Using a Dielectric Capacitance Cell to Determine the Dielectric Properties of Pure Sand Artificially Contaminated with Pb, Cd, Fe, and Zn

This paper presents a new method of dielectric capacitance cell as a proposed device for measuring the impedance of pure sand artificially contaminated with four heavy metals. Dielectric constant and loss factor of clean and contaminated sand at various levels were calculated from the measured sand impedances. The advantages and benefits of using the proposed dielectric capacitance cell were its low cost, simple calculation, calibration procedures, portable and lightweight, and easy to modify the electrodes to suit testing in the field. Pure sand was saturated with water artificially polluted in the lab with Pb, Cd, Fe, and Zn at heavy metal contents 0, 7.5, 15, 22.5, and 30 mg/kg of sand. The dielectric properties of polluted sand were evaluated at a frequency range from 100 kHz to 1000 kHz. The polluted sand exhibit different dielectric constants and loss factors from the unpolluted sand. The results also indicate that the dielectric constant decreases with increasing pollution level for all heavy metals. This may attribute to the polarization mechanism change with existing heavy metal. The loss factor of sand increases with the increasing pollution level. This may be explained by the increase of ionic conductivity of pore water with heavy metal in the sand. Sand polluted with heavy metal with higher resistivity and density possess a higher dielectric constant and lower loss factor than other polluted metals. Evaluation of the dielectric characteristics of polluted sand could have the potential to monitor heavy metal pollution. Even with promising results obtained with the proposed dielectric device, it is necessary to explore several other factors affecting the measurements such as sand water content, soil texture, and type of soil. Also, testing polluted soil near industrial pollution is needed.

Hydrogen Permeation and Its Impacts on the Electrical Performance of Stacked ZrO2/Al2O3/ZrO2 Films

In this study, the effects of hydrogenation on the dielectric capacitance and leakage current of ZrO2/Al2O3/ZrO2 (ZAZ) films for dynamic-random-access memory (DRAM) capacitors were examined. Hydrogen permeation into ZAZ films reduced the dielectric capacitance and increased the leakage current with continued exposure to hydrogen during the forming gas annealing process. More specifically, the hydrogen ions distributed in the grain boundaries and at the Z/A interfaces appeared to disrupt the dipole motion and diminish the dielectric constant of the film, resulting in a decreased dielectric capacitance. Furthermore, the reaction of hydrogen atoms with the pre-existing oxygen of the ZrO2 films resulted in an oxygen vacancy with two captured electrons. Conduction electrons freed via ionization of the oxygen vacancy increased the conductivity of the ZAZ films, thereby increasing the leakage current throughout the ZAZ films.

Влияние слабого сцепления на магнитный переход Фредерикса в ферронематическом жидком кристалле

The magnetic Freedericksz transition in a ferronematic representing a diluted suspension of magnetic nanoparticles in an N-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline (MBBA) nematic liquid crystal was experimentally studied. The transition point was determined by means of dielectric capacitance measurements in cells of different thickness for samples with various volume fractions of ferroparticles. The effect of weak coupling between the magnetic and liquid-crystal subsystems was studied. Low concentrations of quasispherical magnetic particles were shown to decrease the magnetic Freedericksz transition threshold in comparison with a pure liquid crystal. The obtained results were theoretically substantiated. The phase diagram of the suspension was plotted, and the method of estimating the energy of coupling between magnetic particles and a liquid-crystal matrix was proposed.