temperature reaches 900 �C, the TFTs demonstrate a large degradation in both transfer and output characteristics, which is possibly produced by non-continuous coverage of the film. By using the temperature-dependent field effect measurements, the localized sub-gap density of states (DOSs) for ZnO TFTs with different annealing temperatures were determined. The DOSs for the subthreshold regime decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 600 �C to 800 �C and no substantial change was observed with further temperature increase to 900 �C. - 2017 Author(s). The project was funded by AU-IGP. Park would like to thank Walter Professorship for partial support of this project. Scopus

A response to the chemical or biological contamination of aircraft requires the use of a suitable decontaminant. Among possible chemical decontaminants, vapour phase hydrogen peroxide appears to be a likely candidate in terms of a combination of efficacy, low environmental impact and potential for materials compatibility. The present paper examines the effect of hydrogen peroxide, both in the vapour phase and as a liquid concentrate on two common structural materials used in aviation, namely 2024 and 7075 age hardenable aluminium alloys and on 304 austenitic stainless steel, the latter as employed in galley and lavatory surfaces. The present paper characterises both the effects of hydrogen peroxide on the microstructure of the materials and the impact that decontamination has on the tensile properties and corrosion resistance of these materials. Microstructural effects are both relatively small in magnitude and confined to a region immediately beside the exposed surface. No systematic effect is fo...

A significant amount of literature exists demonstrating the effect of CO2 on corrosion scale formation under non-flow conditions. However, literature available on the effects of flow on the nature and protectivity of corrosion scale has many contradictions. This work demonstrates the effects of flow on the nature of corrosion scale for five different oil-field grade steels of varying chemistry (in terms of micro-alloying) and microstructures (ferritic /pearlitic and martensitic), in a CO2 saturated (~1bar) brine (0.5 M NaCl) environment under three different pH (4.2, 6.3 and 6.8) conditions and different temperatures. Flow was introduced using a rotating disk electrode (RDE). The effect of flow was electrochemically characterized by chronoamperometry measurements at various temperatures and pH values. The morphology of the formed scale at the steel surface was analyzed by SEM. Similar to our previous findings, high pH (≥ 6.3) and high temperature (~80 oC) found to favor the formation of protective crystalline scale. Within the preferred conditions (higher pH and temp.) of protective scale formation, higher flow rates in general caused the formation of a protective scale to be sluggish. At lower pH and temperatures, the non-protective scale showed their degree of non-protectivity by allowing higher current density passing through them. Higher Cr content in the steels led to higher degree of protectivity presumably by inducing a higher degree of supersaturation in the local environment which facilitated the formation of a protective crystalline scale. Also, higher Mo content appeared to make the formation of protective crystalline scale relatively sluggish. Scopus

Despite the availability of the detailed knowledge about the chemical, electrochemical and transport processes associated with the formation of ferrous carbonate during CO2- corrosion of mild steel, information available about the mechanism of early nucleation stages of FeCO3 (siderite) film formation was only speculative. In depth knowledge related to the early stage nucleation of siderite scale and its subsequent development and gradual growth were revealed only recently by judicious exploration of in-situ synchrotron based experimentation. Moreover, application of in-situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction technique rendered ability to monitor the gradual real time growth of FeCO3 scale with the efficacy of simultaneous controllability of the corrosion conditions electrochemically. This work shades light on how in-situ synchrotron study revealed apparent mysteries related to formation & growth of siderite scale during CO2- corrosion of mild steel. Keywords: In-situ synchrotron, CO2-Corrosion of mild steel, Nucleation mechanism during CO2- corrosion.Figure 1 (a) and (b) illustrate the photograph and schematic of experimental set up for in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments using the powder diffraction Australian beam line.Figure 2 shows the anodic current as a function of time in a potentiostatic test in the NaCl solution at pH 6.3 (pCO2 = 1bar) and an applied potential of − 500 mV (vs SCE), together with the intensities of the Fe and FeCO3 signals from the in-situ synchrotron XRD [1]. There is a clear peak in the current transient, with the XRD results showing FeCO3 formation during the increasing portion of this transient and then a rapidly decreasing rate of FeCO3 formation as the anodic current decreases towards the end of the test, indicating the growth of a protective surface scale. In these studies, it is shown that siderite only forms once the critical super-saturation is exceeded within a defined boundary layer and that the steel microstructure has critical role in developing a surface texture within which the critical super-saturation could develop. This idea of siderite nucleation in solution with a critically saturated boundary layer close to the metal surface is unlike the heterogeneous nucleation and growth phenomenon which occurs directly on the surface via solid state formation [1]. Establishment of this ideology was able to resolve the apparent thermodynamic anomaly observed in practice.One of the apparent thermodynamic anomalies in CO2- H2S mixed system is couched on the fact that in spite of the higher (∼3 time) aqueous solubility of H2S compared to CO2 under similar temperature and pressure conditions, the formation of iron sulfide has been observed to be faster and predominant over iron carbonate under most parametric conditions even at a trace level of H2S concentration in CO2-H2S system. This fact indicates the formation of iron sulfide and iron carbonate films to be regulated by different mechanisms. In-situ synchrotron study revealed the early stage nucleation of iron carbonate (siderite) film and indicated that to be a gradual process giving rise to the formation of crystalline siderite phase only after the critical supersaturation stage is reached. Given that, there is significant time lag between the start of supersaturation and critical supersaturation limit, there is a possibility for iron sulfide formation during that time lag, as it forms by solid state formation mechanism which is a faster process. It is the in-situ synchrotron study which made it possible to illustrate the appreciable time lag between the start of supersaturation and critical supersaturation limit.Ingham et al. [2] used in-situ synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS) to demonstrate that the formation of crystalline siderite (FeCO3) during the corrosion of steel in CO2-saturated brine is actually preceded by the formation of a colloidal precipitate and an amorphous surface layer, both assumed to be amorphous ferrous carbonate. Grazing incidence SAXS showed that upon the application of an anodic potential, film forms instantaneously and then a separate population of particles develops in the later stage followed by the formation of the ultimate crystalline FeCO3, observed by WAXS. Ingham et al. [2] interpreted these observations in terms of crystal nucleation within the amorphous surface layer. This observation was speculated to bear a significant consequence on the morphology of the corrosion scale and hence its protectiveness. However, it would be important to understand the effects of local pH change as well as variation in temperature in this gradual formation and development of siderite scale and then to find out a quantitative correlation of this process with the mentioned parameters.The fact of stable, adherent and protective siderite film formation in presence of trace amount Cr3+ was known [3, 4]. However the associated mechanism was not clearly understood until in-situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction study revealed a clearer picture of the mechanistic aspect of the expedited siderite film formation in presence of traces of Cr3+[2, 5]. This recently done in-situ synchrotron study made it clear that traces of Cr3+ in the solution significantly expedites the precipitation rate of the colloidal precursor and thus accelerate the appearance of the crystalline scale through its catalyzing influence on the nucleation process by modulating the local pH level at the steel surface and thus reducing of the critical supersaturation for precipitation.Another interesting and critical factor in developing surface texture within which the critical supersaturation can be developed is steel microstructure. Consequently, steel microstructure must have intimate relationship with the corrosion process and morphology of the scale as microstructure can change the diffusion conditions at the steel surface affecting the local supersaturation of siderite. However, in-depth mechanistic information related microstructural effect on adherent and protective scale formation was hardly available in the literature. It is recommended to perform in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiment in order to make a detailed investigation of such a phenomena. Ko et al [6] recently conducted such a study in order to investigate the effect of microstructure and boundary layer conditions on CO2 corrosion of low alloy steels. This recent investigation clearly demonstrated that the nucleation of crystalline scales onto the surface of steels under CO2 corrosion at elevated temperature is critically dependent on the initial surface roughness, microstructure-related surface roughness developed during corrosion. This study also indicated the interdependence between microstructure and chromium-enhanced siderite nucleation. However, finding out the quantitative effects of surface roughness on the initial nucleation process (rate) of the scale as well as the stability of the scale would be a good addition to this study.References:[1] B. Ingham, M. Ko, G. Kear, P. Kappen, N. Laycock, J. A. Kimpton and D. E. Williams, “In-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of surface scale formation during CO2 corrosion of carbon steel at temperatures up to 90°C”, Corrosion Science, 52 (2010), 3052–3061.[2] Bridget Ingham, Monika Ko, Nick Laycock, Nigel M. Kirby, David E. Williams, “First stages of siderite crystallisation during CO2 corrosion of steel evaluated using in-situ synchrotron small- and wide- angle X-ray Scattering”, Faraday Discussion, 2015.[3] M B Kermani, J C Gonzales, G L Turconi, D Emonds, G. Dicken, L Scoppio, “Development of Superior Corrodion Resistance 3% Steels for Downhole Applications”, NACE Annual Conference & Exposition, paper 3116, 2003.[4] R M Garrels, C L Christ, “Solution, minerals, and equilibria”: San Francisco, California, Freeman, Cooper & Company, 1965, p 450.[5] M Ko, B Ingham, N Laycock, D E Williams, “In-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction study on the effect of chromium additions to the steel and solution on CO2 corrosion of pipeline steels”, Corrosion Science, Vol 80, 2014, pp 237–246.[6] M. Ko, B. Ingham, N. Laycock, D.E. Williams, “In situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of the effect of microstructure and boundary layer conditions on CO2 corrosion of pipeline steels”, Corrosion Science, Vol 90, 2015, pp 192–201.

In conclusion, we investigated the effects of gamma-ray irradiation and low temperature on the device performance of sol-gel derived ZnO thin-film transistors. In both cases, the degradation of the device performance was observed. In the case of radiation study, further investigation is needed to identify which part of the device is damaged upon gamma-ray irradiation. Further details and results from additional experiments will be presented.

In combating CO2 corrosion, literature suggests specific micro-alloying (< 2 wt. %) of plain carbon steel to be the best choice in consideration of durability to cost ratio. In order to achieve optimized steel chemistry, the effects of number of alloying elements on the corrosion behaviour and protectiveness of the corrosion scale have been studied over the years. Amongst the various alloying elements, Cr has been found to be most effective. However, to date, no convincing mechanistic interpretation for the protective effect of Cr of the corrosion scale has been developed. A further question is whether a combination of alloying elements can yield superior behaviour, and if so what are the mechanistic determinants of behaviour. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the micro-alloying of plain carbon steel with Cr and Mo on the corrosion behaviour and scale formation and protective nature in a CO2 saturated (sweet) brine (0.5 M NaCl) environment, under controlled hydrodynamic conditions (0-1000 RPM), at 80oC in a slightly acidic environment (pH 6.6). Materials were low alloy steels fabricated by incorporating small amounts of Cr (~ 1 wt. %) and/or Mo (~ 0.7 wt. %) in base plain carbon steel. Corrosion behaviour was investigated by chronoamperometric type current-transient characteristics, as well as by initial current measurement at various flow conditions under different anodic over-potentials with respect to the open circuit potential (Eoc + 20 to + 70 mV) and initial current measurement at various anodic over-potentials under low (100 RPM) and high (1000 RPM) flow conditions. Potentiostatic current transients indicated that the presence of Cr induced an obvious decrease in the overall current flux throughout transient whilst the presence of Mo appeared to induce faster crystallization. Qualitative observation of the scale morphology using SEM indicated that the corrosion scales formed on Cr/Mo micro-alloyed steels are comparatively thinner and yet they render better protectivity and lead to faster passivation, especially under higher flow conditions (e.g. 1000 RPM). Although, in general the higher flow rates caused higher current-flux passing through the scales at the beginning of the transient, the final stage of the current transients for Cr/Mo micro-alloyed steels indicated quicker passivation at high flow rate (1000 RPM) compared to low flow rate (100 RPM). From the mechanistic perspective, we suggest that the addition of small amounts of Cr/Mo modulates the current due to dissolution of iron, as well as the current due to growth of a crystalline layer, by modifying the local environment at the steel surface, in terms of pH and degree of supersaturation. Modeling of this hypothesis is currently in progress. Figure 1

In this paper, the authors report the device instability of solution based ZnO thin film transistors by studying the time-evolution of electrical characteristics during electrical stressing and subsequent relaxation. A systematic comparison between ambient and vacuum conditions was carried out to investigate the effect of adsorption of oxygen and water molecules, which leads to the creation of defects in the channel layer. The observed subthreshold swing and change in field effect mobility under gate bias stressing have supported the fact that oxygen and moisture directly affect the threshold voltage shift. The authors have presented the comprehensive analysis of device relaxation under both ambient and vacuum conditions to further confirm the defect creation and charge trapping/detrapping process since it has not been reported before. It was hypothesized that chemisorbed molecules form acceptorlike traps and can diffuse into the ZnO thin film through the void on the grain boundary, being relocated even near the semiconductor/dielectric interface. The stretched exponential and power law model fitting reinforce the conclusion of defect creation by oxygen and moisture adsorption on the active layer Scopus

The effect of strain rate on hydrogen embrittlement of low alloy 4340 steel was studied using double-notched tensile samples electrochemically charged in-situ with hydrogen in 1N H2SO4 + 5 mg/l As2O3 solution. The mechanical response of samples with prior austenitic grain sizes of 10 and 40 μm and martensitic hardness of 43-52 HRC were examined after hydrogen charging times of 0-20 min. Increasing the strain rate for hydrogen charged samples resulted in decreased failure strains and increased evidence of brittle fracture. Brittle fracture surfaces for the harder samples showed primarily intergranular fracture while softer samples exhibited predominantly quasi-cleavage.

A significant amount of literature exists demonstrating the effect of CO2 on corrosion scale formation under non-flow conditions and its pH and temperature dependent protectivity. However, little information is available on the effects of flow on the nature and protectivity of corrosion scale. This work demonstrates the effects of flow on 4 different oil-field grade steels of varying chemistry (in terms of micro-alloying) and microstructures (ferritic /pearlitic and martensitic), in a CO2 saturated (1bar) brine (0.5 M NaCl) environment under conditions (pH = 6.3 and temperature = 80 oC) which generate a significantly compact and protective scale under non-flow conditions. Flow was introduced in the range of 0 - 3000 RPM via a rotating disk electrode (RDE) type arrangement which has been customized to comply with the needs of the experiment. The effect of flow was electrochemically characterized by potentiostatic current density (id ) vs time (t) measurement where Pt and Ag/AgCl were used as counter electrode and reference electrode respectively. Higher RPM (≥1000) indicated distinct characteristics compared to the lower RPMs (≤100) with a transition of i vs. t behavior observed around 500 RPM. Higher RPMs seemed to modulate the mechanism of the nucleation stage of scale formation and induce a relatively sluggish formation of protective scale by delaying the crystal growth process. Two plain carbon steels, J55 (ferritic /pearlitic) and L80 (Martensitic), did not show any qualitative difference in their i vs. t characteristics as function of flow. However, L80 steel required a longer time for crystal growth and achieving a similar degree of protection through scale formation compared to J55. 1 wt.% Cr micro-alloyed steels showed a lower current density compared to the plain carbon steels at the very early stage of scale formation; however the eventual protectivity of the scales formed on the plain carbon steels appeared to be much better on the basis of i vs t characteristics. Further characterizations of the scales in terms of phase identification, morphology and thickness by XRD, SEM and profilometry are in progress. Figure 1

Fractographic behaviors of electrochemically hydrogenated low alloy 4340 steel samples were compared with low temperature (liquid N2) treated samples of same grain sizes and hardnesses. 4340 samples of grain size range of 10-100 μm and hardness range of 41-52 HRC were electrochemically charged with hydrogen in 0.5 M H2SO4 + 5 mg/l As2O3 solution over 0-40 min charging time. Liquid N2 treatment of the samples of same microstructural range was conducted by encapsulating the sample inside an insulating container (thermos) while the temperature (-136oC) of the sample was tracked in-situ during the tensile test. Fracture surfaces of liquid N2 treated samples showed exactly same fractographic characteristics (quasi cleavage) irrespective of the grain sizes and hardnesses while electrochemically hydrogenated samples showed range of fractographic features depending on the grain sizes and hardnesses.

We have demonstrated that the depth-dependent defect distribution of the deep level traps in the AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) epi-structures can be analyzed by using the depth-resolved ultra-violet (UV) spectroscopic photo current-voltage (IV) (DR-UV-SPIV). It is of great importance to analyze deep level defects in the AlGaN/GaN HEMT structure, since it is recognized that deep level defects are the main source for causing current collapse phenomena leading to reduced device reliability. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT epi-layers were grown on a 6 in. Si wafer by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The DR-UV-SPIV measurement was performed using a monochromatized UV light illumination from a Xe lamp. The key strength of the DR-UV-SPIV is its ability to provide information on the depth-dependent electrically active defect distribution along the epi-layer growth direction. The DR-UV-SPIV data showed variations in the depth-dependent defect distribution across the wafer. As a result, rapid feedback on the depth-dependent electrical homogeneity of the electrically active defect distribution in the AlGaN/GaN HEMT epi-structure grown on a Si wafer with minimal sample preparation can be elucidated from the DR-UV-SPIV in combination with our previously demonstrated spectroscopic photo-IV measurement with the sub-bandgap excitation.

The effect of hydrogen on the fracture characteristics of low alloy 4340 steel was studied using double-notched tensile samples electrochemically charged in situ with hydrogen in 1 N H2SO4 + 5 mg/l As2O3 solution. Fracture behaviors of samples with prior austenitic grain sizes of 10 and 40 μm and martensitic hardness of 43–52 HRC (Rockwell hardness, C scale) were examined after hydrogen charging times of 0–40 min. As expected, increases in hydrogen charging time and hardness resulted in decreased failure strains and decreased evidence of ductile fracture. Harder samples showed predominant intergranular fracture close to the notch and a combination of ductile and flat surfaces away from the notch. Softer samples showed mixed mode intergranular and quasi-cleavage fracture close to the notch and predominant ductile fracture as distance from the notch increased.