title: Hard X-rays for processing hybrid organic-inorganic thick films.
abstract: Hard X-rays, deriving from a synchrotron light source, have been used as an effective tool for processing hybrid organic-inorganic films and thick coatings up to several micrometres. These coatings could be directly modified, in terms of composition and properties, by controlled exposure to X-rays. The physico-chemical properties of the coatings, such as hardness, refractive index and fluorescence, can be properly tuned using the interaction of hard X-rays with the sol-gel hybrid films. The changes in the microstructure have been correlated especially with the modification of the optical and the mechanical properties. A relationship between the degradation rate of the organic groups and the rise of fluorescence from the hybrid material has been observed; nanoindentation analysis of the coatings as a function of the X-ray doses has shown a not linear dependence between thickness and film hardness.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Scienza dei Materiali e Nanotecnologie, DADU, Università di Sassari, CR-INSTM, Palazzo Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero (Sassari), Italy.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Scienza dei Materiali e Nanotecnologie, DADU, Università di Sassari, CR-INSTM, Palazzo Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero (Sassari), Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carboni
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Scienza dei Materiali e Nanotecnologie, DADU, Università di Sassari, CR-INSTM, Palazzo Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero (Sassari), Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pinna
authors.affiliation: Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Graz University of Technology, Stremayrgasse 9/IV, 8010 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Benedetta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marmiroli
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Scienza dei Materiali e Nanotecnologie, DADU, Università di Sassari, CR-INSTM, Palazzo Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero (Sassari), Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Malfatti
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Scienza dei Materiali e Nanotecnologie, DADU, Università di Sassari, CR-INSTM, Palazzo Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero (Sassari), Italy.
authors.forename: Plinio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Innocenzi
keywords: hard X-rays; hybrid organic–inorganic films; mechanical properties; nanoindentation