Browsing by Author "Halindintwali, S."
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Deposition and structural properties of silicon carbide thin films for solar cell applications.(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Khoele, Joshua Relebogile; Halindintwali, S.; Julies, B.The growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) thin films deposited by Hot- Wire Chemical Vapour Deposition (HWCVD) for solar cell applications has been studied. The films were characterized for structural properties using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy FTIR, Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Raman Spectroscopy (RS). A low temperature of the substrate heater maintained at 280 °C was used in this thesis due to the demand of low-cost solar cells based on cheap substrate that require deposition at such low temperatures. In this thesis, we showed that the structural properties of a-SiC:H films are dependent on the filament temperature and also on the CH4 gas flow rate. It was shown that in non-stoichiometric a-SiC:H, hydrogen content throughout the deposited films varies with depth. An attempt is done in this study to determine, for the first time the absorption strength of the C-Hn bonds in the 950 -1050 cm-1 band of the FTIR spectrum. Real-time ERDA was used to determine the hydrogen kinetics parameters in a single temperature ramp; a model based on the solution of the diffusion equation is used for this effect.Item Laser drilling of metals and glass using zero-order bessel beams(University of the Western Cape, 2013) Ratsibi, Humbelani Edzani; Halindintwali, S.; Burger, H. P.; Forbes, A.This dissertation consists of two main sections. The first section focuses on generating zero order Bessel beams using axicons. An axicon with an opening angle y = 5⁰ was illuminated with a Gaussian beam of width ω₀ = 1.67 mm from a cw fiber laser with central wavelength λ = 1064 nm to generate zero order Bessel beams with a central spot radius r₀ = 8.3 ± 0.3 μm and propagation distance ½zmax = 20.1 ± 0.5 mm. The central spot size of a Bessel beam changes slightly along the propagation distance. The central spot radius r₀ can be varied by changing the opening angle of the axicon, y, and the wavelength of the beam. The second section focuses on applications of the generated Bessel beams in laser microdrilling. A Ti:Sapphire pulsed femtosecond laser (λ = 775 nm, ω₀ = 2.5 mm, repetition rate kHz, pulse energy mJ, and pulse duration fs) was used to generate the Bessel beams for drilling stainless steel thin sheets of thickness 50 μm and 100 μm and microscopic glass slides 1 mm thick. The central spot radius was r₀ = 15.9 ± 0.3 μm and ½zmax = 65.0 ± 0.5 mm. The effect of the Bessel beam shape on the quality of the holes was analysed and the results were discussed. It was observed that Bessel beams drill holes of better quality on transparent microscopic glass slides than on stainless steel sheet. The holes drilled on stainless steel sheets deviated from being circular on both the top and bottom surface for both thicknesses. However the holes maintained the same shape on both sides of each sample, indicating that the walls are close to being parallel. The holes drilled on the glass slides were circular and their diameters could be measured. The measured diameter (15.4±0.3 μm) of the hole is smaller than the diameter of the central spot (28.2 ± 0.1 μm) of the Bessel beam. Increasing the pulse energy increased the diameter of the drilled hole to a value close to the measured diameter of the central spot.Item Low temperature growth of Amorphous Silicon thin film(University of the Western Cape, 2007) Malape, Maibi Aaron; Knoesen, D.; Halindintwali, S.; Dept. of Physics; Faculty of ScienceThe growth of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) thin films deposided by hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) has been studied. The films have been characterised for optical and structural properties by means of UV/VIS,FITR,ERDA, XRD.XTEM and Raman spectroscopy. Low subtrate heater temperatures in the range form 130 to 200 degrees celcius were used in this thesis because it is believed to allow for the deposition of device quality a-Si:H which can be used for electronic photovoltaic devices. Furthermore, low temperatures allows the deposition of a-Si:H on any subtrate and thus offers the possibility of making large area devices on flexible organic substances. We showed that the optical and structural properties of grown a-Si:H films depended critically upon whether the films were produced with silane gas or silane diluted with hydrogen gas. We also showed that it is possible to to deposit crystalline materials at low temperature under high hydrogen dilution ratio of silane gas.Item Nonlinear optical properties of natural dyes based on optical resonance(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Zongo, Sidiki; Maaza, Malik; Halindintwali, S.; Kotsedi, L.Recent research shows that the study of optical properties of organic material natural dyes has gained much consideration. The specific functional groups in several natural dyes remain essential for the large nonlinear absorption expressed in terms of nonlinear optical susceptibilities or other mechanism of absorption such as two photon absorption (TPA), reverse saturable absorption (RSA) or intensitydependent refractive index characteristic. In this thesis we highlight the optical limiting responses of selected natural dyes as nonlinear response in the femtosecond regime. This technique refers to the decrease of the transmittance of the material with the increased incident light intensity.Three dyes derived from beetroot, flame flower and mimosa flower dyes were investigated. The results showed a limiting behaviour around 795 mW for the beetroot and the flame dye while there is total transmission in the flame dye sample. The performance of the nonlinearity i.e. the optical limiting is related to the existence of alternating single and double bonds (i.e. C-C and C=C bonds) in the molecules that provides the material with the electron delocalization, but also it is related to the light intensity.Beside nonlinearity study, crystallographic investigation was carried out for more possible applicability of the selected dyes and this concerned only the mimosa and flame flower dye thin film samples since the beetroot thin film was very sensitive to strong irradiation (i.e. immediately destroyed when exposed to light with high intensity). For more stability,dye solutions were encapsulated in gels for further measurements.Item Selection and optimization of the seeding procedure prior to the synthesis of Pd-based membranes(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Mc Donald, Earl; Halindintwali, S.; Bladergroen, B.J.; Julies, B.Pd based membranes are known for their incredible selectivity towards H2. In order for Pd membranes to display high H2 selectivity, a defect free layer of Pd needs to be deposited onto a support. Although various fabrication techniques do exist, many researchers have attempted to produce defect free Pd-based films, using electroless plating. The first step in the preparation technique involves “seeding” of the support structure. Even though these seeds, if well distributed and anchored to the support, are crucial in order to obtain the defect free Pd layer, they hardly ever received attention from the science community. This thesis reports findings on various seeding methods as well as the resulting microstructures of the Pd films formed as a result of the type of seeding method employed. Finally the quality of the membranes using the most promising seeding technique was determined by subjecting the membranes to permeance tests with N2 at both high and low temperatures as well as with H2 at high temperatures.Item Selection and optimization of the seeding procedure prior to the synthesis of Pd-based membranes(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Mc Donald, Earl; Halindintwali, S.; Bladergroen, B.J.; Julies, B.Pd based membranes are known for their incredible selectivity towards H2. In order for Pd membranes to display high H2 selectivity, a defect free layer of Pd needs to be deposited onto a support. Although various fabrication techniques do exist, many researchers have attempted to produce defect free Pd-based films, using electroless plating. The first step in the preparation technique involves “seeding” of the support structure. Even though these seeds, if well distributed and anchored to the support, are crucial in order to obtain the defect free Pd layer, they hardly ever received attention from the science community. This thesis reports findings on various seeding methods as well as the resulting microstructures of the Pd films formed as a result of the type of seeding method employed. Finally the quality of the membranes using the most promising seeding technique was determined by subjecting the membranes to permeance tests with N2 at both high and low temperatures as well as with H2 at high temperatures.