We studied the effects of added metallic elements in Ag-alloy layers of indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/Ag-alloy/ITO transparent conductive multilayer system on the durability against heat. When Ag film was heat treated, agglomeration occurred due to the surface diffusion of the Ag atoms. This caused an increase in the sheet resistance and a decrease in the transmittance. Added metallic elements such as Au, Pd, and Cu in Ag-alloy layers increased the onset temperature and activation energy for agglomeration. These added metallic elements also decreased the surface energy of the Ag film. The durability against heat was improved by adding metallic elements to the Ag film of the ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer system. Cu atoms, especially, diffused out to the surface of the Ag film hindered the surface diffusion of the Ag atoms, resulting the improvement of thermal stability of the Ag film. The figure of merit (FOM, T 10 /R & ) of ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer decreased to 1/15 of its initial value after heat treatment at 450 8C for 6 h, whereas it decreased to 1/3 of its initial value when Pd and Cu were added to Ag film.

In this study, molecular configurations of three different stereoregular poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) (isotactic, atactic, and syndiotactic PMMA) monolayers, which were transferred onto graphite substrates by the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique, were investigated using scanning tunneling microscope (STM). STM images of monolayer films taken in air in the constant height mode showed various types of film structures. First, polymer films in their different forms always showed long-range ordered chain structures. Second, these polymer chains were generally observed to arrange themselves in parallel chains with no backbone crossovers. However, the packing density of polymer chains on the surface varied with change of scanning area presumably due to the nonuniformity of the LB film and the effect of thermal fluctuation of polymer chains on the film. Third, a monolayer film of isotactic PMMA film showed the coexistence of helical and linear chains in most of the film areas suggesting that the structural transition from the linear chains to 51 single stranded helices occurs at the surface pressure of 8 mN/m.

Results on the optical characterisation of copper deep acceptors throughout the alloy composition range (0 < x < 1) of GaAs, -,P, are reported. A comparison of the hole photoionisation spectra for different compositions, measured by the transient photocapacitance technique. reveals a broadening effect near the threshold which is interpreted in terms of random alloy effects on the deep level. An approximately linear variation of the hole photoionisation threshold with composition is found.t O n sabbatical leave from and permanent address: