Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O: a new piezoelectric material

Piezoelectric ZnO thin films have been successfully used for multilayer surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) devices. Magnesium zinc oxide (Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O) is a new piezoelectric material, which is formed by alloying ZnO and MgO. Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O allows for flexibility in thin film SAW device design, as its piezoelectric properties can be tailored by controlling the Mg composition, as well as by using Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O/ZnO multilayer structures. We report the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth, structural characterization and SAW evaluation of piezoelectric Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O (x<0.35) thin films grown on (011~2) r-plane sapphire substrates. The primary axis of symmetry, the c-axis, lies on the Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O growth plane, resulting in the in-plane anisotropy of piezoelectric properties. SAW test devices for Rayleigh and Love wave modes, propagating parallel and perpendicular to the c-axis, were designed and fabricated. Their SAW properties, including velocity dispersion and piezoelectric coupling, were characterized. It has been found that the acoustic velocity increases, whereas the piezoelectric coupling decreases with increasing Mg composition in piezoelectric Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O films.     

Thin film bulk acoustic wave filter

Thin film bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators (FBAR) are fabricated on a silicon nitride bridge using a ZnO piezolayer on a glass substrate and surface micromachining by standard thin film technology. These resonators exhibit a coupling constant k/sub t//sup 2/=7.8% at the first thickness extensional wave mode and are used as impedance elements in a ladder filter in the 1-GHz frequency band of mobile telecommunications. An electrical equivalent circuit is used to characterize the properties of the resonators and to show how the performance of the filter depends on the parameters of the resonators. 2.5% bandwidth, 2.8-dB insertion loss, and 35-dB selectivity are obtained in a filter with six resonators. The technology can be used to manufacture miniature microwave filters without any additional inductances.     

Determination of ZnO temperature coefficients using thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators

Thin film bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators have been the subject of research in RF microelectronics for some time. Much of the interest lay in utilizing the resonators to design filters for wireless applications. Some of the major advantages BAW devices present over other filter technologies in use today include size reduction and the possibility of on-chip integration. As the technology matures, the necessity to more fully characterize the performance of the devices and to develop more accurate models describing their behavior is apparent. In this investigation, the effects that temperature variations have on 1.8-2.0 GHz zinc oxide (ZnO)-based solidly mounted BAW resonators (SMRs) are studied. The average temperature coefficients of the series and parallel resonant frequencies of the fabricated devices are found to be -31.5 ppm//spl deg/C and -35.3 ppm//spl deg/C, respectively. The slight decrease in separation between the two resonant frequencies with temperature implies there is slightly less effective coupling with increased temperature. No definite trend is found describing the behavior of the quality factor (Q) of the resonator with temperature variations. With little temperature coefficient data for thin film ZnO available in the literature, the importance of an accurate model is evident. The resonator device performance is simulated using Ballato's electronic circuit model for acoustic devices on a SPICE-based platform. By virtue of the comparison between the predicted and measured device response, various material parameters are extracted.     

Fabrication of high sensitivity ZnO thin film ultrasonic devices byelectrochemical etch techniques

In this experiment, high quality thin film acoustic devices were constructed utilizing zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film deposition, integrated circuit (IC), and electrochemical etch techniques. The bridge type ZnO thin film ultrasonic devices produced showed acute high frequency response sensitivity, with the high frequency response at 600 KHz attaining -124 dBV μBar. The highest response was near 8 MHz. Sensitivity increased in direct proportion to frequency, indicating that the bridge-type ZnO thin film acoustic devices were suitable for application as ultrasonic wave sensors at high operating frequencies. Further experimentation verified that the bridge-type ZnO thin film acoustic devices fabricated also had ultrasonic signal transmitting capability and signal bidirectional devices having both transmission and reception functions were successfully constructed. Therefore, bridge-type ZnO thin film acoustic devices will continue to be developed in the future due to the reliable control possible over the structural transformations involved; and, since IC fabrication techniques can be readily adopted in the process, the manufacturing of such devices will be greatly assisted     

Growth and characterization of indium phosphide nanowires on transparent conductive ZnO:Al films

The epitaxial growth of indium phosphide nanowires (InP NWs) on transparent conductive aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films is proposed and demonstrated. ZnO:Al thin films were prepared on quartz substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering, then InP NWs were grown on them by plasma enhanced metal organic chemical vapor deposition with gold catalyst. Microstructure and optical properties of InP nanowires on ZnO:Al thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy at room temperature. SEM shows that randomly oriented and intersecting InP nanowires were grown to form a network on ZnO:Al thin films. Both wurtzite (WZ) and zincblende (ZB) structures coexist in the random orientation InP NWs on ZnO:Al thin film had been proved by XRD analysis. XPS result indicates Zn diffusion exists in the InP NWs on ZnO:Al. The photoluminescence spectra of InP nanowires with Zn diffusion present an emission at 915 nm. Zn diffusion also bring effect on Raman spectra of InP NWs, leading to more Raman-shift and larger relative intensity ratio of TO/LO.     

Fabrication of high frequency ZnO thin film SAW devices on silicon substrate with a diamond-like carbon buffer layer using RF magnetron sputtering

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) film is a promising candidate for surface acoustic wave (SAW) device applications because of its higher acoustic velocity. A zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film has been deposited on DLC film/Si substrate by RF magnetron sputtering; the optimized parameters for the ZnO sputtering are RF power density of 0.55 W/cm², substrate temperature of 380 °C, gas flow ratio (Ar/O₂) of 5/1 and total sputter pressure of 1.33 Pa. The results showed that when the thickness of the ZnO thin films was decreased, the phase velocity of the SAW devices increased significantly.     

溶胶-凝胶法制备MgxZn1-xO薄膜及性能研究

采用溶胶-凝胶法在石英玻璃片衬底上制备了Mg2+掺杂的ZnO(MgxZn1-xO)薄膜,研究了Mg2+掺杂对ZnO薄膜结构和紫外透过率的影响;在氧化物薄膜上真空蒸镀了Al叉指电极,制得紫外原型探测器件,测试了I-Ⅴ特性.结果表明,Mg2+掺杂后,MgxZn1-xO薄膜为纤锌矿结构,随着x值增加,晶格常数c逐渐减少,α逐渐增大,Mg2+掺杂抑制了(002)晶面的生长;紫外透过光谱表明,Mg2+掺杂后吸收边发生蓝移,可提高ZnO薄膜的禁带宽度;I-Ⅴ特性曲线表明,正向偏压下探测器的暗电流和光照电流随外加偏压呈线性增长,但光照电流与暗电流的差别较大.     

Effects of H2O partial pressure on the crystallinity of ZnO thin film and electrical characteristics of film bulk acoustic wave resonators

We have improved electrical characteristics of a film bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator that features the injection of H₂O gas into a process chamber. The preferred crystallinity of piezoelectric ZnO film was obtained by RF sputtering at a high H₂O partial pressure 1.5×10⁻⁴ Pa. The effective electromechanical coupling coefficient () of the BAW resonator remarkably goes up from 1.8% to 4.7% for which the corresponding H₂O partial pressures are 2.7×10⁻⁵ and 1.5×10⁻⁴ Pa. Injection of H₂O during the deposition process contributes to the improvement of crystallinity of ZnO thin film and the electrical characteristics of the BAW resonator.     

Analysis of SAW properties in ZnO/AlxGa1-xN/c-Al2O3 structures.

Piezoelectric thin films on high acoustic velocity nonpiezoelectric substrates, such as ZnO, AlN, or GaN deposited on diamond or sapphire substrates, are attractive for high frequency and low-loss surface acoustic wave devices. In this work, ZnO films are deposited on AlxGa1-xN/c-Al2O3 (0 < or = chi < or = 1) substrates using the radio frequency (RF) sputtering technique. In comparison with a single AlxGa1-xN layer deposited on c-Al2O3 with the same total film thickness, a ZnO/AlxGa1-xN/c-Al2O3 multilayer structure provides several advantages, including higher order wave modes with higher velocity and larger electromechanical coupling coefficient (K2). The surface acoustic wave (SAW) velocities and coupling coefficients of the ZnO/AlxGa1-xN/c-Al2O3 structure are tailored as a function of the Al mole percentage in AlxGa1-xN films, and as a function of the ZnO (h1) to AlxGa1-xN (h2) thickness ratio. It is found that a wide thickness-frequency product (hf) region in which coupling is close to its maximum value, K(2)max, can be obtained. The K(2)max of the second order wave mode (h1 = h2) is estimated to be 4.3% for ZnO/GaN/c-Al2O3, and 3.8% for ZnO/AlN/c-Al2O3. The bandwidth of second and third order wave modes, in which the coupling coefficient is within +/- 0.3% of K(2)max, is calculated to be 820 hf for ZnO/GaN/c-Al2O3, and 3620 hf for ZnO/AlN/c-Al2O3. Thus, the hf region in which the coupling coefficient is close to the maximum value broadens with increasing Al content, while K(2)max decreases slightly. When the thickness ratio of AlN to ZnO increases, the K(2)max and hf bandwidth of the second and third higher wave modes increases. The SAW test devices are fabricated and tested. The theoretical and experimental results of velocity dispersion in the ZnO/AlxGa1-xN/c-Al2O3 structures are found to be well matched.     

Analysis of SAW properties of epitaxial ZnO films grown on R-Al2O3 substrates

ZnO thin films with a high piezoelectric coupling coefficient are widely used for high frequency and low loss surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices when the film is deposited on top of a high acoustic velocity substrate, such as diamond or sapphire. The performance of these devices is critically dependent on the quality of the ZnO films as well as of the interface between ZnO and the substrate. In this paper, we report the studies on piezoelectric properties of epitaxial (112¯0) ZnO thin films grown on R-plane sapphire substrates using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. The c-axis of the ZnO film is in-plane. The ZnO/R-Al₂O₃ interface is atomically sharp. SAW delay lines, aligned parallel to the c-axis, were used to characterize the surface wave velocity, coupling coefficient, and temperature coefficient of frequency as functions of film thickness to wavelength ratio (h/λ). The acoustic wave properties of the material system were calculated using Adler's matrix method, and the devices were simulated using the quasi-static approximation based on Green's function analysis     

Advances in piezoelectric thin films for acoustic biosensors,acoustofluidics and lab-on-chip applications

Recently, piezoelectric thin films including zinc oxide (ZnO) and aluminium nitride (AlN) have found a broad range of lab-on-chip applications such as biosensing, particle/cell concentrating, sorting/patterning, pumping, mixing, nebulisation and jetting. Integrated acoustic wave sensing/microfluidic devices have been fabricated by depositing these piezoelectric films onto a number of substrates such as silicon, ceramics, diamond, quartz, glass, and more recently also polymer, metallic foils and bendable glass/silicon for making flexible devices. Such thin film acoustic wave devices have great potential for implementing integrated, disposable, or bendable/flexible lab-on-a-chip devices into various sensing and actuating applications. This paper discusses the recent development in engineering high performance piezoelectric thin films, and highlights the critical issues such as film deposition, MEMS processing techniques, control of deposition/processing parametres, film texture, doping, dispersion effects, film stress, multilayer design, electrode materials/designs and substrate selections. Finally, advances in using thin film devices for lab-on-chip applications are summarised and future development trends are identified.     

Solution-processable zinc oxide for the polymer solar cell based on P3HT:PCBM

The device performance of polymer solar cells with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles inserted as an electron injection layer between the poly(3-hexylthiopene) (P3HT):phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) active layer and the Al electrode was studied. The polymer solar cell consists of molybdenum-oxide (MoO3) as a hole injection layer, P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction as an active layer, and ZnO NPs as an electron injection layer. The ZnO layer was formed from a precursor solution on the top part of the P3HT:PCBM film (1:0.8 weight ratio) via sol-gel spin-coating, and was annealed at a low temperature (150 degrees C). The crystallinity, the atomic ratio of Zn and O, the absorption spectra, and the surface morphology of the ZnO thin films were studied. The device with a ZnO layer showed 9-11% higher J(SC) and 8-9% higher PCE compared to the devices without a ZnO layer. These improved device properties are attributed to the efficient electron extraction and the decreased reflectivity owing to the use of a ZnO layer.     

Influence of spinel substrate and over-layer for enhanced SAW and AO properties with KNbO3 thin film

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagation characteristics have been studied using modeling calculations for a potassium niobate (KNbO/sub 3/) thin film-layered structure with [001] and [110] orientation on a single crystal spinel (MgAl/sub 2/O/sub 4/) substrate, and a spinel buffer layer on silicon. Variation in the electromechanical coupling and acoustic attenuation has been compared. A significantly high value of coupling factor (k/sub max//sup 2/=23%) is obtained for the [001]KNbO/sub 3//spinel structure by introducing an optimum thickness of spinel over-layer for potential wide bandwidth SAW device applications. The dispersion characteristics with the [110] KNbO/sub 3/ orientation indicate an initial peak in the coupling coefficient value (k/sub max//sup 2/=8.8%) at a relatively low KNbO/sub 3/ film thickness that appears attractive for fabricating devices with thinner films. The KNbO/sub 3/ film with [001] orientation is found attractive for efficient acousto-optic (AO) device application with the formation of a symmetric waveguide structure (spinel(0.5 /spl mu/m)/KNbO/sub 3/(1.0 /spl mu/m)/spinel). A high value of k/sup 2/=23.5% with 50% diffraction efficiency has been obtained for the spinel(0.5 /spl mu/m)/KNbO/sub 3/(1.0 /spl mu/m)/spinel structure at 1 GHz SAW frequency and 633 nm optical wavelength at a very low input drive power of 15.4 mW.     

Intrinsic sensitivity of Cd/sub 1-x/Zn/sub x/Te semiconductors for digital radiographic imaging

The intrinsic sensitivity of cadmium zinc telluride (Cd/sub 1-x/Zn/sub x/Te) semiconductor detectors has been experimentally measured, within the X-ray diagnostic energy range. The results of this study indicate that the intrinsic efficiency of Cd/sub 1-x/Zn/sub x/Te can be increased by optimizing geometrical and physical detection parameters such as X-ray irradiation geometry, detector thickness, and applied electric field. These results indicate that Cd/sub 1-x/Zn/sub x/Te is a suitable candidate for digital imaging applications.     

Solidly mounted ZnO shear mode film bulk acoustic resonators for sensing applications in liquids

Solidly mounted film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) operating at 850 MHz in the shear vibration mode have been fabricated. C-axis inclined zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films realized by modified reactive magnetron sputtering were used: Coupling factors k2 of 1.7% and Q-factors of 312 were determined in air. Q-factors of 192 were measured in water, making these devices attractive for sensing applications in liquids, e.g., biosensing.     

ZnO纳米棒阵列和薄膜的同步外延生长及其光电化学性能

使用化学气相沉积法在a面蓝宝石衬底上同步外延生长氧化锌(ZnO)竖直纳米棒阵列和薄膜,研究了阵列和薄膜的光电化学性能。结果表明,纳米结构中的竖直单晶纳米棒有六棱柱形和圆柱形,其底部ZnO薄膜使竖直纳米棒互相联通。与ZnO纳米薄膜的比较表明,这种纳米结构具有优异的光电化学性能,其入射光电流效率是ZnO纳米薄膜的2.4倍;光能转化效率是ZnO纳米薄膜的5倍。这种纳米结构优异的光电化学性能,可归因于其高表面积-体积比以及其底部薄膜提供的载流子传输通道。本文分析了这种纳米结构的生长过程,提出了协同生长机理：Au液化吸收气氛中的Zn原子生成合金,合金液滴过饱和后ZnO开始成核,随后在衬底表面生成了ZnO薄膜。同时,还发生了Zn自催化的气-固(VS)生长和Au催化的气-液-固(VLS)生长,分别生成六棱柱纳米棒和圆柱形纳米棒,制备出底部由薄膜连接的竖直纳米棒阵列。     

Spin-on spintronics: ultrafast electron spin dynamics in ZnO and Zn₁-xCoxO sol-gel films

We use time-resolved Faraday rotation spectroscopy to probe the electron spin dynamics in ZnO and magnetically doped Zn(1-x)Co(x)O sol-gel thin films. In undoped ZnO, we observe an anomalous temperature dependence of the ensemble spin dephasing time T(2), i.e., longer coherence times at higher temperatures, reaching T(2) ～ 1.2 ns at room temperature. Time-resolved transmission measurements suggest that this effect arises from hole trapping at grain surfaces. Deliberate addition of Co(2+) to ZnO increases the effective electron Lande? g factor, providing the first direct determination of the mean-field electron-Co(2+) exchange energy in Zn(1-x)Co(x)O (N(0)α = +0.25 ± 0.02 eV). In Zn(1-x)Co(x)O, T(2) also increases with increasing temperature, allowing spin precession to be observed even at room temperature.     

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.     

On the origin of high-temperature ferromagnetism in the low-temperature-processed Mn-Zn-O system

The recent discovery of ferromagnetism above room temperature in low-temperature-processed MnO(2)-ZnO has generated significant interest. Using suitably designed bulk and thin-film studies, we demonstrate that the ferromagnetism in this system originates in a metastable phase rather than by carrier-induced interaction between separated Mn atoms in ZnO. The ferromagnetism persists up to approximately 980 K, and further heating transforms the metastable phase and kills the ferromagnetism. By studying the interface diffusion and reaction between thin-film bilayers of Mn and Zn oxides, we show that a uniform solution of Mn in ZnO does not form under low-temperature processing. Instead, a metastable ferromagnetic phase develops by Zn diffusion into the Mn oxide. Direct low-temperature film growth of Zn-incorporated Mn oxide by pulsed laser deposition shows ferromagnetism at low Zn concentration for an optimum oxygen growth pressure. Our results strongly suggest that the observed ferromagnetic phase is oxygen-vacancy-stabilized Mn(2-x)Zn(x)O(3-delta.).     

Core-shell multi-quantum wells in ZnO/ZnMgO nanowires with high optical efficiency at room temperature

Nanowire-based light-emitting devices require multi-quantum well heterostructures with high room temperature optical efficiencies. We demonstrate that such efficiencies can be attained through the use of ZnO/Zn((1-x))Mg(x)O core-shell quantum well heterostructures grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. Varying the barrier Mg concentration from x?=?0.15 to 0.3 leads to the formation of misfit induced dislocations in the multi-quantum wells. Correlatively, temperature dependent photoluminescence reveals that the radial well luminescence intensity decreases much less rapidly with increasing temperature for the lower Mg concentration. Indeed, about 54% of the 10?K intensity is retained at room temperature with x?=?0.15, against 1% with x?=?0.30. These results open the way to the realization of high optical efficiency nanowire-based light-emitting diodes.