The use of water-soluble sacrificial layer Sr$_3$Al$_2$O$_6$ has tremendously boosted the research on freestanding functional oxide thin films, especially thanks to its ultimate capability produce high-quality epitaxial perovskite films. However, costly single-crystalline substrates, e.g. SrTiO$_3$, were generally discarded after obtaining Here, we demonstrate that SrTiO$_3$ substrates can be r...

We report on a combined far- and near-field study of surface plasmon polaritons freestanding perforated gold films. The samples are fabricated by focused ion beam milling {a periodic hole array into} carbon membrane followed thermal evaporation plasma ashing the film. Optical transmission spectra show series characteristic features, which can be attributed to excitation modes via nanohole array...

We propose and demonstrate the fabrication of flexible, freestanding films of InP/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) using fatty acid ligands across very large areas (greater than 50 cm × 50 cm), which have been developed for remote phosphor applications in solid-state lighting. Embedded in a poly(methyl methacrylate) matrix, although the formation of stand−alone films using other QDs commonly capped with ...

In the companion paper to this we presented a quantitative theory for the suppression of the glass transition in a thin polymer film. Our Delayed Glassification (DG) model follows a proposal by de Gennes that free volume can be transmitted from surface to film interior via kinks transported along molecular strands or loops. In this paper we use the DG model to predict the effects of molecular w...

Although current collectors take up more weight than active materials in most lithium ion battery cells, so far research has been focused mainly on improving gravimetric capacities of active materials. To address this issue of improving gravimetric capacities based on overall cell components, we develop freestanding nanocomposites made of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and silicon nanowires (SiNWs) a...

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Maria Berdova Name of the doctoral dissertation Micromechanical characterization of ALD thin films Publisher School of Chemical Technology Unit Materials Science and Engineering Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 119/2015 Field of research Microelectromechanical systems Manuscript submitted 31 Au...

In a recent article [J. Rajagopalan, J.H. Han, M.T.A. Saif, Science 315 (2007) 1831–1834], we have reported substantial (50–100%) plastic strain recovery in freestanding nanocrystalline metal films (grain size 50–65 nm) after unloading. The strain recovery was time dependent and thermally activated. Here we model the time evolution of this strain recovery in terms of a thermally activated dislo...

The use of magnetocaloric material in microelectromechanical energy conversion devices requires freestanding films with smooth surfaces to allow fast and efficient heat transfer. We present discuss a mechanical method produce thick Gadolinium showing excellent magnetic properties, high-quality on both sides. Polycrystalline Gd have been prepared by sputtering silicon substrate thermally oxidize...