Comparative study of ITO and FTO thin films grown by spray pyrolysis

Tin doped indium oxide (ITO) and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films have been prepared by one step spray pyrolysis. Both film types grown at 400 °C present a single phase, ITO has cubic structure and preferred orientation (4 0 0) while FTO exhibits a tetragonal structure. Scanning electron micrographs showed homogeneous surfaces with average grain size around 257 and 190 nm for ITO and FTO respectively.The optical properties have been studied in several ITO and FTO samples by transmittance and reflectance measurements. The transmittance in the visible zone is higher in ITO than in FTO layers with a comparable thickness, while the reflectance in the infrared zone is higher in FTO in comparison with ITO. The best electrical resistivity values, deduced from optical measurements, were 8 × 10⁻⁴ and 6 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm for ITO (6% of Sn) and FTO (2.5% of F) respectively. The figure of merit reached a maximum value of 2.15 × 10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ for ITO higher than 0.55 × 10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ for FTO.     

Preparation of ceria films by spray pyrolysis method

The deposition of CeO₂ films on fused-silica substrates by spray pyrolysis of a water–ethanol solution of a cerium nitrate precursor has been studied. Polycrystalline films have been obtained at a substrate temperature of 300–450°C after annealing of the deposit in air at temperatures in the range 350–500°C. It has been established that the best uniform ceria films with nanometric scale grains are prepared at a substrate temperature of 400°C with 0.5 h annealing of the deposit at 500°C. At lower spraying temperatures large CeO₂ crystallites have been observed on the film surface along with the fine grains. When the substrate temperature exceeds 400°C, numerous cracks caused by thermal stresses appear in the films.     

Synthesis of LaCrO3 films using spray pyrolysis technique

LaCrO₃ thin films on electrolyte yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique in the temperature range of 600–750 °C using lanthanum and chromium nitrates as precursors. Thin films obtained at 600–650 °C appear to be a mixture of cubic La(OH)CrO₄ and cubic LaCrO₄ phases, which transforms to pure cubic LaCrO₄ with the substrate temperature increasing to 700–750 °C. After being annealed at 900 °C for 2 h, all films convert to a single cubic LaCrO₃ phase. The change of Cr2p spectra in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis shows the similar phase transformation process. Reaction processes with respect to the substrate temperature were proposed according to X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS analysis. The surface morphology of the films was found to depend strongly on the substrate temperature, which would be the deciding factor of the film growth mechanisms.     

Formation of CdS films by spray pyrolysis

In this paper the formation of CdS films by spray pyrolysis of neutral aqueous solutions of CdCl₂ and SC(NH₂)₂ is described. It was established that the process passes through the stage of the intermediate complex compound [Cd(SCN₂H₄)₂]Cl₂ for various molar ratios of the initial components. The complex compounds are characterized by IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and chemical analysis. The thermal decomposition of [Cd(SCN₂H₄)₂]Cl₂ to cadmium sulphide was studied.     

Preparation of AgInS2 chalcopyrite thin films by chemical spray pyrolysis

AgInS₂ thin films were prepared by the spray pyrolysis technique using a water/ethanol solution containing silver acetate, indium chloride and thiourea. We reported our results on the characterization of tetragonal AgInS₂ (chalcopyrite type) films, which were grown from indium deficient spraying solution. The films displayed a n-type conductivity with room temperature resistivities in the range between 10³ and 10⁴ Ω cm. The absorption spectra of sprayed films revealed two direct band-gaps with characteristic energies around 1.87 and 2.01 eV, which are in good agreement with the reported energy values for interband transitions from the split p-like valence band to the s-like conduction band in tetragonal AgInS₂ single crystals.     

偕胺肟基螯合纳米纤维的制备

以静电纺聚丙烯腈(PAN)纳米纤维为原料,与盐酸羟胺的水溶液反应,将腈基转化为偕胺肟基团,从而制备出偕胺肟基螯合纤维。探讨了盐酸羟胺浓度、pH值、反应时间及温度对转化率的影响,并分别采用扫描电子显微镜和傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)对PAN纳米纤维膜反应前后的形貌和分子基团进行分析。结果表明:PAN在pH值为7时,腈基转化率最高;-CN转化率随着浓度、反应时间及温度的增大而提高。红外光谱分析表明,PAN分子中有部分腈基转化为偕胺肟基团。     

Growth of thin ZnO films by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

We report the growth of high-quality thin ZnO films with controlled microstructure on Si(111) substrates by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis of Zn-containing solutions.     

Preparation and characterization of copper(II) oxide thin films grown by a novel spray pyrolysis method

A novel spray pyrolysis reactor was used to prepare thin films of CuO on silica substrates. The resulting films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, optical and electrical measurements. The films were single phase, homogeneous, and uniform.     

Investigation of precursors concentration in spray solution on the optoelectronic properties of CuInSe2 thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis method

Copper indium selenide CuInSe₂(CISe) thin films were deposited by chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP) method of CuInS₂(CIS) and subsequent selenization process. To study the effects of solution concentration, we prepared different precursors solution of CIS including different amount of indium salts from 0.025 to 0.100 M with In/Cu 1.25 and S/In 4. These results propose that solution concentration is critical for inflecting the morphological, optical, electrical, and electrochemical characteristics of solution-processed CISe films and device performance. The studied morphological properties of deposited samples were homogenous, crack-free with large grains in indium salt concentrations more than 0.075 M. The deposited film thickness depends on the spray precursor concentration and increases for higher concentration. In addition with increasing of indium precursor concentration from 0.025 to 0.100 M in spray solution, the optical bandgap of deposited film decreases from 1.40 to 1.35 eV. Also the films mobility and carrier density were notably influenced by any change in the solution concentration. Electrical and electrochemical properties showed a decrease in carrier density from?~?10²⁰ to?~?10¹⁷ cm^?3 and the increase in mobility of order?~?10^–7 to?~?10^–2 cm²/V s, respectively, for 0.025 M, 0.100 M CISe films. All films exhibited p-type conductivity owing to different concentrations. However, it seems that the concentration of the ideal solution is 0.100 molars.

     

A comparative study of dip coating and spray pyrolysis methods for synthesizing ITO nanolayers by using Ag colloidal sol

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on glass substrates by dip-coating and thermal pyrolysis methods. Sn (IV) is often used in the spray method as a precursor salt, but in this research we have employed a new procedure that uses Sn (II) and In(NO₃)₃ for preparation of transparent conductive thin films. Then, colloidal Ag was deposited on the ITO layers in order to compare the two synthesis methods, and the structural and electrical properties of the resultant films were investigated by FESEM, XRD, and four-terminal resistometry. The obtained films are polycrystalline with a preferred orientation of (200). The XRD patterns of the films indicate that in both films, the Sn phase is crystallized separately from In₂O₃. The presence of a Sn peak and the overall low intensity of XRD peaks suggest relative crystallization of ITO structure. For this reason, Ag films were deposited by dip coating method using a colloidal sol. By analyzing the XRD patterns of Ag-ITO films after eliminating the Sn peak, the increased intensity of the peaks confirmed the relatively good crystallization of the ITO films. The results show that the films with a sheet resistance as low as 2 × 10^?2 Ω·cm, which is beneficial for solar cells, were achieved.     

Physical and electrical characterization of CdS films deposited by vacuum evaporation, solution growth and spray pyrolysis

The physical and electrical characteristics of CdS thin films deposited by vacuum evaporation, solution growth and spray pyrolysis were analysed. The effects of the common grain growth promoter CdCl₂ and annealing were investigated. Grain size, bulk composition and surface composition were measured by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, Auger spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Schottky diode analysis was performed to study the electrical characteristics of the films, and energy band gap was measured by spectral transmission. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

喷雾热分解法制备SnO2·F薄膜与导电性能研究

以SnCl4·5H2O和NH4F为原料,采用喷雾热分解的方法在片状日用玻璃基材和石英玻璃基材上制得了掺氟氧化锡透明导电薄膜.采用X射线衍射仪(XRD)和扫描电镜(SEM)分别对薄膜的内部结构和表面形貌进行了表征.研究了F-的掺杂量、喷涂温度、沉积时间和热处理对薄膜方阻R□的影响.实验结果表明,当[NH4F]/[SnCl4·5H2O]=32wt%、成膜温度为450℃、喷涂时间为15s时,可使所得薄膜的方阻R□达最低,为10Ω/□.     

Characterization of Tin disulphide thin films prepared at different substrate temperature using spray pyrolysis technique

Thin films of tin disulphide on glass substrates were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique using precursor solutions of SnCl₂·2H₂O and n–n dimethyl thiourea at different substrate temperatures varied in the range 348–423 K. Using the hot probe technique the type of conductivity is found to be n type. X ray diffraction analysis revealed the polycrystalline nature with increasing crystallinity with respect to substrate temperature. The preferential orientation growth of SnS₂ compound having hexagonal structure along (002) plane increased with the substrate temperature. The size of the tin disulphide crystallites with nano dimension were determined using the Full Width Half Maximum values of the Bragg peaks and found to increase with the substrate temperature. The surface morphology had been observed on the surface of these films using scanning electron microscope. The optical absorption and transmittance spectra have been recorded for these films in the wavelength range 400–800 nm. Thickness of these films was found using surface roughness profilometer. The absorption coefficient (α) was determined for all the films. Direct band gap values were found to exist in all the films deposited at different substrate temperatures. The value of room temperature resistivity in dark decreased from 5.95 × 10³ Ω cm for the amorphous film deposited at low temperature (348 K) to 2.22 × 10³ Ω cm for the polycrystalline film deposited at high temperature (423 K) whereas the resistivity values in light decreased from 1.48 × 10³ to 0.55 × 10³ Ω cm respectively, which is determined using the four probe method. Activation energy of these thin films was determined by Arrhenius plot.     

Synthesis of mixed-phase titania films by low-temperature ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

Fully dense TiO₂ films with (1) mixed-phase rutile and anatase and (2) anatase (sole phase) were deposited on fused quartz substrates by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis at nominally 400 °C. The presence and absence of insulation around the entrainment pathway traversing 20 cm above the substrate/hot plate were investigated (174 °C vs 122 °C). The thick films were assessed in terms of mineralogies (qualitative and quantitative), microstructures (topography, thickness and grain size), and visible light transmission (optical and microstructural considerations). With insulation, opaque mixed anatase (∼ 30 vol.%; < 50 nm) and rutile (∼ 70 vol.%; ∼ 1 μm) were observed; without insulation, only transparent anatase (< 50 nm) was observed.     

Growth of rod-like crystal BiSI films by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

Rod-like crystals BiSI films were synthesized by asynchronous ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method on glass substrates at 320 °C. The results show that an appropriate ratio of pulse time to interval time between pulses plays an important role in crystal growth direction of the rods, and a possible growth mechanism was proposed.     

Optical constants of CdS thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis

CdS thin films were prepared by spray pyrolysis techniques. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry was used for optical constant calculations. Multiple angle measurements were taken in the most sensitive angle of incidence region. The sensitive regions of angle of incidence were obtained theoretically using 3-dimensional graph ofδψ andδΔ. Real partn and imaginary partk of the complex refractive index of the samples were calculated in the wavelength range 470–650 nm, taking into account surface roughness. Bruggeman’s effective medium approximation is used for analysis of the surface rough layer of the thin films.     

超声喷雾热解法制备ZnO薄膜及性能研究

以醋酸锌水溶液为前驱体溶液,使用自制的超声喷雾热解系统在玻璃基板上制备得到了ZnO薄膜.经X射线衍射(XRD),扫描电镜(SEM)分析得到ZnO薄膜的晶体结构和微观形貌.测试结果表明,ZnO薄膜为六角纤锌矿结构,在450～500℃下制备的薄膜显示出良好的结晶性能,并且沿(002)晶面择优取向生长,薄膜具有优良的均匀性和致密性.同时,制备得到的薄膜在可见光区也表现出80%以上的高透过率.     

Development of transparent and conductive ZnO films by spray pyrolysis

Indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) films were deposited on Corning 7059 substrates by the spray pyrolysis technique. To achieve higher electrical conductivity both the zinc acetate concentration and indium concentration in the solution were varied. The films were characterized for their structural and electrical properties. Film stability in H₂ plasma was also checked for possible use in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon related fields. It was observed that the films can be sustained in a hydrogen plasma, and hence IZO films of high conductivity can be used for the development of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon solar cells.     

Preparation of BaTiO3 nanoparticles by combustion spray pyrolysis

BaTiO₃ nanoparticles were synthesized by combustion spray pyrolysis using a 1:1 molar ratio of oxidizer and fuel. To prepare solution precursor, Ba(NO₃)₂, TiO(NO₃)₂, CH₆N₄O, and NH₄NO₃ with the molar ratio of 1:1:4:2.75 were mixed in distilled water with 10% ethyl alcohol. A 0.01 M solution was ultrasonically sprayed into a quartz tube heated at 800 °C. The number concentration of droplets was decreased and large particles were removed by passing the droplets through a metal screen filter. The synthesized particles were well crystallized tetragonal BaTiO₃. The median diameter of BaTiO₃ was 60 nm.