Optical properties of evaporated poly-Si thin-films on glass

The optical properties of boron- and phosphorus-doped polycrystalline silicon films with light (~ 1 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³), moderate (~ 5 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³) and heavy doping (~ 1 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³) were investigated in this work. The films were prepared by solid-phase crystallization of evaporated amorphous silicon films on borosilicate glass. Tauc-Lorentz models with one or two oscillators were used to model both reflection and transmission data collected by a spectrophotometer over the wavelength range of 400 nm-2000 nm. The results indicate that the crystal quality of the films is improved by phosphorus doping, while boron has a negligible impact on the crystal quality. The poly-Si films exhibit greater absorption than c-Si for visible wavelengths. This enhanced absorption is believed to be associated with defected a-Si material at the grain boundaries and intra-grain defects.     

Sputtering of ZnO:Al films from dual tube targets with tilted magnetrons

Aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films were deposited by mid-frequency sputtering rotating tube targets at high discharge powers in a double cathode system. The magnetrons located inside the tube targets were tilted by ± 30°, leading to different racetrack orientations. Deposition rate and electrical properties of statically deposited films were investigated. Different properties of ZnO:Al films show lateral variations corresponding to the racetrack positions, which shift according to the tilt angles of double magnetrons. The highest average static deposition rate and the corresponding dynamic value were up to 360 nm/min and 111 nm m/min, respectively, for magnetrons tilted towards the center of the cathodes. The material properties of the ZnO:Al film prepared in dynamic mode were found to behave like the superpositions of properties of static films at different positions. Upon wet chemical etching in diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl), the surfaces of sputtered ZnO:Al films became rough, and three typical surface structures were observed and identified on statically deposited ZnO:Al films. The related plasma physics, growth and chemical etching mechanisms were discussed.     

Surface modification by laser etching using a surface-adsorbed layer

The high-precision, low-damage patterning by laser-induced back side etching techniques is still of interest, particularly for ultra-precision engineering, although the mechanism is not yet clear. The drastically altered optical properties of fused silica etched with LESAL (laser etching at a surface-absorbed layer) give evidence for the etching mechanism. Depth-resolved UV/Vis spectroscopic measurements show that the modified layer is limited to a depth of ~ 60 nm. This is correlated with a very high calculated absorption coefficient of ~ 4 × 10⁷ m^− 1 of the modified surface layer. With Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) measurements on LESAL-modified surfaces, it was demonstrated that in dependence on the laser fluence used, an amorphized layer with a thickness of a few nanometers was generated. The RBS measurements show that carbon is incorporated into the LESAL-modified surface.     

Natively textured surface aluminum-doped zinc oxide transparent conductive layers for thin film solar cells via pulsed direct-current reactive magnetron sputtering

Natively textured surface aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) layers for thin film solar cells were directly deposited without any surface treatments via pulsed direct-current reactive magnetron sputtering on glass substrates. Such an in-situ texturing method for sputtered ZnO:Al thin films has the advantages of efficiently reducing production costs and dramatically saving time in photovoltaic industrial processing. High purity metallic Zn-Al (purity: 99.999%, Al 2.0 wt.%) target and oxygen (purity: 99.999%) were used as source materials. During the reactive sputtering process, the oxygen gas flow rate was controlled using plasma emission monitoring. The performance of the textured surface ZnO:Al transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) thin films can be modified by changing the number of deposition rounds (i.e. thin-film thicknesses). The initially milky ZnO:Al TCO thin films deposited at a substrate temperature of ~ 553 K exhibit rough crater-like surface morphology with high transparencies (T ~ 80-85% in visible range) and excellent electrical properties (ρ ~ 3.4 × 10^− 4 Ω cm). Finally, the textured-surface ZnO:Al TCO thin films were preliminarily applied in pin-type silicon thin film solar cells.     

Improvement of InN layers deposited on Si(111) by RF sputtering using a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer

We investigate the influence of a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer on structural and optical properties of wurtzite nanocrystalline InN films deposited on Si(111) substrates by reactive radio-frequency sputtering. The deposition conditions of the InN buffer layer were optimized in terms of morphological and structural quality, leading to films with surface root-mean-square roughness of ~ 1 nm under low-growth-rate conditions (60 nm/h). The use of the developed InN buffer layer improves the crystalline quality of the subsequent InN thick films deposited at high growth rate (180 nm/h), as confirmed by the narrowing of X-ray diffraction peaks and the increase of the average grain size of the layers. This improvement of the structural quality is further confirmed by Raman scattering spectroscopy measurements. Room temperature PL emission peaking at ~ 1.58 eV is observed for InN samples grown with the developed buffer layer. The crystal and optical quality obtained for InN films grown on Si(111) using the low-growth-rate InN buffer layer become comparable to high-quality InN films deposited directly on GaN templates by RF sputtering.     

Aluminium doped zinc oxide sputtered from rotatable dual magnetrons for thin film silicon solar cells

This study addresses the electrical and optical properties as well as the surface structure after wet-chemical etching of mid-frequency magnetron sputtered aluminium doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films on glass substrates from rotatable ceramic targets. Etching of an as-deposited ZnO:Al film in acid leads to rough surfaces with various feature sizes. The influence of working pressure and substrate temperature on the surface topography after etching was investigated. It was found that the growth model which Kluth et al. applied to films sputtered in radio frequency mode from planar ceramic target can be transferred to film growth from tube target. Furthermore, the influence of Ar gas flow and discharge power on the film properties was investigated. We achieved low resistivity of about 5.4 × 10^− 4 Ω·cm at high growth rates of 120 nm·m/min. Finally, surface textured ZnO:Al films were applied as substrates for microcrystalline silicon solar cells and high efficiencies of up to 8.49% were obtained.     

Influence of working pressure on ZnO:Al films from tube targets for silicon thin film solar cells

Mid-frequency magnetron sputtering of aluminum doped zinc oxide films (ZnO:Al) from tube ceramic targets has been investigated for silicon based thin film solar cell applications. The influence of working pressure on structural, electrical, and optical properties of sputtered ZnO:Al films was studied. ZnO:Al thin films with a minimum resistivity of 3.4 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, high mobility of 50 cm²/Vs, and high optical transmission close to 90% in visible spectrum region were achieved. The surface texture of ZnO:Al films after a chemical etching step was investigated. A gradual increase in feature sizes (diameter and depth) was observed with increasing sputter pressure. Silicon based thin film solar cells were prepared using the etched ZnO:Al films as front contacts. Energy conversion efficiencies of up to 10.2% were obtained for amorphous/microcrystalline silicon tandem solar cells.     

Synthesis and characterization of hard ternary AlMgB composite films prepared by sputter deposition

Hard and superlight thin films laminated with boron carbide have been proposed as candidates for strategic use such as armor materials in military and space applications. Aluminum magnesium boride (AlMgB) films are excellent candidates for these purposes. We prepared AlMgB films by sputter deposition using multiple unbalanced planar magnetrons equipped with two boron and one AlMg targets. The film morphology changed and the film's root mean square (rms) roughness varied from 1.0 to 18 nm as the power density of the AlMg target increased from 0.2 to 1.0 W/cm² while the power density of each boron target was maintained at 2 W/cm². Chemical analyses show dominating Al, Mg, B and trace elements of oxygen, carbon and argon. The film composition also varies with altering the power density supplied to the AlMg target. The film with an atomic ratio of Al:Mg:B = 1.38:0.64:1 exhibits the highest hardness (~ 30 GPa). This value surpasses the hardness of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon films (24-28 GPa) prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition.     

Pulsed laser deposition of indium tin oxide films on flexible polyethylene naphthalate display substrates at room temperature

Pulsed laser deposition was used to deposit high-quality indium tin oxide (ITO) thin solid films on polyethylene napthalate (PEN) flexible display substrates. The electrical, optical, microstructural, mechanical and adhesive properties of the functional thin layer were investigated as a function of a narrow range of background oxygen gas pressure at room temperature, which is the most desirable thermal condition for growing transparent conducting oxides on flexible display polymer substrates. ITO films (240 ± 35 nm thick) deposited on PEN at room temperature in the range of 0.33 to 2.66 Pa background oxygen pressure are observed to exhibit low electrical resistivity (~ 10^− 4 Ω cm) and high optical transmission (~ 90%). Electromechanical uniaxial tensile testing, of the hybrid thin structures, results in crack onset nominal strains of around 2%. The ITO surface adhesion reaches a maximum at 1.33 Pa deposition pressure.     

Textured surface boron-doped ZnO transparent conductive oxides on polyethylene terephthalate substrates for Si-based thin film solar cells

Textured surface boron-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:B) thin films were directly grown via low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) flexible substrates at low temperatures and high-efficiency flexible polymer silicon (Si) based thin film solar cells were obtained. High purity diethylzinc and water vapors were used as source materials, and diborane was used as an n-type dopant gas. P-i-n silicon layers were fabricated at ~ 398 K by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. These textured surface ZnO:B thin films on PET substrates (PET/ZnO:B) exhibit rough pyramid-like morphology with high transparencies (T ~ 80%) and excellent electrical properties (Rs ~ 10 Ω at d ~ 1500 nm). Finally, the PET/ZnO:B thin films were applied in flexible p-i-n type silicon thin film solar cells (device structure: PET/ZnO:B/p-i-n a-Si:H/Al) with a high conversion efficiency of 6.32% (short-circuit current density J_SC = 10.62 mA/cm², open-circuit voltage V_OC = 0.93 V and fill factor = 64%).     

Effect of aluminum and indium co-doping on zinc oxide films prepared by dc magnetron sputtering

Aluminum and indium co-doped zinc oxide (AIZO) thin films were prepared by direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering on glass substrate in pure argon atmosphere. Three inches of zinc oxide ceramic with 0.5 wt.% of aluminum and indium doping was used as a target in static mode. The influence of sputtering conditions i.e. substrate-target distance, pressure and power on AIZO films was studied. The electrical resistivity and microstructure of thin films were investigated by the four point probe technique and the scanning electron microscope, respectively. The optical transmittance of AIZO films was measured by UV visible spectrophotometer in the wavelength of 300-1100 nm. Depending on the deposited conditions, highly transparent films up to 80% with low resistivities in the range of 2.6-7.9 × 10^− 4 Ω cm were achieved at room temperature. Possible mechanism in the processing which, ultimately, determines the physical properties of AIZO films will be discussed.     

Effect of Al concentrations on the electrodeposition and properties of transparent Al-doped ZnO thin films

Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films are prepared on polycrystalline fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated conducting glass substrates from nitrates baths by the electrodeposition process at 70 °C. The electrochemical, morphological, structural and optical properties of the AZO thin films were investigated in terms of different Al concentration in the starting solution. It was found that the carrier density of AZO thin films varied between ?3.11 and ?5.56 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 when the Al concentration was between 0 and 5 at.%. Atomic force microscopy images reveal that the concentration of Al has a very significant influence on the surface morphology and roughness of thin AZO. X-ray diffraction spectra demonstrate preferential (002) crystallographic orientation having c-axis perpendicular to the surface of the substrate and average crystallites size of the films was about 33–54 nm. With increasing Al doping, AZO films have a strong improved crystalline quality. As compared to pure ZnO, Al-doped ZnO exhibited lower crystallinity and there is a shift in the (002) diffraction peak to higher angles. Due to the doping of Al of any concentration, the films were found to be showing >80 % transparency. As Al concentration increased the optical band gap was also found to be increase from 3.22 to 3.47 eV. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectra indicated that the introduction of Al can improve the intensity of ultraviolet (UV) emission, thus suggesting its greater prospects in UV optoelectronic devices. A detailed comparison and apprehension of electrochemical, optical and structural properties of ZnO and ZnO:Al thin films is done for the determination of optimum concentration of Al doping.     

Growth of n-type γ-CuCl with improved carrier concentration by pulsed DC sputtering: Structural, electronic and UV emission properties

γ Copper (I) chloride is naturally a direct band gap, zincblende and p-type semiconductor material with much potential in linear and non-linear optical applications owing to its large free excitonic binding energy. In order to fabricate an efficient electrically pumped emitter, a combination of both p-type and n-type semiconductor materials will be required. In this study, we report on the growth of n-type γ-CuCl with improved carrier concentration by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of CuCl/Zn target. An improvement of carrier concentration up to an order of ~ 9.8 × 10¹⁸ cm^− 3, which is much higher than the previously reported (~ 10¹⁶ cm^− 3), has been achieved. An enhancement in crystallinity of CuCl along the (111) orientation and its consistency with the morphological studies have also been investigated as an effect of doping. Influence of Zn wt.% in the sputtering target on the Hall mobility and resistivity of the doped films is explored. The strong ultraviolet emission of doped films is confirmed using room temperature and low temperature photoluminescence studies.     

Application of plasma polymerized siloxane films for the corrosion protection of titanium alloy

Organosilicon film and SiO_x-like film are deposited on titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) surfaces by atmospheric pressure (~ 10⁵ Pa) dielectric barrier discharge to improve its corrosion resistance in Hanks solution. Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) is used to be the chemical precursor. The organosilicon film deposited in Ar/HMDSO system has high growth rate (75 nm/min) and low surface roughness (3 nm), while the SiO_x-like film deposited in Ar/O₂/HMDSO system has lower growth rate (35 nm/min) and slightly higher surface roughness (9 nm). The potentiodynamic polarization tests show that both the two siloxane films coated Ti6Al4V samples have more positive corrosion potential and one order of magnitude lower corrosion current density than the substrate, indicating the corrosion resistance of Ti6Al4V can be improved by depositing siloxane film on its surface. In particular, as the surface is more compact and cross-linked, the SiO_x-like film has better corrosion resistance than the organosilicon film.     

The fabrication and application of ZnO:Al thin films in low-frequency inductively coupled plasma fabricated silicon solar cell

A home-made radio frequency magnetron sputtering is used to systematically study the structural, electrical, and optical properties of aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films. The intensity of the (002) peak exhibits a remarkable enhancement with increasing film thickness. Upon optimization, we achieved low resistivity of 4.2 × 10^− 4 Ω cm and high transmittance of ~ 88% for ZnO:Al films. Based on the present experimental data, the carrier transport mechanism is discussed. It is found that the grain boundary scattering needs to be considered because the mean free path of free carrier is comparable to the grain size. The 80 nm-ZnO:Al thin films are then deposited onto low-frequency inductively coupled plasma fabricated silicon solar cells to assess the effect of ZnO:Al thin films on the performance of the solar cells. Optimized ZnO:Al thin films are identified as transparent and conductive oxide thin film layers.     

Effects of aluminium doping on zinc oxide transparent thin films grown by filtered vacuum arc deposition

Thin n-type ZnO films doped with different atomic concentrations of aluminium were grown by filtered vacuum arc deposition (FVAD) on glass substrates. The films were deposited using an oxygen working pressure of 2.0 mTorr with an arc current running at two 100 ms pulses s⁻¹. Structural, optical and electrical properties were investigated to understand the effect of Al doping on ZnO films. The best values were found for an ideal aluminium percentage between 4 and 6 at.%.     

Electrical properties of quaternary HfAlTiO thin films grown by atomic layer deposition

Quaternary alloyed HfAlTiO thin (~ 4-5 nm) films in the wide range of Ti content have been grown on Si substrates by Atomic Layer Deposition technique, and the effect of both the film composition and the interfacial reactions on the electrical properties of HfAlTiO films is investigated. It is shown that depending on the Ti content, the permittivity and the leakage current density I_leak in HfAlTiO films vary in the range k = 18 ÷ 28 and 0.01-2.4 A cm^− 2, respectively. The incorporation of ultra thin SiN interlayer in Al/HfAlTiO/SiN/Si stack gives rise to the sharp (× 10³) decrease of the I_leak ~ 6 · 10^− 5 A/cm² at the expense of the rather low capacitance equivalent thickness ~ 0.9 nm.     

High sensitivity and wide bandwidth image sensor using CuIn1 − xGaxSe2 thin films

We have fabricated a novel image sensor using Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS). A combined process of dry etching using HBr and Ar gasses and wet etching using dilute HCl solution was developed as isolation process of CIGS photodiode deposited at 400 °C. Etchant residues of the dry etching, which consist of Cu complex, were almost completely cleaned using the wet etching process and favorable vertical side wall of CIGS films was obtained without mechanical damages. As a result, high performance image sensors with low leakage current of ~ 10^− 8 A/cm² and wide wavelength range up to ~ 1240 nm were achieved. The developed image sensor consisted of 352 × 288 pixels with 10 µm × 10 µm pixel sizes, was able to capture clear images of night scenes.     

Surface planarization and masked ion-beam structuring of YBa2Cu3O7 thin films

Surface planarization and masked ion-beam structuring (MIBS) of high-T_c superconducting (HTS) YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) method is reported. Chemical-mechanical polishing, plasma etching, and oxygen annealing of YBCO films strongly reduce the particulate density (~ 10^-2 ×) and surface roughness (~ 10^-1 ×) of as-grown PLD layers. The resistivity, critical temperature T_c ≈ 90 K and critical current density J_c (77 K) > 1 MA/cm² of films are not deteriorated by the planarization procedure. The YBCO films are modified and patterned by irradiation with He⁺ ions of 75 keV energy. Superconducting tracks patterned by MIBS without removal of HTS material and, for comparison, by wet-chemical etching show same T_c and J_c(T) values. Different micro- and nano-patterns are produced in parallel on planarized films. The size of irradiated pattern depends on the mask employed for beam shaping and features smaller than 70 nm are achieved.     

Surface textured molybdenum doped zinc oxide thin films prepared for thin film solar cells using pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

In this study, we examined the effect of etching on the electrical properties, transmittance, and scattering of visible light in molybdenum doped zinc oxide, ZnO:Mo (MZO) thin films prepared by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering. We used two different etching solutions - KOH and HCl - to alter the surface texture of the MZO thin film so that it could trap light. The experimental results showed that an MZO film with a minimum resistivity of about 8.9 × 10^− 4 Ω cm and visible light transitivity of greater than 80% can be obtained without heating at a Mo content of 1.77 wt.%, sputtering power of 100 W, working pressure of 0.4 Pa, pulsed frequency of 10 kHz, and film thickness of 500 nm. To consider the effect of resistivity and optical diffuse transmittance, we performed etching of an 800 nm thick MZO thin film with 0.5 wt.% HCl for 3-6 s at 300 K. Consequently, we obtained a resistivity of 1.74-2.75 × 10^− 3 Ω cm, total transmittance at visible light of 67%-73%, diffuse transmittance at visible light of 25.1%-28.4%, haze value of 0.34-0.42, and thin film surface crater diameters of 220-350 nm.