Structural,surface morphology and optical properties of sputter-coated CaCu3Ti4O12 thin film: Influence of RF magnetron sputtering power

This study focusses on the investigation of RF power variations (100–300 W) effects on structural, morphological and optical properties of CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ thin film deposited on ITO/glass substrate in a non-reactive atmosphere (Ar). The increase of RF power from 100 W to 300 W led to evolution of (112), (022), (033), and (224) of CCTO XRD peaks. The results indicated that all the films were polycrystalline nature with cubic structure. The crystallite size increased from 20 nm to 25 nm with increasing RF power. FESEM revealed that the films deposited were uniform, porous with granular form, while the grain size increased from 30 to 50 nm. AFM analysis confirmed the increment in surface roughness from 1.6 to 2.3 nm with increasing film grain size. Besides, optical transmittance values decreased to minimum 70% with increasing RF power while optical energy bandgap increased from 3.20 eV to 3.44 eV. Therefore, favorable CCTO thin film properties can be possibly obtained for certain application by controlling RF magnetron sputtering power.     

氧化锌薄膜的电化学沉积法制备及受激发射研究

采用一种简单的电化学沉积法，在三电极化学池中，以单一的硝酸锌水溶液作为电沉积液，制备了高光学质量的半导体ZnO薄膜。透射光谱测量表明其光学带隙为3．35eV，400～2000nm波段的光学透过率大于80％。X射线衍射(XRD)和原子力显微镜(AFM)研究表明，ZnO薄膜为纤锌矿结构的无序多晶颗粒膜，微晶尺寸小于250nm。当用355nm的皮秒脉冲激光作为抽运源垂直入射薄膜表面时，可以检测到400nm附近的近紫外受激发射光，其强度随入射强度呈超线性增长关系，阈值在196．8kW／cm^2处，并且激光发射是多模的和各个方向的，还与被激发的面积有关，表现为随机激光发射机制。     

Variation of the structural,optical and electrical properties of CBD CdO with processing temperature

Nanostructures of CdO thin films are prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The synthesized film is annealed in static air by using the hotplate at 373, 473, 573 and 673 K for 10 min. The effect of annealing temperature on structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of CdO thin films has been investigated. The prepared thin films are characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), optical reflection microscope (ORM), UV–Visible Spectrophotometer and electrical resistivity. XRD shows the emergence of the cubic phase of CdO film in a preferred orientation (111) plane at 573 K. The AFM and ORM show that CdO films have smooth homogeneous surface in the formula with the emergence of nanoclusters gathering as nanoparticles with the average of grain size about 100 nm at 573 K. The optical properties prove that deposited films have high transparency within the visible range of the spectrum that reaches to more than 85% with a wide band gap that extends from 2.42 eV to 2.7 eV. The electrical properties of the CdO films show that resistivity decreases with increased annealing temperatures. In addition, it is proved that more than one activation energy appears and they change according to the temperature of annealing and this comes as a result of the polycrystalline structure. This study indicates that the properties of CdO thin films could be improved with annealing temperature and these films can be used in many technological applications.     

Effect of Al Nanoparticles on the Microstructure,Electrical, and Optical Properties of AZO/Al/AZO Trilayer Thin Film

In this work, designed growth of aluminum (Al)/aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), AZO/Al/AZO, and AZO/Al multilayer electrodes by radiofrequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on glass substrates was studied. The microstructures, optical properties, and electrical characteristics of the multilayer electrode thin films were analyzed, their structural denseness and thickness were observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and their crystal orientation was identified by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The resistivity and transmittance of the films were measured by four-point probe and UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer, respectively. The resistivity of the AZO/Al/AZO multilayer electrode thin film was 1.55 Ω cm. The average transmittance of the AZO/Al/AZO thin film over wavelengths from 400 nm to 800 nm was much better than that of other thin films, since Al nanoparticles distribute in the AZO thin film during the sputtering process, as observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). In addition, the figure of merit of the AZO/Al/AZO trilayer film was much larger than those of the other structures.     

Enhanced photoluminescence properties of Cu-doped ZnO thin films deposited by simultaneous RF and DC magnetron sputtering

Copper (Cu)-doped ZnO thin films were grown on unheated glass substrates at various doping concentrations of Cu (0, 5.1, 6.2 and 7.5 at%) by simultaneous RF and DC magnetron sputtering technique. The influence of Cu atomic concentration on structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO films was discussed in detail. Elemental composition from EDAX analysis confirmed the presence of Cu as a doping material in ZnO host lattice. XRD patterns show that the films were polycrystalline in nature with (002) as a predominant reflection of ZnO exhibited hexagonal wurtzite structure toward c-axis. From AFM analysis, films displayed needle-like shaped grains throughout the substrate surface. The electrical resistivity was found to be increased with increase of Cu content from 0 to 7.5 at%. Films have shown an average optical transmittance about 80% in the visible region and decreased optical band gap values from 3.2 to 3.01 eV with increasing of Cu doping content from 0 to 7.5 at% respectively. Furthermore, remarkably enhanced photoluminescence (PL) properties have been observed with prominent violet emission band corresponding to 3.06 eV (405 nm) in the visible region through the increase of Cu doping content in ZnO host lattice.     

Thickness dependence of the structural and electrical properties of copper films deposited by dc magnetron sputtering technique

This paper addresses the influences of film thickness on structural and electrical properties of dc magnetron sputter-deposited copper (Cu) films on p-type silicon. Cu films with thicknesses of 130-1050 nm were deposited from Cu target at sputtering power of 125 W in argon ambient gas pressure of 3.6 mTorr at room temperature. The electrical and structural properties of the Cu films were investigated by four-point probe, atomic force microscopy (AFM) as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results from our experiment show that the grain grows with increasing film thickness, along with enhanced film crystallinity. The root mean square (RMS) roughness as well as the lateral feature size increase with the Cu film thickness, which is associated with the increase in the grain size. On the other hand, the Cu film resistivity decreases to less than 5 μΩ-cm for 500 nm thick film, and further increase in the film thickness has no significant effects on the film resistivity. Possible mechanisms of film thickness dependent microstructure formation of these Cu films are discussed in the paper, which explain the interrelationship of grain growth and film resistivity with increasing Cu film thickness.     

Influence of Mn doping on structural,optical and electrical properties of CdO thin films prepared by cost effective spray pyrolysis method

Transparent and conducting cadmium oxide (CdO) and manganese doped CdO (Mn: CdO) thin films were deposited using a low cost spray pyrolysis method on the glass substrate at 300 °C. For Mn doping, various concentrations of manganese acetate (1–3 wt%) was used in the spraying precursor solution. The structural, electrical and optical properties of CdO and Mn: CdO films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), UV–vis and Hall measurement. X-ray diffraction study reveals that the CdO and Mn: CdO films are possessing cubic crystal structures. SEM and AFM studies reveal that the grain size and roughness of the films are increased with increasing Mn doping concentration. Optical transmittance spectra of the CdO film decreases with increasing doping concentration of manganese. The optical band gap of the films decreases from 2.42 eV to 2.08 eV with increasing concentration of manganese. A minimum resistivity of 1.11×10⁻³ Ω cm and maximum mobility of 20.77 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ is achieved for 1 wt% of manganese doping.     

Fabrication of ZnO-NiO nanocomposite thin films and experimental study of the effect of the NiO,ZnO concentration on its physical properties

ZnO-NiO nanocomposites thin films were elaborated at different mixing concentrations using sol gel and spin coating methods. Their structural and morphological evolutions as well as the optical and electrical properties were investigated. XRD diffraction and Raman spectra allowed phase identifications of ZnO (zinc oxide) and NiO (nickel oxide) with no appearance of secondary phases and the crystallinity of elaborated nanocomposite films improved with doping concentration increase. The grain sizes of obtained ZnO-NiO nanocomposites are investigated by AFM (Atomic force microscopy); they increase in the range (10–65 nm) and they are observed to affect the optical and electrical properties. In fact, ZnO-NiO nanocomposites thin films optical reflectivity decreased in the range (10–5%) with the increasing of mixing proportion and their resistivity decreased up to 1.4 10² Ω cm. The optical band gaps were in the range (3.3–4 eV). The values obtained by UV–Vis spectroscopy and ellipsometry are quite similar. We remarked also that the NiO concentration increase on to the nanocomposite induced a red shift of the gap value while the ZnO increase led toward a blue shift     

AZO透明导电薄膜的结构与光电性能

采用射频溅射工艺制备了Zn1-xAlxO透明导电薄膜。通过XRD、UV透射和电学性能测试等分析手段,研究了Al浓度对薄膜的组织结构和光电性能的影响规律。结果表明:薄膜具有c轴择优取向,随着Al浓度的增加,(002)衍射峰向高角度移动,峰强度逐渐减弱,x(Al)为15%掺杂极限浓度。x(Al)为2%时,薄膜电阻率是3.4×10–4Ω.cm。随着掺杂量x(Al)从0增加到20%,薄膜的禁带宽度从3.34 eV增加到4.0 eV。     

Electronic and chemical properties of ZnO in inverted organic photovoltaic devices

Photo-conversion efficiency of inverted polymer solar cells incorporating pulsed laser deposited ZnO electron transport layer have been found to significantly increase from 0.8% to up to 3.3% as the film thickness increased from 4 nm to 100 nm. While the ZnO film thickness was found to have little influence on the morphology of the resultant ZnO films, the band structure of ZnO was found to evolve only for films of thickness 25 nm or more and this was accompanied by a significant reduction of 0.4 eV in the workfunction. The films became more oxygen deficient with increased thickness, as found from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and valence band XPS (VBXPS). We attribute the strong dependence of device performance to the zinc to oxygen stoichiometry within the ZnO layers, leading to improvement in the band structure of ZnO with increased thickness.     

射频磁控溅射ZnO薄膜的微结构与光学特性

研究了膜厚对ZnO薄膜微结构和光学性能的影响。采用射频磁控溅射法在单晶硅(111)和玻璃基片上制备了不同厚度的ZnO薄膜。通过X射线衍射、原子力显微镜和紫外可见光谱对薄膜进行了表征。结果表明薄膜结晶性能良好,在(002)晶面具有明显的c轴取向。随着薄膜厚度的增加,透射率下降,吸收边红移,禁带宽度逐渐减小。     

改善玻璃衬底上ZnO薄膜特性的方法

利用磁控溅射法在玻璃衬底上淀积铝掺杂氧化锌(AZO)薄膜作为缓冲层,在其上制备了ZnO薄膜。重点研究了AZO薄膜作为缓冲层对玻璃衬底上ZnO薄膜特性的影响。扫描电子显微镜(SEM)图像和X射线衍射(XRD)图谱分析结果表明,玻璃衬底上加入厚度为1μm的AZO缓冲层后,提高了衬底材料和ZnO薄膜之间的晶格匹配程度,有助于增大ZnO薄膜晶粒尺寸,提高其(002)取向择优生长特性、薄膜结晶特性及晶格结构完整性。室温下的透射光谱结果表明玻璃/AZO和玻璃衬底上ZnO薄膜的透光特性没有显著不同。光致发光(PL)谱研究结果表明AZO缓冲层可以有效阻止衬底表面硅原子从ZnO薄膜中"俘获"氧原子,减少ZnO薄膜中的缺陷,改善ZnO薄膜的结晶质量。     

溶胶-凝胶旋涂法制备In掺杂ZnO薄膜结构和光学性能的研究

采用溶胶-凝胶(sol-gel)旋涂法在常规玻璃衬底 上生长了In掺杂浓度分别为1at%、2at%、3at%、4at%、5at%的ZnO薄膜。借助X射线衍射仪(X RD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、紫外- 可见分光光度计(UV-Vis)对样品的晶粒生长、结构以及光学性能进行表征。结果如下:所 制 备的薄膜均沿(002)方向择优生长,且随着In³⁺掺杂浓度增加 ,衍射峰的峰型及半高宽均呈 先降低后升高的趋势;In³⁺掺入后,ZnO薄膜晶粒由原来的六边形状发展成类似蠕虫 状,同 时粒径变小且大小不一;与本征样品相比,掺杂后的ZnO光透过率提高了10%,且吸收边向短 波长方向偏移,同时随着In³⁺的掺入,薄膜的光学带隙值从3.49 eV增加到3.80 eV。当In³⁺掺 杂浓度为4at%时,薄膜(002)峰的峰形最为尖锐、峰值最大,晶粒较为均匀、 晶格间距更小,光透过率最高,光学带隙值相对较大为3.77 eV。     

Al掺杂对ZnO薄膜形貌和光学性能的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶旋涂法在FTO玻璃衬底上制备得到了不同Al掺杂浓度的ZnO薄膜(AZO)。利用XRD、FESEM、UV-vis和PL等测试手段对样品结构、形貌和光学性能进行了表征。结果表明,合成的AZO薄膜均为六方纤锌矿结构且峰强随掺杂浓度的升高而减弱;同时,颗粒形貌由不规则向规则球形转变且尺寸逐渐减小;PL谱中的近紫外发射峰和晶格缺陷峰值随掺杂浓度的升高先增大后降低;由UV-vis吸收光谱可知,AZO薄膜在设定波长内的光吸收处于波动状态,且当Al掺杂浓度为3%时,光吸收强度最高,禁带宽度减小到3.12eV。     

Properties of cobalt-doped zinc oxide thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition on glass substrates

Undoped and cobalt-doped zinc oxide (CZO) polycrystalline piezoelectric thin films (Co: 3, 5 at.%) using a series of high quality ceramic targets have been deposited at 450 °C onto glass substrates using a pulsed laser deposition method. The used source was a KrF excimer laser (248 nm, 25 ns, 2 J∕cm²). X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the Co-doped ZnO films crystallize in a hexagonal wurtzite type structure with a strong (0 orientation, and the grain sizes calculated from these patterns decrease from 37 to 31 nm by increasing Co doping. The optical waveguiding properties of the films were characterized by using a prism-coupling method. The distinct M-lines of the guided transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) modes of the ZnO films waveguide have been observed. With the aim of study the optical properties of the ZnO films, an accurate refractive index and thickness measurement apparatus was set up, which is called M-lines device. An evaluation of experimental uncertainty and calculation of the precision of the refractive index and thickness were developed on ZnO films. The optical transmittance spectra showed a good transparency in the visible region. Calculated optical band gap varying from 3.23 to 3.37 eV when the content of Co doping increases from 0 to 5 at.%.     

Structural and optical characterizations of spin coated cobalt-doped cadmium oxide nanostructured thin films

Cd_1−xCo_xO thin films (with molar ratios x=0.0–8.0%) were grown onto glass substrates via the sol–gel spin coating technique. XRD results indicate that a CdO single phase with a cubic polycrystalline structure is formed. The crystallinity of CdO thin films is gradually deteriorated with increasing the Co ratio. AFM images of the films confirm the decrease of the grain size of the CdO films with increasing Co content. The direct optical band gap is red shifted from 2.580 eV to 2.378 eV with the increase of Co content. The refractive index, the dispersion parameters, and the optical conductivity of CdO thin films showed an enhancement with increasing cobalt dopant ratio. The correlation between the structural modifications and the resultant optical properties are reported.     

Effect of NaOH solution on surface textured ZnO: Al films prepared by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

Transparent conducting Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al, AZO) thin films were prepared at substrate temperature of 270 °C by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering. NaOH solution (5 wt%) was employed to etch the AZO films at room temperature, and the surface textured AZO films were obtained successfully. The relationship between the surface textured structures and the etching process controlled by etching time was discussed. The textured morphology of the etched AZO films became clear as increasing the etching time, and the AZO film etched for 30 min exhibited uniformly and distinctly crater-like surface textured structure. Correspondingly, the haze and the resistivity increased with the increasing etching time. And the resistivity of the AZO film etched for 30 min was 3.2×10⁻³ Ω cm.     

膜厚对氧化钒薄膜结构和光学性质的影响

利用真空热蒸发在石英基片上制备了不同厚度的氧化钒薄膜, 研究厚度对薄膜的结构、形貌和光学特性的影响。薄膜的结构由X射线衍射(XRD)仪和拉曼(Raman)光谱仪测得, 表面形貌用原子力显微镜(AFM)观测。利用分光光度计测量薄膜的光学透射率, 并且采用Forouhi-Bloomer模型与修正的德鲁德(Drude)自由电子模型相结合的方法拟合透射率来确定薄膜的折射率、消光系数和带隙。结果表明, 热蒸发的氧化钒薄膜呈非晶态, 薄膜的主要成分为五氧化二钒, 且含有少量的二氧化钒。薄膜表面的颗粒粘结在一起, 随着薄膜厚度的增加, 薄膜表面粗糙度以及颗粒尺寸变小, 膜层表面平整度越来越好, 颗粒之间的空隙变小, 导致折射率随膜厚的增加而增大, 消光系数减小。另外, 随着薄膜厚度从200 nm增加到450 nm, 光学带隙从2.67 eV减小到2.45 eV。     

Thickness dependent physical properties of chemically deposited nanocrystalline MgSe thin films deposited at room temperature by solution growth method

Chemical bath deposition method has been employed to deposit nanocrystalline magnesium selenide thin films of thickness 104–292 nm onto glass substrates at room temperature. The deposition bath consists of magnesium chloride, triethanolamine (TEA) and selenium dioxide. The as deposited films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical absorption, electrical resistivity and thermo-emf measurements. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that the crystallinity of the magnesium selenide thin film increases with thickness. SEM studies reveal that MgSe films exhibit uniform distribution of round shaped grains over the entire substrate surface.The optical band-gap and electrical resistivity of MgSe film decrease as the film thickness increases. Such type of dependence is attributed to the quantum size effect that is observed in nanocrystalline semiconductors.The thermo-emf measurement confirms its p-type conductivity.     

沉积电流对ZnO薄膜的结构和光学性质的影响

采用阴极电沉积的方法在导电玻璃上制备了ZnO薄膜.研究了沉积电流对薄膜结构特性和光学特性的影响.XRD分析表明ZnO薄膜为纤锌矿结构,晶粒尺寸随电流的增大而增大,择优取向随电流的变化发生了转变.光学测试表明样品的透射率最大值可达84%,禁带宽度随电流变化不大,接近于3.3 eV.