Deposition processes are disclosed herein for depositing thin films comprising a dielectric transition metal compound phase and a conductive or semiconducting transition metal compound phase on a substrate in a reaction space. Deposition processes can include a plurality of super-cycles. Each super-cycle may include a dielectric transition metal compound sub-cycle and a reducing sub-cycle. The dielectric transition metal compound sub-cycle may include contacting the substrate with a dielectric transition metal compound. The reducing sub-cycle may include alternately and sequentially contacting the substrate with a reducing agent and a nitrogen reactant. The thin film may comprise a dielectric transition metal compound phase embedded in a conductive or semiconducting transition metal compound phase.

A coating for a bipolar plate of a fuel cell or an electrolyzer contains a homogeneous or heterogeneous solid metal solution. The coating contains at least 15% Iridium and up to 84% Ruthenium with a total combined concentration of Iridium and Ruthenium of at least 99% (atomic). The coating also contains at least one of Nitrogen, Carbon, and Flourine. The coating may contain traces of Oxygen or Hydrogen. The coating may be used as part of a layer system that includes one or more undercoat layers and the coating as a covering layer.

The present invention provides a colored radiative cooler based on a Tamm structure, including a substrate on which metal film and dielectric layers A to G are sequentially provided from bottom to top, where the Tamm structure is formed from the metal film and the dielectric layers A to D; a distributed Bragg reflector is formed from the dielectric layers A to D; and a selective emitter is formed from the dielectric layers E to G. Compared to the conventional radiative cooler, the colored radiative cooler not only has better cooling performance, but it has a wide applications in many aspects such as aesthetics and decoration.

A method for direct growth of a patterned transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer, the method including the steps of providing a substrate covered by a mask, the mask having a pattern defined by one or more shaped voids; thermally depositing a salt on the substrate through the one or more shaped voids such that a deposited salt is provided on the substrate in the pattern of the mask; and thermally co-depositing a transition metal oxide and a chalcogen onto the deposited salt to form the patterned transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer having the pattern of the mask. Also provided is a patterned transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer prepared according to the method.

An optical device includes, in sequence, a surface formed of a metal oxide, a samarium oxide-containing layer in contact with the surface formed of a metal oxide, and a magnesium fluoride-containing layer in contact with the samarium oxide-containing layer so as to suppress optical absorption resulting from high-rate sputter deposition of a magnesium fluoride-containing layer on a surface formed of a metal oxide.

A method for solvent-free perovskite deposition. The method comprises loading a lead target and one or more samples adhered to a substrate holder into a deposition chamber, pumping down to a high vacuum pressure, and backfilling the deposition chamber with the vapor of a salt precursor to form a perovskite material.

Vapor phase transport systems and methods of depositing perovskite films are described. In an embodiment, a deposition method includes feeding a perovskite solution or constituent powder to a vaporizer, followed by vaporization and depositing the constituent vapor as a perovskite film. In an embodiment, a deposition system and method includes vaporizing different perovskite precursors in different vaporization zones at different temperatures, followed by mixing the vaporized precursors to form a constituent vapor, and depositing the constituent vapor as a perovskite film.

A method of forming a Pb-free perovskite film is provided, the method based on vacuum evaporation and comprising: first depositing a first material comprising Sn halide on a substrate to form a first layer; second depositing a second material comprising organic halide to form a second layer on the first layer to obtain a sequentially-deposited two-layer film on the substrate; and annealing the sequentially-deposited two-layer film on the substrate. During the annealing, the first and second materials inter-diffuse and react to form the Pb-free perovskite film. The second layer is formed to cover the first layer so as to prevent the first layer from air exposure. The solar cell device including the Pb-free perovskite film formed by using the present method exhibits good stability.

Provided herein are methods of forming a coating film that include providing a coating source including an orthorhombic vernier phase rare-earth element oxyfluoride and a part in a vacuum chamber, and performing a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process to form the coating film the part, wherein the coating film includes the orthorhombic vernier phase rare-earth element oxyfluoride. Apparatus including parts having coating films comprising an orthorhombic vernier phase rare-earth element oxyfluoride are also provided.

The present invention relates a coating powder comprising a rare earth oxyfluoride (Ln-OF) and having: an average particle size (D.sub.50) of 0.1 to 10 m, a pore volume of pores having a diameter of 10 m or smaller of 0.1 to 0.5 cm.sup.3/g as measured by mercury intrusion porosimetry, and a ratio of the maximum peak intensity (S0) assigned to a rare earth oxide (Ln.sub.xO.sub.y) in the 2 angle range of from 20 to 40 to the maximum peak intensity (S1) assigned to the rare earth oxyfluoride (Ln-OF) in the same range, S0/S1, of 1.0 or smaller in powder X-ray diffractometry using Cu-K rays or Cu-K.sub.1 rays.