Efficiency enhancement of InP‐based inverted QD‐LEDs by incorporation of a polyethylenimine modified Al:ZnO layer

We report efficiency enhancement of indium phosphide (InP) quantum dot‐based light‐emitting diodes (QD‐LEDs) by using an polyethylenimine (PEI) surface modifier. By adapting a solution processed PEI layer on top of a aluminum doped zinc oxide (Al:ZnO) nanoparticle (NP) film, the leakage current of the inverted device was substantially suppressed. In addition, the electron injection into the conduction band edge (CBE) of InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs was also facilitated by the low work function (WF) of the Al:ZnO film which was realized by the strong interfacial dipoles of the thin film of PEI. As a result, the charge balance in the inverted devices was controlled by the change of surface roughness, the WF and the thickness of neighboring layers via spin‐coating the PEI dissolved in alcohol mixture on the Al:ZnO layer such that the current efficiency was dramatically increased from 0.07 cd/A to 3.17 cd/A. The performance of our device is not comparable to Cd‐based devices; however, it shows the great potential for using an interfacial dipole layer to develop highly efficient InP‐based inverted QD‐LEDs.     

Flexible thin‐film transistors application of amorphous tin oxide‐based semiconductors

The structural, optical, and electrical properties of Si‐doped SnO₂ (STO) films were investigated in terms of their potential applications for flexible electronic devices. All STO films were amorphous with an optical transmittance of ~90%. The optical band gap was widened as the Si content increased. The Hall mobility and carrier density were improved in the SnO₂ with 1 wt% Si film, which was attributed to the formation of donor states. Si (1 wt%) doped SnO₂ thin‐film transistor exhibited a good device performance and good stability with a saturation mobility of 6.38 cm²/Vs, a large I_on/I_off of 1.44 × 10⁷, and a SS value of 0.77 V/decade. The device mobility of a‐STO TFTs at different bending radius maintained still at a high level. These results suggest that a‐STO thin films are promising for fabricating flexible TFTs.     

Full color quantum dot light‐emitting diodes patterned by photolithography technology

Quantum dot light‐emitting diodes are promising candidates for next generation displays. For display application, a pixel consists of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) side‐by‐side sub‐pixels, which thereby requires a high resolution patterning of the light‐emission layers. In this work, the quantum dot (QD) light‐emitting layers are fine patterned by using the photolithography and the lift‐off techniques. To facilitate the lift‐off process, reverse photoresist AZ5214E is used because of its special inverted trapezoidal structure after developing. To prevent the QDs being washed off during the lift‐off process, the ZnMgO layer is treated by the hydrophobic material hexamethyldisilazane. With hexamethyldisilazane treatment, the adhesion between the QDs and the ZnMgO is effectively improved. As a result, side‐by‐side R/G/B QD with pixel size of 30 μm × 120 μm is successfully achieved. After patterning, the R, G, and B‐quantum dot light‐emitting diodes exhibit a maximum current efficiency of 11.6 cd/A, 29.7 cd/A, and 1.5 cd/A, respectively. This work confirms the feasibility of patterning QDs by using the photolithography and the lift‐off techniques.     

Lithium doping and gate dielectric dependence study of solution‐processed zinc‐oxide thin‐film transistors

Abstract— The effects of lithium (Li) doping concentration and gate dielectrics on the performance of solution‐processed zinc‐oxide (ZnO) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) has been investigated. ZnO films with strong c‐axis orientation and lower background conductivity was obtained with 15 at.% of Li. Different crystallization behavior of ZnO was observed in the case of various dielectric surfaces. The 15‐at.% Li‐doped ZnO films (thickness ～20 nm) prepared on SiO² and SiN^x were found to be present in crystalline form, whereas the film prepared on aluminum titanium oxide (ATO) was found to be amorphous. A field‐effect mobility of 1.81 cm²/V‐sec and an Ion/Ioff ratio of 2 × 10⁶ were obtained for the 15‐at.% Li‐doped ZnO TFTs with a bilayer gate dielectric of SiO² and SiN^x. The comparison of dielectric studies showed that the performance of TFTs prepared on SiN^x and ATO are higher than that of the TFTs prepared on SiO².     

AlGaN multiple quantum well deep-ultraviolet micro-light-emitting diodes for high color conversion efficiency quantum dots display

Displays based on inorganic micro-light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) are highly anticipated for next-generation technologies. AlGaN-based deep-ultraviolet (deep-UV) micro-LED as the excitation source for quantum dots display with high efficiency was reported in this paper. To achieve optimized electro-optical performance, deep-UV micro-LEDs with different electrodes were fabricated and analyzed in sizes from 200 × 200 to 10 × 10 μm². At the same forward bias, the devices with Ti/Al-based electrodes achieved 10 times injection current and three times electroluminescence intensity than those with Cr/Al-based electrodes. The blueshift phenomenon of deep-UV light was observed from 292 nm at 2 A/cm² to 287 nm at 200 A/cm² with the increasing current density. By the excitation of deep-UV micro-LED, quantum dot film achieved high light conversion efficiency and optimized color rendering, as the converted color emission peak was separate from the pumping source. The high energy of deep-UV photons and the narrow emission bandwidth of QDs resulted in prominent color purity. The forward voltage and electroluminescence intensity uniformity of a 250 × 250 micro-LED array with each pixel size of 30 × 30 μm² were further discussed. The optical microscope images of green QD film pumped by a deep-UV micro-LED demonstrated its competitive application in the color-converted display.     

Embedding PbS quantum dots in MAPbCl0.5Br2.5 perovskite single crystal for near-infrared detection

Organometal lead-halide perovskites demonstrate excellent photovoltaic performance in the visible (Vis) region. However, their lack of response in the near-infrared (NIR) region limits their applications in broadband photodetectors. Here, PbS quantum dots (QDs) were successfully embedded in MAPbCl_0.5Br_2.5 single crystal by solution-processed epitaxial growth. Perovskites can effectively act as efficient charge transporters. The mobility of MAPbCl_0.5Br_2.5 with 1 wt% PbS quantum dots crystal is about 85 cm²/(V·S), which is similar to that of pure MAPbCl_0.5Br_2.5 single crystal. Meanwhile, the composite crystal exhibited a broadband response wavelength from the Vis (625 nm) to the NIR (850 nm) with fast response times (τ_on/τ_off = 6/9 ms and τ_on/τ_off = 19/43 ms in the Vis and NIR regions, respectively). The photodetector demonstrates a responsivity of 0.02 mA/W with a specific detectivity of 1.2 × 10⁸ Jones under 5.1 mW/cm² 850-nm illumination at 10-V bias. These results suggest that we have obtained high-quality composite crystals with improved photo response in the Vis to NIR region.     

A study on controllable aluminium doped zinc oxide patterning by chemical etching for MEMS application

This present work reports on the study of controllable aluminium doped zinc oxide (AZO) patterning by chemical etching for MEMS application. The AZO thin film was prepared by RF magnetron sputtering as it is capable of producing uniform thin film at high deposition rates. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) characterization were done to characterize AZO thin film. The sputtered AZO thin film shows c-axis (002) orientation, low surface roughness and high crystalline quality. To pattern AZO thin film for MEMS application, wet etching was chosen due to its ease of processing with few controlling parameters. Four etching solutions were used namely: 10 % Nitric acid, 10 % Phosphoric acid, 10 % Acetic acid and Molybdenum etch solutions. For the first time, chemical etching using Molybdenum etch that consist of a mixture of CH₃COOH, HNO₃ and H₃PO₄ was characterized and reported. The effect of these acidic solutions on the undercut etching, vertical and lateral etch rate were studied. The etched AZO were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and stylus profilometer. The investigations showed that the Molybdenum etch has the lowest undercut etching of 7.11 µm, and is highly effective in terms of lateral and vertical etching with an etch ratio of 1.30. Successful fine patterning of AZO thin films was demonstrated at device level on a surface acoustic wave resonator fabricated in 0.35 μm CMOS technology. The AZO thin film acts as the piezoelectric thin film for acoustic wave generation. Patterning of the AZO thin film is necessary for access to measurement probe pads. The working acoustic resonator showed resonance peak at 1.044 GHz at 45.28 dB insertion loss indicating that the proposed Molybdenum etch method does not adversely affect the device’s operating characteristics.

     

Oxide engineering of ZnO thin‐film transistors for flexible electronics

Abstract— In this paper, we show that ZnO thin‐film transistors (TFTs) are potentially a higher performance alternative to organic and amorphous‐Si TFTs for macroelectronics on plastic substrates. Specifically, we fabricated nanocrystalline ZnO thin‐film transistors using low‐temperature processing, compatible with flexible electronics on plastic substrates. The ZnO semiconductor was rf magnetron sputtered, and the Al₂O₃ gate dielectric was deposited either by electron‐beam evaporation or atomic layer deposition. By controlling the partial pressure of oxygen pO₂) during ZnO sputtering, we could engineer the field‐effect mobility of ZnO transistors to be between 2 and 42 cm²/V‐sec, attractive for high‐performance electronic applications. We contend that pO₂ controls the oxygen‐vacancy content or stoichiometry of ZnO, and that allows control of transistor field‐effect mobility. Although most of the devices described here were fabricated on Si substrates, devices we made on a thin (50 μm thick) polyimide substrate had about equivalent performance, affirming the compatibility of our processes with plastic substrates. Finally, we show that properties of our nanocrystalline ZnO transistors can be explained by transport models that account for grain‐boundary trapping of mobile carriers.     

Ga‐doped zinc oxide: An attractive potential substitute for ITO,large‐area coating,and control of electrical and optical properties on glass and polymer substrates

Abstract— Ga‐doped ZnO (GZO) films with thicknesses of 30–560 nm were prepared on glass substrates at 200°C by ion plating with direct‐current arc discharge. The dependences of the characteristics of GZO films on thickness were investigated. All the polycrystalline GZO films, which showed high transmittance in the visible region, were ZnO crystallites with a wurtzite structure highly oriented along the (0002) plane. The resistivity, ρ, of GZO films decreases with increasing film thickness. The highest ρ achieved is 4.4 × 10⁻⁴ Ω‐cm with a carrier concentration, n, of 7.6 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³ and a Hall mobility, μ, of 18.5 cm²/V‐sec, determined by Hall effect measurement for the GZO films with a thickness of 30 nm, and the lowest ρ is 1.8 × 10⁻⁴ Ω‐cm with n = 1.1 × 10²¹ cm⁻³ and μ = 31.7 m²/V‐sec for the GZO film with a thickness of 560 nm. In addition, highly transparent GZO films with thicknesses of 12–300 nm were fabricated on unheated polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The ρ of these transparent GZO films decreased from 20 to 4 × 10⁻⁴ Ω‐cm with film thickness.     

Large‐area spatial atomic layer deposition of amorphous oxide semiconductors at atmospheric pressure

Indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) is deposited using plasma‐enhanced spatial atomic layer deposition (sALD) on substrates as large as 32 × 35 cm². Excellent uniformity and thickness control leads to high‐performing and stable coplanar top‐gate self‐aligned (SA) thin‐film transistors (TFTs). The integration of a sALD‐deposited aluminum oxide buffer layer into the TFT stack further improves uniformity and stability. The results demonstrate the viability of atmospheric sALD as a novel deposition technique for the flat‐panel display industry.     

Quantum model and memory of informative biomacromolecules

It is shown, that tubuline informative biomacromolecule has two-well structure potential energy relief for an electron responsible for the switching between conformations of molecules. Therefore the system of conformational excitation in informative biomacromolecules must be described as a two-level quantum system. The energy of the basic electron state ɛ₊ = 1.2 eV and frequency of electron tunneling ω = (6 × 10¹³–6 × 10¹¹) s⁻¹ in a tubuline molecule were calculated. The possibility of data recording by directly collapse of wave function in a two-level cell was shown, thus coherence of quantum state collapses only. The article is published in the original.     

Ten micrometer pixel,quantum dots color conversion layer for high resolution and full color active matrix micro‐LED display

A fine patternable quantum dots (QDs) color conversion layer (CCL) for high resolution and full color active matrix (AM) micro‐LED (μ‐LED) display is demonstrated. QDs CCL could be patterned until 10 μm using photolithography process. It is found that multicoatings with red and green QDs (R‐ and G‐QDs) CCLs on LED array can provide full color AM display.     

Gas sensing properties of ZnO thin films prepared by microcontact printing

In situ patterned zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were prepared by precipitation of Zn(NO₃)₂/urea aqueous solution and by microcontact printing of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Al/SiO₂/Si substrates. The visible precipitation of Zn(OH)₂ from the urea containing Zn(NO₃)₂ solution was enhanced by increasing the reaction temperature and the amount of urea. The optimized condition for the ZnO thin films was found to be the Zn(NO₃)₂/urea ratio of 1/8, the precipitation temperature of 80 °C, the precipitation time of 1 h and the annealing temperature of 600 °C, respectively. SAMs are formed by exposing Al/SiO₂/Si to solutions comprising of hydrophobic octadecylphosphonic acid (OPA) in tetrahydrofuran and hydrophilic 2-carboxylethylphosphonic acid (CPA) in ethanol. The ZnO thin film was then patterned with the heat treatment of Zn(OH)₂ precipitated on the surface of hydrophilic CPA. The ZnO gas sensor was exposed to different concentrations of C₃H₈ (5000 ppm), CO (250 ppm) and NO (1000 ppm) at elevated temperatures to evaluate the gas sensitivity of ZnO sensors. The optimum operating temperatures of C₃H₈, CO and NO gases showing the highest gas sensitivity were determined to be 350, 400 and 200 °C, respectively.     

Electrochemical determination of ascorbic acid in fruits on a vanadium oxide polypropylene carbonate modified electrode

A novel vanadium oxide polypropylene carbonate modified glassy carbon electrode was developed and used for the measurement of ascorbic acid (AA). The electrode was prepared by casting a mixture of vanadium tri(isopropoxide) oxide (VO(OC₃H₇)₃) and poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) onto the surface of a glassy carbon electrode. The electrochemical behavior of the VO(OC₃H₇)₃–PPC film modified glassy carbon electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and amperometry. This modified electrode exhibited electrocatalytic response to the oxidation of ascorbic acid. Compared with a bare glassy carbon electrode, the modified electrode exhibits a 220 mV shift of the oxidation potential of ascorbic acid in the cathodic direction and a marked enhancement of the current response. The response current revealed a good linear relationship with the concentration of ascorbic acid in the range of 4 × 10⁻⁸ and 1 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ and the detection limit of 1.5 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ (S/N = 3) in the pH 8.06 Britton–Robinson solution. Quantitative recovery of the ascorbic acid in synthetic samples has been obtained and the interferences from different species have been studied. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of ascorbic acid in fruits. The concentrations of ascorbic acid measured by this method are in good agreement with the literature value. It is much promising for the modified films to be used as an electrochemical sensor for the detection of ascorbic acid.     

Performance improvements of IGZO and ZnO thin‐film transistors by laser‐irradiation treatment

Abstract— Zinc oxide (ZnO) and indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin films subjected to laser irradiation were investigated. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the as‐deposited and laser‐irradiated films at different laser dosages were studied. The crystallinity of the structure increased after laser treatment. The transmittances without/with laser irradiation had a net rise of 85–92% and 80–95% (@550 nm) for 250‐nm ZnO and IGZO films, respectively. Thin‐film transistors (TFTs) with ZnO and IGZO as the active layer were fabricated. The as‐deposited ZnO/IGZO TFT devices had a field‐effect mobility of 0.19 and 1.3 cm²/V‐sec, respectively. The electrical characteristics increased by more than 2.8 times for ZnO and by 5.8 times for IGZO with laser treatment. The field‐effect mobility of ZnO and IGZO are 0.5 and 7.65 cm²/V‐sec.     

Direct electron transfer of myoglobin in mesoporous silica KIT-6 modified on screen-printed electrode

A disposable hydrogen peroxide biosensor was developed based on the direct electron transfer of myoglobin (Mb) on mesopores KIT-6 modified screen-printed electrode (SPE) which was manually performed to fabricate the planar carbon electrodes. KIT-6 is a new material which can absorb abundant of Mb molecules. A mixture of Mb and KIT-6 was immobilized with nafion on electrode. The cyclic voltammetry experiment indicated that a pair of stable and well-defined reduction peaks with a formal potentials of −0.35, and −0.28 V versus saturated calomel electrode (SCE) was obtained, using the present modified electrode in phosphate buffer saline (0.05 M, pH 7.0) at scan rate of 100 mV s⁻¹, characteristic of Mb heme Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple. The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant k_s was estimated to be 16.93 s⁻¹. And the formal potential was pH-dependent, having two slopes of −54.7 and −49.3 mV/pH which illustrated one electron transfer. This modified electrode was applied to detect H₂O₂ with sensitivity of 55.68 mA M⁻¹ cm⁻². Infrared spectrum and UV–vis absorption spectra of immobilized Mb film were recorded. In conclusion, KIT-6 increases the electron transfer activity of Mb and this kind of H₂O₂ biosensor is low cost for using disposable.     

Full band Monte Carlo calculations of velocity-field characteristics of wurtzite ZnO

The calculated results of electron transport properties of wurtzite ZnO with the full band Monte Carlo simulations are presented. The electronic band structure data being used in the simulations is based on the first-principles of total-energy pseudopotential method. The negative differential resistance effect in velocity-field characteristics of wurtzite ZnO was observed. At room temperature the threshold electric field is about 2.4×¹⁰⁵ V/cm, and the peak drift velocity is about 1.5×¹⁰⁷ cm/s. The electron mobility obtained in this work is approximately 285 cm²/Vs at room temperature.     

Highly efficient blue organic light‐emitting diode with high color purity using 4,4′‐N,N′‐dicarbazole‐biphyenyl (CBP) doped with 1,4‐bis[2‐(3‐N‐ethylcarbazoryl) vinyl]benzene (BCzVB)

Abstract— An efficient pure blue multilayer organic light‐emitting diode employing 1,4‐bis[2‐(3‐N‐ethylcarbazoryl)vinyl]benzene (BCzVB) doped into 4,4′‐N,N′‐dicarbazole‐biphyenyl (CBP) is reported. The device structure is ITO (indium tin oxide)/TPD (N,N′‐diphenyl‐N,N′‐bis (3‐methylphenyl)‐1,1′biphenyl‐4,4′diamine)/CBP:BCzVB/Alq₃ (tris‐(8‐hydroxy‐quinolinato) aluminum)/Liq (8‐hydroxy‐quinolinato lithium)/Al; here TPD was used as the hole‐transporting layer, CBP as the blue‐emitting host, BCzVB as the blue dopant, Alq₃ as the electron‐transporting layer, Liq as the electron‐injection layer, and Al as the cathode, respectively. A maximum luminance of 8500 cd/m² and a device efficiency of 3.5 cd/A were achieved. The CIE co‐ordinates were x = 0.15, y = 0.16. The electroluminescent spectra reveal a dominant peak at 448 nm and additional peaks at 476 nm with a full width at half maximum of 60 nm. The Föster energy transfer and, especially, carrier trapping models were considered to be the main mechanism for exciton formation on BCzVB molecules under electrical excitation.     

Performance enhancement of solution-processed amorphous WZTO TFT with HAO gate dielectric via power ultrasound technology

In this paper, power ultrasound technology (PUT) is employed to prepare the high-k hafnium-aluminum oxide (HAO) dielectric and thin film transistor (TFT). The continuous propagation of high-intensity ultrasonic waves in the metal oxide precursor solution can improve the dissolution efficiency of the solute and speed up the formation of the HAO precursor solution. The prepared HAO films have a smooth surface roughness of 0.36 nm and high optical transmittance of 85 %. Moreover, HAO films obtain excellent electrical properties with a relative permittivity of 15.9 and a leakage current density of 9.1 × 10⁻⁸ A/cm² at 2 MV/cm as well. Finally, we successfully fabricate TFT with HAO dielectric using PUT, these TFTs exhibit switch characteristics with field effect mobility of 18.7 cm²v⁻¹s⁻¹, threshold voltage (V_th) of −0.47 V, and Vth shift of 0.35 V under positive gate bias stress. The results show that the PUT is a promising method that can remarkably decrease the preparation time of the precursor solution and improve the TFT performance.     

Ferroelectric properties of direct-patterned half-micron thick PZT film

Ferroelectric properties of direct-patterned PZT(PbZr_0.52Ti_0.48O₃) films with 460 μm × 460 μm size and 510 nm thick were analyzed for applying to micro-detecting devices. A photosensitive solution containing ortho-nitrobenzaldehyde was used for the preparation of direct-patterned PZT film. PZT solution was coated on Pt(1 1 1)/Ti/SiO₂/Si(1 0 0) substrate for three times to obtain half-micron thick film and three times of direct-patterning process were repeated to define a pattern on multi-layer PZT film. Through intermediate and final anneal procedure of direct-patterned PZT film, any shrinkage along horizontal direction was not observed within this experimental condition, i.e., the size of the pattern was preserved after annealing, only a thickness reduction was observed after each annealing treatment. Ferroelectric properties of direct-patterned PZT film with 460 μm × 460 μm size and 510 nm thick were compared with those of un-patterned conventional PZT film and shown to be almost the same. Through this work, the high potentiality of direct-patternable PZT film for applying to micro-devices without the introduction of physical damages from dry-etching could be confirmed.