This article deals with the age-old problem of the literary canon, from a perspective that tries to supersede the still dominating questions of nation building or mainstream versus minorities culture. Taking stock from the observation that recent debates have moved the question to the field of the creative industries as well as that of cultural policy, it asks instead questions on the actual use and use-value of the canon, which is here reframed from the point of view of both writers and policy makers.

A recurrent problem in the synthesis of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is contamination with oxygen and carbon, leading to possible detrimental effects on optical and electronic properties. Here it is shown that the addition of H2 to the N2/Ar mixture used during the deposition process, clearly suppresses the incorporation of these elements, reducing their combined level below 5 %. The surface morphology, assessed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealed the presence of h-BN nanowalls, i.e. vertically positioned 2D structures consisting out of several h-BN sheets. While Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed the sp2 nature of the bonds, confirming the hexagonal nature of the nanowalls, the quasi-perfect stoichiometry of the material was evidenced by combining energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The dimensions and density of these walls are clearly film thickness dependent and cross-sectional TEM images confirmed the increasing level of porosity with film thickness. A dense layer of material is present at the substrate-film interface, which gradually evolves into the 2D nanowall structures.

Nanocrystalline diamond films have generated much interested due to their diamond-like properties and low surface roughness. Several techniques have been used to obtain a high re-nucleation rate, such as hydrogen poor or high methane concentration plasmas. In this work, the properties of nano-diamond films grown on silicon substrates using a continuous DC bias voltage during the complete duration of growth are studied. Subsequently, the layers were characterised by several morphological, structural and optical techniques. Besides a thorough investigation of the surface structure, using SEM and AFM, special attention was paid to the bulk structure of the films. The application of FTIR, XRD, multi wavelength Raman spectroscopy, TEM and EELS yielded a detailed insight in important properties such as the amount of crystallinity, the hydrogen content and grain size. Although these films are smooth, they are under a considerable compressive stress. FTIR spectroscopy points to a high hydrogen content in the films, while Raman and EELS indicate a high concentration of sp2 carbon. TEM and EELS show that these films consist of diamond nano-grains mixed with an amorphous sp2 bonded carbon, these results are consistent with the XRD and UV Raman spectroscopy data.

Important material properties of dielectric oxide films fabricated by aqueous chemical solution deposition, such as crystallization, topography, contamination and interfacial layer were evaluated and related to the films' dielectric properties.

Functional ultrathin films (<20 nm thickness) of zirconia, barium zirconate and strontium niobate were deposited. The films were all subjected to the same thermal treatment, based on the high similarity of their precursors' thermal decomposition behavior. The evolution of the films' chemical purity as a function of temperature and the effect of annealing on the interfacial SiO2 layer was studied by grazing angle ATR-FTIR. The films' crystallization behavior was dependent on film thickness and composition as shown by high temperature XRD. C-V characterization of the films demonstrated a k-value in the same order of magnitude as for the ZrO2 reference material. This is lower than the bulk material's value, thus leaving room for further optimization of the current materials or alternatively selection of other material compositions.

Ultrathin lanthanide (Nd, Pr, Eu, Sm) oxide films with functional dielectric properties down to 3.3 nm thickness were deposited by aqueous chemical solution deposition (CSD) onto hydrophilic SiO2/Si substrates. Precursor solutions were prepared from the oxides via an intermediate, solid Ln(III)citrate. A film heat treatment scheme was derived from thermogravimetric analysis of the precursor gels, showing complete decomposition by 600 °C. Crystalline phase formation in the films depended on the lanthanide, annealing temperature, and citric acid content in the precursor. Through variation of the precursor concentration and number of deposited layers, thickness series of uniform films were obtained down to ∼3 nm. The film uniformity was demonstrated both by atomic force microscopy and cross-section transmission electron microscopy. The lanthanide oxide films possessed good dielectric properties. It was concluded that aqueous CSD allows deposition of uniform ultrathin films and may be useful for the evaluation of new high-k candidate materials.

The performance of organic solar cells based on the blend of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) is strongly influenced by the morphology of the active layer on the nanoscale level. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) measurements show that ordering of P3HT plays a key role in optimizing the photovoltaic performance. It is demonstrated that the natural tendency of regioregular P3HT to crystallize is disturbed by the addition of PCBM. The crystallinity of the photo-active blend is typically restored by an annealing procedure resulting in improved device performance, characterized by a spectral broadening of the optical absorption.

The morphological changes upon annealing of the P3HT:PCBM blends are accompanied by electrical changes as shown in charge carrier mobility measurements. Space-charge limited current measurements have been performed in hole-only devices with various P3HT:PCBM blend ratios. The mobility before and after annealing is compared and from temperature dependent measurements the width of the density of states distribution (DOS) is determined. The hole mobility in pristine P3HT remains practically unaffected by the annealing treatment. The as-produced P3HT:PCBM blends on the other hand, with a more disordered P3HT phase, have a much lower hole mobility. Annealing is capable of increasing the P3HT ordering with as a result an orders of magnitude larger hole mobility, approaching the value found in pristine P3HT. The DOS bandwidths are affected similarly. In the as-produced blend films a value of 100 meV is found, larger than in the annealed films, there reaching a value around 70 meV similar as in pristine P3HT. Variation of the processing solvent demonstrated however that an optimized morphology and charge transport situation can also be obtained without an additional annealing step. It is shown that in that case the as-produced active layer has already a favorable crystalline morphology. We argue that the high boiling point of the solvent plays an important role in this by influencing the evaporation speed during deposition of the photo-active blend. Further proof is delivered that indeed slowing down the evaporation speed can beneficially influence the solar cell performance. Power conversion efficiency over 4% has been achieved in this way.

The use of Au nanoparticles as catalysts for growth of Si nanowires poses fundamental reliability concerns for applications in Si semiconductor technology. In this work we show that the choice of catalysts can be broadened when the need for catalytic precursor dissociation is eliminated. However, the requirements for selective deposition in a gas phase transport -limited regime become stringent. When competing deposition of amorphous Si can bury the particles faster than the incubation time for VLS growth, no nanowire growth will be initiated. We show that the use of a catalyst such as In, already in a liquid form at the growth temperature, is effective. Therefore, the choice of VLS catalysts among the low melting point metals from the III, IV and V groups is suggested.

Phosphorous-doping of predominantly (110) oriented polycrystalline CVD diamond films is presented. Incorporation of phosphorous into the diamond grains was accomplished by using novel microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MW PE CVD) growth conditions. The substitutional nature of the phosphorous atom was confirmed by applying the quasi-steady-state photocurrent technique (PC) and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements at low temperature. Topographical information and the relation between substrate and P-doped film grain orientation was obtained with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). The optimized growth parameters for P-doped layers on (110) oriented polycrystalline diamond differ substantially from the standard conditions reported in literature for P-doping of single crystalline (111) and (100) oriented diamond surfaces.

Efficient thin-film polycrystalline-silicon (pc-Si) solar cells on foreign substrates could lower the price of photovoltaic electricity. Aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of amorphous silicon followed by epitaxial thickening at high temperatures seems a good way to obtain efficient pc-Si solar cells. Due to its transparency and low cost, glass is well suited as substrate for pc-Si cells. However, most glass substrates do not withstand temperatures around 1000°C that are needed for high-temperature epitaxial growth. In this paper we investigate the use of experimental transparent glass-ceramics with high strain-point temperatures as substrates for pc-Si solar cells. AIC seed layers made on these substrates showed in-plane grain sizes up to 16 μm. Columnar growth was observed on these seed layers during high-temperature epitaxy. First pc-Si solar cells made on glass-ceramic substrates in substrate configuration showed efficiencies up to 4.5%, fill factors up to 75% and open-circuit voltage (Voc) values up to 536 mV. This is the highest Voc reported for pc-Si solar cells on glass and the best cell efficiency reported for cells made by AIC on glass.

This paper describes the influence of microstructure, or more specifically grain orientation and grain size, on the in-line monitoring of copper interconnect properties during (self)-anneal using surface acoustic wave spectroscopy (SAWS). In electroplated Cu after (self)-anneal the SAWS frequency is lower for samples annealed at higher temperature because of the lower porosity induced elasticity. In sputtered Cu, the SAWS frequency shows a clear correlation with grain size, which is induced by a strong re-orientation of the copper film from the as-deposited (111) texture (E=190 GPa) to a strongly (100) textured super grain structure (E=78GPa).

This paper reports on a novel low temperature sputter deposition of AlN on an Al substrate, yielding films with stresses and crystalline orientation comparable to those of films deposited on Pt. The study focuses on the importance of the initial film growth step on both the stress and crystalline orientation of the film. The AlN layer is deposited using Pulsed DC (250 kHz, 90% duty cycle) magnetron reactive sputtering (93% N2, 7% Ar) using an Al target. The substrates are 150mm Si wafers with an aluminum seed layer (100 nm). The thickness of the AlN films is ≈2.5μm with uniformity across the wafer of 0.4%. The films were deposited in 4 passes of 0.625μm each to avoid overheating of the substrate. The influence of the substrate bias (0 V, 80 V and 120V) and argon pre-sputtering of the aluminum substrate been investigated. The film stress, and to a smaller extent the crystalline orientation, were mainly driven by the properties of the film deposited during the first pass. The bias is useful at the beginning of the film growth for stress control. This study suggests that it is beneficial not to use bias during the entire film deposition. With this approach, it was possible to deposit c-axis oriented AlN layers on Al with a FWHM of the rocking curve of 1.63° and low stress (<300MPa).

In order to tailor the synthesis of new robust organic materials for electronic applications and to guarantee the required life time for the emerging commercial plastic electronic applications it is of key importance to understand the underlying degradation mechanisms. Since plastic electronics is a rather young technology introducing new material systems, its reliability is characterized by new failure and degradation mechanisms, a relatively high amount of early failures and multi-modal failure distributions. To understand the mechanism responsible for a given failure or degradation mode, it is essential to study it separately, through appropriate test structures and test techniques. Powerful techniques for this purpose are a.o. analytical techniques (SEM, TEM, SPM,..), in-situ electrical measurement techniques and spectroscopical techniques (in-situ FTIR, in-situ UV-Vis, PDS). The benefits of these in-situ techniques in the reliability study of organic based electronics will be illustrated in this contribution.

In order to tailor the synthesis of new robust organic materials for electronic applications and to guarantee the required life time for the emerging commercial plastic electronic applications it is of key importance to understand the underlying degradation mechanisms. Since plastic electronics is a rather young technology introducing new material systems, its reliability is characterized by new failure and degradation mechanisms, a relatively high amount of early failures and multi-modal failure distributions. To understand the mechanism responsible for a given failure or degradation mode, it is essential to study it separately, through appropriate test structures and test techniques. Powerful techniques for this purpose are a.o. analytical techniques (SEM, TEM, SPM,…), in-situ electrical measurement techniques and spectroscopical techniques (in-situ FTIR, in-situ UV-Vis, PDS). The benefits of these in-situ techniques in the reliability study of organic based electronics will be illustrated in this contribution.