Gamma irradiation-induced effects on the properties of TiO_2 on fluorine-doped tin oxide prepared by atomic layer deposition

The effect of gamma irradiation with different doses(25–75 kGy) on TiO_2 thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition has been studied and characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),photoluminescence measurements,ultraviolet–visible(UV–Vis) spectroscopy,and impedance measurements.The XRD results for the TiO_2 films indicate an enhancement of crystallization after irradiation,which can be clearly observed from the increase in the peak intensities upon increasing the gamma irradiation doses.The UV–Vis spectra demonstrate a decrease in transmittance,and the band gap of the TiO_2 thin films decreases with an increase in the gamma irradiation doses.The Nyquist plots reveal that the overall charge-transfer resistance increases upon increasing the gamma irradiation doses.The equivalent circuit,series resistance,contact resistance,and interface capacitance are measured by simulation using Z-view software.The present work demonstrates that gamma irradiation-induced defects play a major role in the modification of thestructural,electrical,and optical properties of the TiO_2 thin films.     

Room Temperature Growth of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Films by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Enhanced CVD

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon （a-Si： H） films were deposited on Si （100） and glass substrates by dielectric barrier discharge enhanced chemical vapour deposition （DBD-CVD） in （SiH4＋H2） atmosphere at room temperature.
Results of the thickness measurement, SEM （scanning electron microscope）, Raman, and FTIR （Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy） show that with the increase in the applied peak voltage, the deposition rate and network order of the films increase, and the hydrogen bonding configurations mainly in di-hydrogen （Si-H2） and poly hydrogen （SiH2）n are introduced into the films. The UV-visible transmission spectra show that with the decrease in SiH4/ （SiHn＋H2） the thin films＇ band gap shifts from 1.92 eV to 2.17 eV.
These experimental results are in agreement with the theoretic analysis of the DBD discharge. The deposition of a-Si： H films by the DBD-CVD method as reported here for the first time is attractive because it allows fast deposition of a-Si： H films on large-area low-melting-point substrates and requires only a low cost of production without additional heating or pumping equipment.     

Influence of Deposition Temperature on the Structure Of Si3N4 Thin Film Prepared By MWECR-PECVD

The Si3N4 thin film is prepared by MWECR-PECVD at different deposition temperature and the structure of the Si3N4 thin film is investigated. The results indicate that the structure of the Si3N4 thin film prepared at low deposition temperature is in the amorphous phase. However, when the deposition temperature increases to 280℃, the Si3N4 thin film changes to crystalline a-Si3N4. With a further increase of the deposition temperature, the grain of the Si3N4 thin film becomes more fine, uniform and flat. XRD analysis shows that the structure of the Si3N4 thin film prepared at 280℃ is of a crystalline structure.     

Surface Treatment of Polypropylene Films Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge with Magnetic Field

Atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma is of interest for industrial applications.In this study,polypropylene (PP) films are modified by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) with a non-uniform magnetic field in air at atmospheric pressure.The surface properties of the PP films before and after a DBD treatment are studied by using contact angle measurement,atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).The effect of treatment time on the surface modification with and without a magnetic field is investigated.It is found that the hydrophilic improvement depends on the treatment time and magnetic field.It is also found that surface roughness and oxygen-containing groups are introduced onto the PP film surface after the DBD treatment.Surface roughness and oxygen-containing polar functional groups of the PP films increase with the magnetic induction density.The functional groups are identified as C-O,C=O and O-C=O by using XPS analysis.It is concluded that the hydrophilic improvement of PP films treated with a magnetic field is due to a greater surface roughness and more oxygen-containing groups.     

Atomic layer deposition of copper thin film and feasibility of deposition on inner walls of waveguides

Copper thin films were deposited by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition at low temperature, using copper(I)-N,N′-di-sec-butylacetamidinate as a precursor and hydrogen as a reductive gas. The influence of temperature, plasma power, mode of plasma, and pulse time, on the deposition rate of copper thin film, the purity of the film and the step coverage were studied.The feasibility of copper film deposition on the inner wall of a carbon fibre reinforced plastic waveguide with high aspect ratio was also studied. The morphology and composition of the thin film were studied by atomic force microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,respectively. The square resistance of the thin film was also tested by a four-probe technique. On the basis of on-line diagnosis, a growth mechanism of copper thin film was put forward, and it was considered that surface functional group played an important role in the process of nucleation and in determining the properties of thin films. A high density of plasma and high free-radical content were helpful for the deposition of copper thin films.     

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma-Assisted Atomic Layer Deposition of Amorphous Al2O3 Thin Films

Without extra heating, Al2O3 thin films were deposited on a hydrogen-terminated Si substrate etched in hydrofluoric acid by using a self-built electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) device with Al(CH3)3 (trimethylaluminum; TMA) and O2 used as precursor and oxidant, respectively. During the deposition process, Ar was introduced as a carrier and purging gas. The chemical composition and microstructure of the as-deposited Al2O3 films were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), an X-ray photoelectric spectroscope (XPS), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an atomic force microscope (AFM) and a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). It achieved a growth rate of 0.24 nm/cycle, which is much higher than that deposited by thermal ALD. It was found that the smooth surface thin film was amorphous alumina, and an interfacial layer formed with a thickness of ca. 2 nm was observed between the Al2O3 film and substrate Si by HRTEM. We conclude that ECR plasma-assisted ALD can grow Al2O3 films with an excellent quality at a high growth rate at ambient temperature.     

Structural and Electrical Properties of Sulfur-Doped Diamond Thin Films

We report our observations on the higher carrier mobility and higher conductivity of sulfur-doped n-type diamond thin films synthesized by the hot filament chemical vapor deposi- tion （HFCVD）. The structural and electrical characterizations of the films are measured by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope （SEM）, energy dispersion X-ray spectra （EDX）, and Hall effect measurements. It is found that the sulfur atoms are in- corporated into the polycrystalline diamond films. The n-type conductivity of the films increases with the H2S concentration, and a conductivity of the films as high as 1.82 ~-l.cm-1 is achieved. The results show that the sulfur atom plays an important role in the structural and electrical properties of sulfur-doped diamond thin films.     

Effects of sputtering power and annealing temperature on surface roughness of gold films for high-reflectivity synchrotron radiation mirrors

Gold films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering are used for synchrotron radiation optics.In this study, the microstructure and surface roughness of gold films were investigated for the purpose of developing high-reflectivity mirrors. The deposition process was first optimized. Films were fabricated at different sputtering powers(15, 40, 80, and 120 W) and characterized using grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry, X-ray diffraction,and atomic force microscopy. The results showed that all the films were highly textured, having a dominant Au(111)orientation, and the film deposited at 80 W had the lowest surface roughness. Subsequently, post-deposition annealing from 100 to 200 ℃ in a vacuum was performed on the films deposited at 80 W to investigate the effect of annealing on the microstructure and surface roughness of the films. The grain size, surface roughness, and their relationship were investigated as a function of annealing temperature. AFM and XRD results revealed that at annealing temperatures of 175 ℃ and below, microstructural change of the films was mainly manifested by the elimination of voids. At annealing temperatures higher than 175 ℃, grain coalescence occurred in addition to the void elimination, causing the surface roughness to increase.     

Study on deposition of Al2O3 films by plasma-assisted atomic layer with different plasma sources

In this paper,A12O3 thin films are deposited on a hydrogen-terminated Si substrate by using two home-built electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) and magnetic field enhanced radio frequency plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (PA-ALD) devices with Al(CH3)3 (trimethylaluminum,TMA) and oxygen plasma used as precursor and oxidant,respectively.The thickness,chemical composition,surface morphology and group reactions are characterized by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometer,x-ray photoelectric spectroscopy,atomic force microscopy,scanning electron microscopy,a high-resolution transmission electron microscope and in situ mass spectrometry (MS),respectively.We obtain that both ECR PA-ALD and the magnetic field enhanced PA-ALD can deposit thin films with high density,high purity,and uniformity at a high deposition rate.MS analysis reveals that the A12O3 deposition reactions are not simple reactions between TMA and oxygen plasma to produce alumina,water and carbon dioxide.In fact,acetylene,carbon monoxide and some other by-products also appear in the exhaustion gas.In addition,the presence of bias voltage has a certain effect on the deposition rate and surface morphology of films,which may be attributed to the presence of bias voltage controlling the plasma energy and density.We conclude that both plasma sources have a different deposition mechanism,which is much more complicated than expected.     

Intense Yellow Photoluminescence from Silicon Oxynitride Films Prepared by Dual Ion Beam Sputtering

In this work, results on the study of the structure and photoluminescence (PL) properties of SiOxNy thin films are presented. The films were deposited at room temperature using a dual-ion-beam co-sputtering system. The XRD and TEM results show that the deposited films have an amorphous structure. In the XPS result, we find N 1 s spectra consist of one symmetric single peak at 397.8 eV, indicating that the nitrogen atoms are mainly bonded to silicon. It is in agreement to the result of FTIR. In SiOxNy films, an intense single PL peak at 590 nm is observed. Furthermore, with the increase of the N content in the SiOxNy films, the intensity of the PL peak at 590 nm increases a lot. The PL peak of 590 nm is suggested to originate from N-related defects.     

基于单一气源的PECVD方法制备SiC薄膜及其微观结构研究

为制备出满足惯性约束聚变（ICF）实验要求的SiC薄膜,本文采用等离子体增强化学气相沉积（PECVD）法,以四甲基硅（TMS）作为唯一反应气源,在不同工作压强下制备SiC薄膜。利用扫描电子显微镜、表面轮廓仪、原子力显微镜、精密电子天平、X射线光电子能谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱对薄膜进行表征与分析。结果表明：SiC薄膜的成分与工作压强密切相关,随着工作压强的增加,薄膜中Si含量整体呈下降趋势;随着工作压强的增加,薄膜沉积速率先增大后减少,密度先减小后增大;与其他制备工艺相比,采用单一气源制备SiC薄膜,其表面粗糙度极低（1.25～1.85 nm）,薄膜粗糙度随工作压强的增加呈先增大后减小的趋势。     

Using Mather-Type Plasma Focus Device for Fabrication of Tungsten Thin Films

Tungsten (W) thin films were deposited on stainless steel–304 substrates using a low energy (2?kJ) plasma focus device. The samples were synthesized at various distances with respect to anode tip (7, 10 and 13?cm) and using same number of focus deposition shots (25 shots). X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray atomic force microscopy (AFM) and micro hardness were used to investigate the prepared samples. XRD analysis revealed that the degree of crystallinity of deposited thin films decrease with increasing the distance from the anode tip. AFM results showed that size of the grains on the surface of the films and the surface roughness of deposited samples constantly increase with the increasing of the axial position. Moreover, the hardness measurements revealed that the highest mechanical hardness is obtained when the film is deposited at 7?cm axial position.     

Formation of Au nanoparticles in silica by post-irradiation and thermal annealing

SiO₂ + Au thin films were prepared on SiO₂ substrates using ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). The film was annealed at different temperatures. After each annealing, the optical absorption spectrum was taken to monitor the gold nanocluster formation in the thin film. By using Doyle’s formula, the size of the nanoclusters was determined and plotted as a function of the annealing temperature. Separately, other identical films were bombarded with ions of different energies and different fluence to monitor the nanoclusters forming during the bombardments. We have compared the effect of electronic energy deposition of the energetic ions with the effect of annealing at various temperatures.     

The effect of temperature on the structure of tantalum nitride (TaN) thin films deposited by DC plasma

In this work, we report the effect of growth temperature (room temperature, 150, 200 and 250°C) during the deposition of tantalum nitride thin films by a reactive planar DC magnetron sputtering system on the steel substrates, in a constant nitrogen partial pressure of 15% has been studied. The X-ray spectrum of deposited tantalum nitride films indicated an increasing in intensity of sharp peak of hexagonal TaN and was evidence of grain growth at higher temperatures. By increasing temperature the streaks’ directions, observed from AFM micrographs, were varied.     

Determination of stoichiometry in silicon carbide materials using elastic backscattering spectrometry

Elastic backscattering spectrometry (EBS) was performed on SiC materials, using ⁴He particles at energies ranging from 2 to 4 MeV, in order to establish the energy values that lead to an accurate measurement of the Si/C ratio. Analysis of the random yield of “bulk” SiC single crystals indicates that energy values of 3.25 and 3.75 MeV are the most suitable for chemical composition determination; backscattering yield of carbon is enhanced compared to the yield measured at 2 MeV, while the excitation of strong resonances above 3.75 MeV are suppressed. Random backscattering yield measurements were then carried out at an energy of 3.25 MeV on unhydrogenated SiC thin films grown on Si(1 0 0), by pulsed laser deposition, at different substrate temperatures. The Si and C atomic concentrations in the films were determined with an uncertainty of 1% and little interference from the underlying substrate. The films were found to be stoichiometric with a Si/C ratio of 1.03 ± 0.05, independent of deposition temperature, which indicates that the films were grown under congruent ablation conditions. The analysis proved to be applicable to both amorphous and crystalline SiC layers, as confirmed by the results obtained for films deposited at 400 and 950 °C, respectively.     

Studies of effect of deposition parameters on the ZnO films prepared by PLD

Thin films of zinc oxide (ZnO), having different thicknesses were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique onto silicon Si(1 1 1) and quartz (SiO₂) substrates at different partial pressures of oxygen. Rutherford back scattering (RBS) analysis was carried out in order to investigate effect of deposition parameters on thickness of films. Quality of the films was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. The thickness of the film was found to increase with oxygen partial pressure for both Si and SiO₂ substrates.     

Reactive DC Magnetron Sputter Deposited Titanium-Copper-Nitrogen Nano-Composite Thin Films with an Argon/Nitrogen Gas Mixture

A sintered Ti13Cu87 target was sputtered by reactive direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering with a gas mixture of argon/nitrogen for different sputtering powers. Titanium-copper-nitrogen thin films were deposited on Si (111), glass slide and potassium bromide (KBr) substrates. Phase analysis and structural properties of titanium-copper-nitrogen thin films were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The chemical bonding was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results from XRD show that the observed phases are nano-crystallite cubic anti rhenium oxide (anti ReO3) structures of titanium doped Cu3N (Ti:Cu3N) and nano-crystallite face centered cubic (fcc) structures of copper. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) were used to determine the film morphology and atomic titanium/copper ratio, respectively. The films possess continuous and agglomerated structure with an atomic titanium/copper ratio ( 0.07) below that of the original target ( 0.15). The transmittance spectra of the composite films were measured in the range of 360 to 1100 nm. Film thickness, refractive index and extinction coefficient were extracted from the measured transmittance using a reverse engineering method. In the visible range, the higher absorption coefficient of the films prepared at lower sputtering power indicates more nitrification in comparison to those prepared at higher sputtering power. This is consistent with the formation of larger Ti:Cu3N crystallites at lower sputtering power. The deposition rate vs. sputtering power shows an abrupt transition from metallic mode to poisoned mode. A complicated behavior of the films’ resistivity upon sputtering power is shown.     

Carbon nitride thin films prepared by a capacitively coupled RF plasma jet

Carbon nitride thin films have been downstream deposited from a nitrogen plasma beam sustained by a capacitively coupled discharge generated between a RF powered carbon electrode and a grounded carbon nozzle. The spectral emission of the plasma jet strongly exhibits the CN radical emission indicating that the deposition takes place via a mechanism involving the CN radical. The deposition process is enhanced by DC biasing the powered electrode. The films have been investigated by X-ray diffraction, infrared absorption spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that the films are amorphous and contain in a large extent carbon nitrogen bonds.     

Surface characteristics and electrochemical corrosion behavior of fluorinated diamond-like carbon (F-DLC) films on the NiTi alloys

Fluorinated diamond-like carbon (F-DLC) films with different CF₄ flux were deposited on polished NiTi alloys by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIIID). The results show CF_x bond is formed in the F-DLC films. With the increase of the CF₄ flux, the fluorine content and surface hydrophilicity of the F-DLC films are increased, while their sp³/sp² ratio and surface roughness are decreased. The F-DLC films improve the surface corrosion resistance of NiTi alloys, and the corrosion resistance of the F-DLC films on the NiTi alloys first increase and then decrease with increasing the CF₄ flux. Moreover, the relationship between the corrosion resistance and its structure and surface hydrophilicity of the F-DLC films is also clarified.