Constant Annealing Temperature Research Articles

Strategic Optimization of Annealing Parameters for Efficient and Low Hysteresis Triple Cation Perovskite Solar Cell

AbstractThe highly efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are often developed with a hybrid metal halide perovskite material as the absorber layer. Particularly, cesium (Cs) containing triple cation perovskites (CsFAMA) have emerged as prospective absorber materials owing to their high reproducibility and superior reliability. Mostly, the perovskite thin films preparation involves thermal annealing as a post‐treatment technique strongly dependent on the perovskite materials. By optimizing the parameters for thermal annealing temperature and annealing time, the fabrication of economical perovskite devices is achievable. Herein, we strategically investigated the influence of annealing time by keeping a constant annealing temperature on the growth of triple‐cation perovskite thin films and solar cells. We observed the formation of highly crystallized perovskite thin films with efficient photovoltaic performance for the heating time of just 10 min at 120 °C. Further, the perovskite devices with optimized annealing temperature and time exhibited low hysteresis index might be attributed to reduced trap states owing to improved grain size and crystallinity of CsFAMA thin films. Reduced heating time is desirable and beneficial in the industrial fabrication of photovoltaic devices.

Optimal Mixture of Materials and Condition in Producing Flat Glasses for Automobile Windscreens in Nigeria

The selection of materials is an essential element for engineering designers. This study investigated the optimal mixture of materials and condition in producing flat glasses for automobile windscreens in Nigeria. To achieve this, 10 pairs of compositions of material mixtures and cullet (broken glasses) were used. The standard material mixture (80/20 wt. % of material mix/cullet) from the local industry was modified to have batches of up to 60/40 wt. % material mix/cullet. These material mixtures were used to produce flat glasses by adopting procedures of industrial float glass process of Pilkington Brothers in variable conditions of annealing temperature and time. The average density of each pair of flat glass was measured using water displacement method, and each pair was later laminated to produce a total of 10 automobile windscreens. The windscreens were subjected to 2.25kg drop ball impact test from a height of 4m at 900. The study revealed that the density of the flat glass produced was significantly (p< 0.01) related to squared composition (wt. %) of cullet (R2=97.65%). The highest and lowest densities of 2.23g/cm3 and 1.95g/cm3 were obtained at cullet inclusions of 40 wt. % and 20 wt. % respectively at constant annealing temperature (5500C) and time (60 min). The optimal batch obtained composed of 40 wt. % cullet inclusion, annealed at 5000C for 50 minutes. Increased cullet composition was found to reduce the melting temperature of the batch mixture and fractured characteristics of the windscreens produced. Employing this design in the windscreens manufacturing industry saves production cost, facilitates a competitive market, enhance the quality of windscreens, reduce emissions and curb environmental degradation.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Medium-Carbon Si-Rich Steel Processed by Austempering after Intercritical Annealing

In the present paper, the medium-C Si-rich steel with a quenched martensite microstructure was heated to intercritical annealing temperatures at 750 °C, 760 °C and 770 °C after warm rolling deformation to obtain ferrite with varying volume fractions. Subsequently, bainite/ferrite multiphase microstructures were attained via austempering near Ms temperature. The microstructures of the test steel after different heat treatments were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, and corresponding tensile and impact properties were tested. The results showed that, with the increase of intercritical annealing temperature, the austenite content increased, which limited the growth of ferrite grains, and the grain size decreased from ~1.6 μm to ~1.4 μm. In addition, the degree of ferrite recrystallization was almost complete. At the same intercritical annealing temperature, compared with austempering above Ms, prior athermal martensite (PAM) was obtained after austempering below Ms, which effectively refined the size of bainite ferrite lath. Moreover, with the increase of intercritical annealing temperature, the bainite content of the test steel increased after austempering, resulting in the increase of yield strength, tensile strength and impact energy. In contrast, while the decrease in ferrite content led to a significant decrease in uniform elongation. At constant intercritical annealing temperature, the tensile strength decreased slightly, and the impact property improved after austempering above Ms.

Effect of Heating Rate on the Photocatalytic Activity of Ag–TiO2 Nanocomposites by One-Step Process via Aerosol Routes

Ag–TiO2 nanocomposite films, based of Ag and TiO2 nanoparticles, were fabricated in a one-step aerosol route employing the simultaneous plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition systems. The as-fabricated films were subjected to different heating rates (3 to 60 °C/min) with a constant annealing temperature of 600 °C to observe the significant changes in the properties (e.g., nanoparticle size, crystalline size, crystallite phase, surface area) toward the photocatalytic performance. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the measurement of the degradation of a methylene blue aqueous solution under UV light irradiation, and the results revealed that it gradually increased with the increase in the heating rate, caused by the increased Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area and total pore volume.

Effect of RF sputter power on deposition of CZTX (X[dbnd]S, Se) active layer without selenization/sulfurization, for solar cell applications

Copper Zinc Tin Selenide Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) and Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were deposited from a multicomponent single target with different RF sputter powers and a constant annealing temperature of 450°C. One step deposition with in-situ annealing was performed in order to avoid the individual metal losses during the process. Effects of various deposition parameters were investigated to finely control the elemental ratio of the quaternary target which in-turn helps to obtain the desired stoichiometry suitable for solar absorber materials as confirmed from EDS analysis. The phase purity of thin films was investigated and confirmed using XRD and Raman spectroscopy. A thin film solar cell device with n-CdS, ZnO, ZnO:Al layers and Al grids over the prepared kesterite CZTX (X = S, Se) films were deposited on Mo coated soda lime glass using complete vacuum deposition technique. Even though the optical, electrical and structural results are promising, the conversion efficiency for these single step processed CZTSe and CZTS solar cell devices were limited to 3.72% and 2.6% due to possible interface effect and smaller grain size of the deposited films. Considering the industrial fabrication of kesterite thin film solar cells, this processes assures an environmental friendly approach with inherent purity leading to one-step reduction in the mass production process.

Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles by Hydrothermal Methods and Spectroscopic Investigation of Ultraviolet Radiation Protective Properties

Ultraviolet radiation causes damages to the human body, such as skin ageing, skin cancer, and allergies throughout the world. Applying zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in sunscreen products (like cloths or textiles) to protect human skin by absorbing the ultraviolet radiations that emerged from the sun. The main aim of this study is to investigate both absorbance and transmittance characteristics of the untreated and treated cotton textiles. For ZnO NPs using hydrothermal methods, they were made from Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and NaOH at a constant annealing temperature of 300°C. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to analyze the produced ZnO NPs. From the FT-IR result, ZnO NPs were observed in the region of 400-600 cm-1. Wurtzite hexagonal structure of ZnO NPs with the average crystal size 32 ± 49 nm was observed from XRD results. Flowers in the shape of synthesized ZnO NPs were observed from SEM images. The UV-vis penetration peaks were identified at 264 nm and 376 nm, with energy band gaps of 4.68 and 3.536 eV, respectively. When compared to bulk ZnO, the energy band gap of ZnO NPs was blue-shifted due to the impact of quantum confinement. The peaks in UV-vis absorption were caused by an electronic transition from the valiancy to the conduction bands. The high energy band shows high absorbance of the synthesis sample in the case of 264 nm. The ZnO NPs were manufactured and applied to 100% of raw cotton to impart sunscreen action to both untreated and treated cotton fabrics. The performance of treatment has been evaluated utilizing UV-vis spectroscopy through quantifying ultraviolet protective factors (UPF) and percentage of transmitted (%T) radiations. The treated cotton textiles have 61.50% UPF while 2.65% ultraviolet radiations were transmitted. In other words, untreated cotton textiles have 1.63% UPF while 74.56% ultraviolet radiation was transmitted. Therefore, the treated cotton textiles have excellent protection categories when compared to untreated cotton textiles.

Synthesis and characterization of aluminium oxide nanoparticles from waste aluminium foil and potential application in aluminium-ion cell

Abstract Aluminium waste accumulated in landfills is a solid waste in abundance. Various methods have been employed to alleviate the waste only to yield secondary pollution effects. This study seeks to provide an alternative greener recycling procedure that is beneficial to society in terms of health and economics through energy storage materials. The study aimed to synthesize and characterize aluminium oxide nanoparticles from waste aluminium foil and its potential applications in fabricating aluminium-ion cell, FAIC. 1 Aluminium oxide nanoparticles were obtained by co-precipitation of waste aluminium foils at constant annealing room temperature followed by mechanical milling to nanoparticulate range. The particles were then characterized for particle size and phases (X-ray diffraction), functional groups and optical activity (infra-red and ultra-violet-visible spectroscopy respectively). Cell assembling of FAIC was done using a graphite anode while the cathode had a standard and the synthesized aluminium oxide nanoparticles. Sulfuric acid and magnesium sulfate electrolytes were used with two binders; polyacrylate and silicone adhesives. The average synthesis yield was 40.64 ± 19.69%. Most of the particles had a α-Al2O3 and γ-Al2O3 phase with an average size of 63.763 nm and 66.5144 nm for the two polymorphs respectively. There were several OH-groups coupled to Al–O bonds. The optimal absorption peak was λmax = 237 nm corresponding to a band gap of 5.25eV. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited great electrochemical potential, nearing the standard one in most of the parameters. The FAIC potential, current, power densities and polarization curves from sulfuric acid electrolyte and polyacrylate binder were significantly higher to those of magnesium sulfate and silicone binder (P > 0.05).

Thermal annealing on the soft magnetism, microwave properties, and magnetostriction in Co-Fe-C alloy films

Recently, Co-Fe-C alloy films have attracted much attention because of their excellent comprehensive magnetic properties such as better saturated magnetostriction constant (λs), magnetic softness, ferromagnetic resonance linewidth, and in-plane Gilbert damping, compared to the well-known Co-Fe-B alloy films. It is always acknowledged that thermal annealing can largely improve the properties of alloy films but no systematic study has been published on the Co-Fe-C alloy films so far. Moreover, it is reported that the Co-Fe-C alloy films with medium carbon doping possess high thermal stability, but there still be lack of mechanism explanation. Here, we report on the structure evolution, compositional uniformity, soft magnetism, microwave properties, and magnetostriction constant versus thermal annealing temperature (Tan) in the Co-Fe-C alloy films with three typical carbon contents. It can be concluded that thermal annealing will increase the grain sizes and drive the carbon elements moving towards the interface. The low and medium doping films maintain the crystallization and coexistence phase during thermal annealing respectively, which is different from the phase transition happening in the high doping films. The macroscopic magnetic anisotropy Mr/Ms, intrinsic magnetic anisotropy Ku, inhomogeneous line width broadening at 0 Hz ΔH0, and λs are all related to the strain releasing and assembling during thermal annealing. It indicates that the high thermal stability of the medium doping Co-Fe-C alloy films originate from the stable structure phase and elements distribution during thermal annealing. This work is helpful for fundamental understanding the impact of thermal annealing on the magnetic properties of amorphous and nanocrystalline alloy film, and it will guide the annealing technical development on the magnetic devices’ fabrication and capsulation.

Time and Temperature Dependence of Copper Protrusion in Metallized Through-Glass Vias (TGVs) Fabricated in Fused Silica Substrate

In this work the influence of annealing dwell time and temperature, as well as post-annealing thermal processing treatment on copper (Cu) protrusion in Cu through-glass vias (TGVs) were studied. The Cu TGVs were made in Corning HPFS Fused Silica substrate, with a diameter and depth of 50 μm and 300 μm, respectively. For a constant annealing temperature of 400 °C, the results show a dependence of Cu protrusion with annealing dwell time, which saturates at about 240 min. Additional post-annealing thermal processing treatment, done at 400 °C (60 min dwell time) revealed that when an annealing dwell time ≥ 120 min is used no difference in the amount of Cu protrusion was found between the annealing step and the post-annealing thermal processing step. This indicates that downstream Cu protrusion can be eliminated when an annealing dwell time ≥ 120 min is used. On the other hand, from the temperature - dependent study of the annealing treatment, it was found that downstream Cu protrusion occurrence can be eliminated by performing annealing treatment at 450 °C (60 min dwell time), followed by post-annealing thermal processing treatment of 400 °C (60 min dwell time). Therefore, downstream Cu protrusion from a thermal processing treatment of 400 °C with 60 min dwell time can be eliminated either by using a longer annealing dwell time (120 min) at 400 °C or by increasing the annealing temperature to 450 °C, with a shorter dwell time of 60 min.

3× 10<sup>18</sup> - 1 × 10<sup>19 </sup>cm <sup>-3</sup> Al<sup>+</sup> Ion Implanted 4H-SiC: Annealing Time Effect

This work takes into account low Al implanted concentrations of 3 x 1018 cm-3 and 1 x 1019 cm-3 to compare the results of 1600°C and 1950°C post-implantation annealing treatments, done with two different annealing times per given implanted Al concentration and post implantation annealing temperature. Current-voltage and Hall effect measurements were performed to have the drift hole density and the drift hole mobility curves in the temperature range 100 - 650 K. The fitting of these curves in the frame of a carrier transport into the extended states of the valence band were performed to estimate the Al acceptor density, the donor compensator density, and the Al acceptor ionization energy. Peculiar feature of hole density and hole mobility curves is a contemporaneous increase of both carrier density and mobility values with increasing annealing time, which is congruent with the output parameters of the fitting procedure. The latter shows an almost stable Al electrical activation and a decrease of compensation with increasing annealing time for constant annealing temperature and given implanted Al concentration.

Effect of annealing method and applied stress on aging behavior of copper-aluminum bimetals

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aging method and the presence or absence of external stress on the aging behavior of Cu/Al diffusion couples. For this purpose, three processes including constant temperature furnace annealing (CTFA), constant temperature electrical annealing (CTEA) and variable temperature electrical annealing (VTEA) were performed as aging cycles.The samples were subjected to tensile stresses of 0, 65, 325 and 650 kPa during aging. After the aging, the microstructure of the samples interfaces was examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy. After identifying the intermetallic phases, the thickness of individual phases and the total thickness of the interfacial intermetallics were measured.The results showed that after 250 h of aging without applying external stress, the thickness of the intermetallic phases for VTEA samples was about 3–4 times the thickness of the layers formed in the CTFA samples and about 2 times the thickness of the intermetallic layers in CTEA samples. The results also showed that if external tensile stresses were applied during the aging besides the use of a constant electric current, the increase in the thickness of the intermetallic phases would be much more significant. Applying the stress increases the thickness of the intermetallic layers as well as their numbers.The results of this study show that the investigation of the aging behavior of bimetals and diffusion couples used in the electrical, electronics or other industries that their aging occurs due to the flow of electric current by conventional methods does not have the desired accuracy. Therefore, a fundamental review of these methods, which are established and utilized by most researchers and scientific institutions based on the assumption of constant temperature of the components during the aging, is proposed.

Tailoring the thermoelectric properties of sol-gel grown CZTS/ITO thin films by controlling the secondary phases

In this work, we have demonstrated the effect of secondary phases on the thermoelectric properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films (TF). The samples were grown on ITO substrate by chemical solution method and sulfurized in tube furnace having constant annealing temperature (500 °C) for different time duration (20, 40, 60 and 80 min). The temperature dependent (25–100 °C) thermoelectric properties (Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and power factor) were measured using Seebeck effect and Hall effect. It was found that the value of Seebeck coefficient was increased from 70 to 753 μV/°C as the sulpurization time decreased from 80 to 20 min. The enhancement in Seebeck coefficient with decreasing sulpurized time duration is related with emergence of secondary phases which cause the filtering of slow carriers at the interface of secondary phases. The presence of secondary phases in the grown samples was confirmed by various characterization techniques. Raman spectroscopy data suggested CZTS/ITO sample sulpurized for 80 min has less secondary phase but as the sulpurized time duration decreased to 20 min, secondary phases such as Cu2S, SnS, SnS2 and ZnS were emerged and enhanced the thermoelectric properties. The XRD measurements were also verified that CZTS/ITO sample sulpurized for 20 min has poor crystal quality as compared to other samples due to the presence of secondary phases. SEM and UV/Visible spectroscopy measurements were also performed to support our argument.

Effect of Heating and Cooling Rates in Annealing for Preparation of L10-FePt Nanoparticles on Si Substrate

In order to obtain highly ordered L10-FePt nanoparticles for hard disk drive applications, the L10-phase transformation of chemically synthesized FePt nanoparticles deposited on a naturally oxidized Si substrate was investigated using rapid thermal annealing. The heating and cooling rates during annealing were changed logarithmically with a constant annealing temperature (800°C) and holding time (10 min). Almost completely ordered L10-FePt nanoparticles were confirmed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements, irrespective of the heating and cooling rates, and the amount of the silicide changed in response to both. Nearly pure L10-FePt was obtained when rapid heating (more than 780 K/min) and rapid cooling (more than 290 K/min) were applied. L10-FePt degraded into Fe3Si and PtSi when the cooling rate was lower than 7.8 K/min. Rapid heating as well as rapid cooling of FePt nanoparticles can provide a facile route for the high-throughput production of L10-FePt-based high-density magnetic recording media.

The Effect of Annealing Time on TiO<sub>2</sub>–Based Dye Sensitized Solar Cell: Natural Pigment

In this analytical approach we fabricate and characterized a Titanium Dioxide Dye sensitized solar cell using Doctor-Blade Technique. The samples were given annealing treatment at various time of 20, 30 and 40 minutes respectivelyat constant annealing temperature of 450oC. The device under test (DUT) were tested using a Kiethley 2400, source meter under A.M 1.5 (1000W/m2) illumination from a Newport class A solar simulator.The results shows that at the miscellaneous annealing time, the open circuit voltagesVoc= 0.28V, 0.30V and 0.29V, the short circuit current density Jsc=95.5µAcm-2 , 104.1µAcm-2and 105µAcm-2, the fill factor FF= 0.411, 0.448 and 0.525 and the energy conversion efficiency, η = 0.011, 0.014 and 0.016 respectively.With best results of open circuit voltage Voc=0.30, short circuit current density Jsc= 105mAcm-2, fill factor FF= 0.525 and energy conversion efficiency η= 0.016 was achieved.It was observed that the power density, Fill Factor and efficiency increases with increasewith increase in annealing time.

Effects of recrystallization annealing on mechanical properties of cold-rolled PdNi5 wires

The aim of this investigation was to determine the influence of the recrystallization temperature and recrystallization time on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the PdNi5 alloy subjected to cold deformation in the process of rolling at a constant deformation degree. The samples of PdNi5 alloy were recrystallization annealed within the temperature range of 200-1000ºC and annealing time range of 20-45 min after cold rolling with deformation degree of 97%. The tensile test was carried out using universal material testing machine. The hardness was also measured on the combined device for measuring Vickers and Brinell hardness. Metallographic observations were performed on an optical microscope. The analysis of the results of investigations regarding the microstructural changes and corresponding mechanical properties of cold-rolled PdNi5 strips shows that annealing temperature of 500ºC was sufficient to activate the energy for various recrystallization processes causing a change in the mechanical properties of cold-rolled PdNi5 strips. The annealing time, at constant annealing temperature, almost did not affect a recrystallization temperature and the mechanical properties of the cold-rolled PdNi5 strips.

Thickness and oxygen partial pressure dependence on optical band gap of indium oxide by reactive evaporation method

Indium oxide film is deposited by reactive evaporation of indium in the presence of oxygen gas onto an unheated glass substrate. It was found that thickness of the film and partial oxygen pressure during the deposition affects the optical properties of the indium oxide thin film. We studied the optical band gap for different thickness and partial pressure keeping a constant annealing temperature. It was found that the band gap varies from 3.5 to 3.8eV, as thickness of the film increased. The band gap energy had also shows the similar trend and it was also studied as a function of annealing temperature. A systematic investigation of the optical band gap as a function of thickness and oxygen partial pressure at different annealing temperature was carried out.

Role of annealing duration on the microstructure and electrochemical performance of β-V2O5 thin films

Vanadium pentoxide thin films have been prepared by sol–gel spin coating method. The eight-layered films coated on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate and glass substrate were subjected to different durations of annealing under a constant annealing temperature of 300 °C from 30 to 120 min. The X-ray diffraction spectrum reveals crystallinity along (2 0 0) direction. The SEM images of these films show the variation in the surface morphology with increase in annealing duration. The supercapacitor behaviour has been studied using cyclic voltammetry technique and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The film annealed for 60 min exhibits a maximum specific capacitance of 346 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/s with a charge transfer resistance of 172 Ω.

Beginning point of metal to insulator transition for Bi-2223 superconducting matrix doped with Eu nanoparticles

Abstract This comprehensive study examines the change of the microstructural, electrical and superconducting properties of the Eu doped Bi1.8Pb0.4EuxSr2Ca2.2Cu3.0Oy ceramic cuprates (with x ⩽ 0.7) produced by the conventional solid state reaction method at the constant annealing temperature of 840 °C for 24 h with the aid of the standard characterization measurements such as bulk density, dc resistivity (ρ-T), transport critical current density (Jc), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron dispersive X-ray (EDX) examinations. For the full characterization of the pure and Eu doped Bi-2223 samples, the degree of granularity (from the bulk density and porosity measurements); the room temperature resistivity, onset–offset critical transition temperature, variation of transition temperature, hole carrier concentration, spin-gap opening temperature and thermodynamic fluctuations (from the dc resistivity experiments); the texturing, crystal structure, crystallite size, phase purity and cell parameters (from the XRD investigations); the variation of the flux pinning centers and the boundary weak-links between the superconducting grains (from the critical current density values); the crystallinity, specimen surface morphology, grain connectivity between the superconducting grains and grain size distribution (from the SEM examinations), the elemental compositions and distributions (from EDX measurements) of the samples are determined and discussed clearly. The results obtained confirm that all the properties degrade with the enhancement of the Eu concentration in the Bi-2223 superconducting matrix up to x = 0.5 beyond which they are destroyed surprisingly due to not only the distortion between the Bi-2223 slabs but also the increase in the porosities and grain boundary weak-links. For example; the onset (offset) critical temperature decreases from 117.6 K (109.9 K) to 68.1 K (14.8 K) with the impurity content. The critical temperatures ( T c onset and T c offset ) are not measurable for the sample doped with the Eu content level of x = 0.7 as a consequence of the metal to insulator transition (MIT). On the other hand, the critical current density (Jct) is measured in the range from 3201 A/cm2 (for the pure sample) to 29 A/cm2 (for the sample doped with x = 0.5). For the sample doped with x = 0.7, each value is not measurable due to the nonsuperconducting behavior. Besides, the SEM pictures display that the surface morphology and grain connectivity degrade considerably with the Eu concentration. Moreover, the XRD measurements show that the Eu inclusions enter into the crystal structure by reducing the formation velocity of the Bi-2223 phase. Similar to the XRD evidences, the EDX measurement results demonstrate that all the elements used in the samples successfully introduce into the Bi-2223 structure, and the observed peaks of Ca, Cu and especially Pb reduce gradually with the Eu individuals in the Bi-2223 matrix, meaning that the Eu nanoparticles may substitute for the elements given above. This is enough to explain why the superconducting properties retrograde rapidly with the Eu impurities.

Resistance and Threshold Switching Voltage Drift Behavior in Phase-Change Memory and Their Temperature Dependence at Microsecond Time Scales Studied Using a Micro-Thermal Stage

We study the drift behavior of RESET resistance RRESET and threshold switching voltage Vth in phase-change memory (PCM) and their temperature dependence. To extend the temperature-dependent measurement to microsecond time scales, we integrate an innovative micro-thermal stage (MTS) on the PCM cell. The MTS changes the temperature of the programmed region of the PCM cell within a few microseconds by placing the Pt heater in close proximity of the programmed region. First, we experimentally verify the existing phenomenological RRESET and Vth drift model for constant annealing temperature at various temperatures between 25°C and 185°C down to 100 μs and show that the measured temperature dependence of the drift coefficient agrees well with what is expected from the existing drift models. Based on the existing drift model for a constant annealing temperature, we derive the analytical expression for the RRESET drift for time-varying annealing temperature and experimentally verify the analytical expression. The derived analytical expression is important to understand the impact of thermal disturbance on PCM reliability such as variations in RRESET and Vth.

Investigation of dual phase transformation of commercial low alloy steels: Effect of holding time at low inter-critical annealing temperatures

Dual phase steels are a class of steels characterized by a microstructure consisting of a soft ferrite matrix with hard martensite islands at the grain boundaries. The temperature in the dual phase (α + γ) region and the holding time are two important parameters in the intercritically annealing process. In this study, different grades of commercial low alloy steels have been heat treated to a constant annealing temperature by changing the holding time. It is observed that the effect of holding time is dependent on the steel composition. In this context, a microstructural examination has been carried out using optical, scanning electron microscope and electron probe micro-analysis and hardness values have been determined.