ZnO films deposited on GaAs substrates with a SiO2 thin buffer layer

Sputter deposition of ZnO films on GaAs substrates has been investigated. ZnO films were radio frequency (rf)-magnetron sputter deposited on GaAs substrates with or without SiO₂ thin buffer layers. Deposition parameters such as rf power, substrate-target distance, and gas composition/pressure were optimized to obtain highly c-axis oriented and highly resistive films. Deposited films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), capacitance, and resistivity measurements. Thermal stability of sputter-deposited ZnO films (0.5–2.0 μm thick) was tested with a post-deposition heat treatment at 430°C for 10 min, which is similar to a standard ohmic contact alloying condition for GaAs. The ZnO/SiO₂/GaAs films tolerated the heat treatment well while the ZnO/GaAs films disintegrated. The resistivity (10¹¹ Ω-cm) of the ZnO films on SiO₂-buffered GaAs substrates remained high during the heat treatment. The post-deposition anneal treatment also enhances c-axis orientation of the ZnO films dramatically and relieves intrinsic stress almost completely. These improvements are attributed to a reduction of grain boundaries and voids with the anneal treatment as supported by SEM and x-ray diffraction measurement results.     

Fabrication and Optical Characteristics of Position‐Controlled ZnO Nanotubes and ZnO/Zn0.8Mg0.2O Coaxial Nanotube Quantum Structure Arrays

The position‐controlled growth and structural and optical characteristics of ZnO nanotubes and their coaxial heterostructures are reported. To control both the shape and position of ZnO nanotubes, hole‐patterned SiO₂ growth‐mask layers on Si(111) substrates with GaN/AlN intermediate layers using conventional lithography are prepared. ZnO nanotubes are grown only on the hole patterns at 600 °C by catalyst‐free metal–organic vapor‐phase epitaxy. Furthermore, the position‐controlled nanotube growth method allows the fabrication of artificial arrays of ZnO‐based coaxial nanotube single‐quantum‐well structures (SQWs) on Si substrates. In situ heteroepitaxial growth of ZnO and Zn_0.8Mg_0.2O layers along the circumference of the ZnO nanotube enable an artificial formation of quantum‐well arrays in a designed fashion. The structural and optical characteristics of the ZnO nanotubes and SQW arrays are also investigated using synchrotron radiation X‐ray diffractometry and photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy.     

Incorporation of SiO2 dielectric nanoparticles for performance enhancement in P3HT:PCBM inverted organic solar cells

It is well known that organic solar cells (OSCs) with inverted geometry have not only demonstrated a better stability and longer device life time but also have shown improved power conversion efficiency (PCE). Recent studies exhibit that incorporation of metal and/or semiconducting nanoparticles (NPs) can further increase the PCE for OSCs. In this present work, we have synthesized SiO₂ NPs of various sizes (25, 50, 75 and 100 nm) using the modified Stober method and incorporated them into P3HT:PCBM photoactive layer and ZnO based electron transport layer (ETL) in order to investigate the light trapping effects in an OSC. Absorption studies have shown a considerable increase in photo absorption in both cases. The fabricated devices demonstrated 13% increase in the PCE when SiO₂ NPs are incorporated in P3HT:PCBM photoactive layer, whereas PCE was increased by 20% when SiO₂ NPs are incorporated in ZnO based ETL. Mott–Schottky analysis and impedance spectroscopy measurements have been carried out to determine the depletion width and global mobility for both the devices. The possible reason for PCE enhancement and the role of SiO₂ NPs in active layer and ZnO ETL are explained on the basis of the results obtained from Mott–Schottky analysis and impedance spectroscopy measurements.     

Magnetic Properties of Fe-Implanted ZnO Nanotips Grown by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

Fe ions were implanted into well-aligned single-crystal ZnO nanotips grown on SiO₂/quartz substrates using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The Fe ion concentration distribution within a single nanotip is mapped by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and the nanotips imaged by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) identified the presence of Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions in both as-implanted and annealed samples. However, Fe³⁺ ion concentration increased during postannealing. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements show that the as-implanted and postannealed ZnO nanotips are ferromagnetic at room temperature. The observed ferromagnetism in the as-implanted nanotips is primarily attributed to the near surface 10-nm region that has high Fe concentration. The saturation magnetization reduces after annealing.     

Percolation and excitonic luminescence in SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/ZnO two-phase structures with a high density of quantum dots randomly distributed over a spherical surface

The results of studies of structures formed of silica (SiO₂) nanospheres and ZnO quantum dots randomly distributed over the nanosphere surface to cover an ∼0.45 fraction of the surface area are given. Because of the large surface energy of the spheres, the quantum dots formed on their surface are shaped as disks, wherein charge carriers are influenced by the quantum-confinement effect despite the large disk radii. The disk height is calculated by the effective mass method. The height is found to be comparable with the diameter of excitons in bulk ZnO. Analysis of the optical spectra shows that, at the above-indicated surface area covered with quantum dots, excitons in the array of quantum dots are above the percolation level. The use of some concepts of the percolation theory and knowledge of the topological arrangement of the samples make it possible to obtain quantitative parameters that describe this phenomenon.     

基板温度对氧化锌薄膜晶体管性能的影响

以ITO玻璃为衬底,利用射频磁控溅射制备了以氧化硅为绝缘层的氧化锌薄膜晶体管。研究了氧化锌薄膜制备过程中不同的衬底温度（衬底温度分别为室温、100℃ 和200℃）对于器件性能的影响。和室温下制备的氧化锌薄膜晶体管相比,衬底温度200℃条件下制备的器件的场效应迁移率提高了94% （从1.6cm2/Vs 提高至3.11cm2/Vs）,亚阈值摆幅 从2.5V/dec 降低至1.9 V/dec 而且阈值电压漂移也从18V 减小至3V （老化电压为25V的正栅压,老化时间为1小时）。实验结果表明,衬底加热对于氧化锌薄膜晶体管的迁移率、亚阈值摆幅和偏压稳定性有明显的影响。利用原子力显微镜AFM对氧化锌薄膜的特性就行了研究,器件性能提高的原因也在文中进行了阐述。     

Electrical properties of ZnO Nano-particles embedded in polyimide

The ZnO nano-particles were made in the polyimide dielectric matrix by using the chemical reaction between the zinc metal film and polyamic acid. The concentration of the ZnO particle is about 1.5×10¹² cm⁻², with average size below 10 nm, and its shapes are almost spherical. Then, the polyimide layer is a stable dielectric material with a dielectric constant of 2.9. To investigate the electrical properties of ZnO particles in the polyimide insulator film, we fabricated a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure and measured capacitance-voltage (C-V) with temperature modulation. At room temperature, C-V hysteresis with a voltage gap of 2.8 V appeared in the MIS structure using SiO₂/Si substrate. As the measuring temperature decreased, the C-V curves were shifted slightly to the accumulation region with gate bias. It was considered that the electrical charging may occur dominantly in nanoparticles, having only a few defects at the interface of the polyimide/SiO₂ and the polyimide/ZnO.     

Nanostructured ZnO Films for Room Temperature Ammonia Sensing

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been deposited by a reactive dc magnetron sputtering technique onto a thoroughly cleaned glass substrate at room temperature. X-ray diffraction revealed that the deposited film was polycrystalline in nature. The field emission scanning electron micrograph (FE-SEM) showed the uniform formation of a rugby ball-shaped ZnO nanostructure. Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) confirmed that the film was stoichiometric and the direct band gap of the film, determined using UV–Vis spectroscopy, was 3.29 eV. The ZnO nanostructured film exhibited better sensing towards ammonia (NH₃) at room temperature (～30°C). The fabricated ZnO film based sensor was capable of detecting NH₃ at as low as 5 ppm, and its parameters, such as response, selectivity, stability, and response/recovery time, were also investigated.     

Proton-induced displacement damage in ZnO thin film transistors: Impact of damage location

We have investigated the displacement damage (DD) effect on the electrical characteristics of ZnO thin film transistors (TFTs) based on its location of origin in the device structure. The area subjected to the maximum proton dose induces a maximum DD effect in that particular location. ZnO TFTs with two different passivation layer thicknesses were prepared to obtain maximum proton dose distribution in either the ZnO channel layer or ZnO/SiO₂ interface. The devices were irradiated by a proton beam with an energy 200 keV and 1 × 10¹⁴ protons/cm² fluence. Transport of Ions in Matter (TRIM) simulation, followed by calculation of depth distribution of the nonionizing energy loss (NIEL), illustrated different proton dose distribution profiles and NIEL profiles along the depth of the device for these two types of samples. The sample with the maximum proton dose peaks at the ZnO/SiO₂ interface exhibited a significant degradation in device electrical characteristics as compared to the negligible degradation of the sample when the maximum proton dose was absorbed in the ZnO layer. Therefore, the investigation into the radiation hardness of proton-irradiated ZnO TFTs is non-trivial since the displacement damage induces drastic changes on the device characteristics based on the damage location.