Combining Atomic Layer Deposition with Surface Organometallic Chemistry to Enhance Atomic-Scale Interactions and Improve the Activity and Selectivity of Cu-Zn/SiO₂ Catalysts for the Hydrogenation of CO₂ to Methanol

The direct synthesis of methanol via the hydrogenation of CO₂, if performed efficiently and selectively, is potentially a powerful technology for CO₂ mitigation. Here, we develop an active and selective Cu-Zn/SiO₂ catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO₂ by introducing copper and zinc onto...

Novel approaches to produce radionuclides using hot atom chemistry principles

Radionuclides are often used in the field of nuclear medicine. For some deceases the use of radionuclides is the best possible care, or even the only means of diagnosis or treatment. For these medical applications high specific activity (high activity per unit of mass) is required. Commonly, medical radionuclides are man-made. They can either be...

Long-term encapsulation of platinum metallization using a HfO2 ALD - PDMS bilayer for non-hermetic active implants

In this work, we investigate the insulating performance of an atomic layer deposited (ALD) HfO2 - polymer bilayer for platinum (Pt) metallization. As test vehicles, Pt interdigitated comb structures (IDC) were designed and fabricated on SiO2/Si substrates. The IDCs were first coated with a 100 nm thin HfO2 ALD layer. A group of samples was...

Single Photon Counting UV Solar-Blind Detectors Using Silicon and III-Nitride Materials

Ultraviolet (UV) studies in astronomy, cosmology, planetary studies, biological and medical applications often require precision detection of faint objects and in many cases require photon-counting detection. We present an overview of two approaches for achieving photon counting in the UV. The first approach involves UV enhancement of photon...

Electrodynamics of strongly disordered superconductors

Thin films of superconducting materials with a high resistance in the normal state, such as TiN, NbTiN, NbN and InO, are intensively studied from both an application and a fundamental point of view. A spatially inhomogeneous superconducting state can arise in these materials as a result of the strong disorder. This Thesis provides an...

A comparison between PECVD and ALD for the fabrication of slot waveguide based sensors

We fabricated horizontal slot waveguides using two low temperature deposition techniques ensuring the full compatibility of the processes with CMOS technology. Slots width as thin as 45 nm with smooth slot surfaces can easily be fabricated with simple photolithographic steps. Fundamental TM-like slot mode in which the E-field is greatly enhanced...