Black-to-transmissive electrochromism of azulene-based donor–acceptor copolymers complemented by poly(4-styrene sulfonic acid)-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)

A series of azulene–carbazole–2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BTD) conjugated terpolymers were synthesized and their electrochemical and electrochromic properties were studied. The terpolymer containing a small amount of BTD units exhibits significantly higher electrochromic contrast and faster switching speed than azulene–carbazole alternating copolymer under low potentials because the BTD units act as electron acceptors, facilitating electron removal from azulene and carbazole units (electron donors) upon oxidation and hence leading to a lower oxidation potential. A complementary electrochromic device (ECD) was fabricated using the terpolymer as the anodically coloring layer and poly(4-styrene sulfonic acid)-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT:PSS) as the cathodically coloring layer. The ECD exhibits black-to-transmissive electrochromism as the absorption bands of the two polymers are complementary to each other in covering the whole visible region and they can be switched simultaneously under relatively low potentials.     

Characterization of ZrTiO4 thin films prepared by sol–gel method

The electrical properties, memory switching behavior, and microstructures of ZrTiO₄ thin films prepared by sol–gel method at different annealing temperatures were investigated. All films exhibited ZrTiO₄ (111) and (101) orientations perpendicular to the substrate surface, and the grain size increased with increasing annealing temperature. A low leakage current density of 1.47×10^?6 A/cm² was obtained for the prepared films. The I–V characteristics of ZrTiO₄ capacitors can be explained in terms of ohmic conduction in the low electric field region and Schottky emission in the high electric field region. An on/off ratio of 10² was measured in our glass/ITO/ZrTiO₄/Pt structure with an annealing temperature of 600 °C. Considering the primary memory switching behavior of ZrTiO₄, ReRAM based on ZrTiO₄ shows promise for future nonvolatile memory applications.     

Optical properties of electrochemically synthesized polypyrrole thin films:the electrolyte effect

Polypyrrole thin films are prepared by the potentiostatic mode of electrodeposition at ＋0.7 V versus a saturated calomel electrode （SCE）. The polypyrrole films are prepared in the presence of different electrolytes such as： p-toluene sulphonic acid （PTS）, oxalic acid and H2SO4. The prepared films are characterized by UV- vis absorption spectroscopy and normal reflectance measurements. The electrochemically synthesized films are semiconductor in nature. The band gap energy ofpolypyrrole thin films is found to be 1.95, 1.92 and 1.79 eV for H2 SO4, oxalic acid and p-toluene sulphonic acid, respectively. The normal reflectance spectroscopy of polypyrrole films shows that the maximum reflectance is in the presence of p-toluene sulphonic acid; this is may be due to a more distinct microstructure than the others. The optical constants such as the extinction coefficient, refractive index, optical conductivity, etc. are calculated and studied with various electrolytes.     

Electrical properties of Copper(Ⅱ) phthalocyanine derivative thin films

This paper reports an investigation on the electrical properties of thin film devices made by Copper(Ⅱ) phthalocyanine derivative and polycarbonate (PC) composite. The conducting and injection mechanism are further discussed. Materials of a variety composition were prepared into the thin film via spin-coating. ITO and aluminum were used as the bottom and top electrode respectively. J-V characteristic was measured and the result demonstrates that at a small bias region an Ohmic contact was achieved. As the forward bias increased,the current became space charge limited. The result of AC impedance measurement indicates the device could be equivalent to a parallel RC system. The introduction of PC into the CuPc possibly reduces the charge overlapping between the aromatic rings and led to a reduction in the molecular interaction.Hence,the ac conductivity decreases sharply as PC composition increases. But no change in the transport mechanism is found.     

Investigation of optical and electronic properties in Al–Sn co-doped ZnO thin films

Al-Sn co-doped ZnO thin films were deposited onto quartz substrates by sol-gel processing. The surface morphology and electrical and optical properties were investigated at different annealing temperatures. The surface morphology showed a closely packed arrangement of crystallites in all the doped films. As prepared co-doped films show a preferred orientation along an (0 0 2) plane. This preferred orientation was enhanced by increasing the annealing temperature to between 400 °C and 500 °C, but there was a shift to the (1 0 1) plane when the annealing temperature rose above 500 °C. These samples show, on average, 91.2% optical transmittance in the visible range. In this study, the optical band gap of all the doped films was broadened compared with pure ZnO, regardless of the different annealing temperature. The carrier concentration and carrier mobility of the thin films were also investigated.     

CVD-growth of CNT with the use of catalutic Ct–Me–N–O thin films incorporated in the technology

The process of the formation of carbon nanotube arrays on Ct–Me–N catalytic alloys of low nickel content (10–20 at %) by chemical vapor deposition, where Ct is a catalytic metal from the group of Ni, Co, Fe, and Pd, and Me is a transition metal of group IV–VII of the periodic table, was investigated. It is shown that CNT grow effectively when the alloy contains Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Hf, Nb, and Ta. The addition of nitrogen and oxygen to the alloy’s composition gives rise to a buildup of oxynitrides, expelling of the catalyst, and formation of its clusters on the surface. The replacement of metals in the alloy has an effect on the diameter of the CNT. Moreover, the alloy films 10–500 nm thick can be used for the CNT growth, which is responsible for high degree of homogeneity and the repeatability of the process. CNT growth was not observed when the alloy contained W and Re.     

Structure of BaTiO3 thin films modified by film–substrate interaction

Substrate-free crystallization of BaTiO₃ thin films was investigated. It was found that the substrate-free crystallized BaTiO₃ films attain a hexagonal structure, whereas the substrate-supported films always crystallize in the tetragonal phase. The substrate-free crystallized hexagonal BaTiO₃ demonstrates detectable pyroelectric effect and does not exhibit phase transitions in the 25–423 K temperature range. Therefore, the substrate-free crystallized BaTiO₃ represents a previously unreported phase of BaTiO₃.     

Phase transformation kinetics and optical properties of Ga–Se–Sb phase-change thin films

Phase transformation kinetics in Ga₂₅Se_75?xSb_x glasses have been determined by non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetric measurements at heating rates of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 K/min. The values of glass transition (T_g) and crystallization temperature (T_c) are found to be composition and heating rate dependent. The activation energy of crystallization and glass transition have been determined from the dependence of T_c and T_g on the heating rate. Thin films of Ga₂₅Se_75?xSb_x glasses have been prepared by vacuum evaporation technique with thickness 400 nm. These thin films were crystallized by thermal annealing and laser-irradiation. The phase change phenomena have been studied by measuring optical absorption of as-prepared and crystallized thin films in the wave length region 400–900 nm. The optical absorption data indicate that the absorption mechanism is non-direct transition. Optical band gap values decrease with increase in Sb contents in Ga–Se as well as with increase in annealing temperature and laser-irradiation time. The optical band gap is shifted due to crystallization by annealing/laser-irradiation. As the phase of the films changes from amorphous to crystalline, a non sharp change of the optical band gap is observed. This gradual decrease in optical band gap was explained to be a result of an amorphous–crystalline phase transformation.     

Microwave properties and applications of Y–Ba–Cu–O thin films grown on various substrates

Microwave properties of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) films grown on (100) LaAlO₃ (LAO), (110) NdGaO₃ (NGO) and (001) SrLaAlO₄ (SLAO) substrates were studied in the form of a microstrip ring resonator at temperatures above 20 K. The YBCO resonator on a SLAO substrate showed microwave properties better than or comparable to other YBCO resonators on LAO substrates. For the YBCO resonators on LAO and SLAO substrates, both Q_U and f₀ appeared to decrease as the temperature was raised. Meanwhile the resonator on a NGO substrate showed different behaviors with Q_U showing a peak at ∼70 K, which are attributed to the unique temperature dependence of the loss tangent of the NGO substrate. An X-band oscillator with a YBCO ring resonator coupled to the circuit was prepared and its properties were investigated at low temperatures. The frequency of the oscillator signal appeared to change from 7.925 GHz at 30 K to 7.878 GHz at 77 K, which was mostly attributed to the change in f₀ of the YBCO ring resonator. The signal power appeared to be more than 4.5 mW at 30 K and 2.1 mW at 77 K, respectively. At 55 K, the frequency of the oscillator signal was 7.917 GHz with the 3 dB-linewidth of 450 Hz.     

Properties of fluorine-doped SnO2 thin films by a green sol–gel method

Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) films were fabricated on a glass substrate by a green sol–gel dip-coating process. Non-toxic SnF₂ was used as fluorine source to replace toxic HF or NH₄F. Effect of SnF₂ content, 0–10 mol%, on structure, electrical resistivity, and optical transmittance of the films were investigated using X-ray diffraction, Hall effect measurements, and UV–vis spectra. Structural analysis revealed that the films are polycrystalline with a tetragonal crystal structure. Grain size varies from 43 to 21 nm with increasing fluorine concentration, which in fact critically impacts resultant electrical and optical properties. The 500 °C-annealed FTO film containing 6 mol% SnF₂ shows the lowest electrical resistivity 7.0×10⁻⁴ Ω cm, carrier concentration 1.1×10²¹ cm⁻³, Hall mobility 8.1 cm²V⁻¹ s⁻¹, optical transmittance 90.1% and optical band-gap 3.91 eV. The 6 mol% SnF₂ added film has the highest figure of merit 2.43×10⁻² Ω⁻¹ which is four times higher than that of un-doped FTO films. Because of the promising electrical and optical properties, F-doped thin films prepared by this green process are well-suited for use in all aspects of transparent conducting oxide.     

Spectroscopic studies of sol–gel grown CdS nanocrystalline thin films for optoelectronic devices

CdS is one of the highly photosensitive candidate of II–VI group semiconductor material. Therefore CdS has variety of applications in optoelectronic devices. In this paper, we have fabricated CdS nanocrystalline thin film on ultrasonically cleaned glass substrates using the sol–gel spin coating method. The structural and surface morphologies of the CdS thin film were investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) respectively. The surface morphology of thin films showed that the well covered substrate is without cracks, voids and hole. The round shape particle has been observed in SEM micrographs. The particles sizes of CdS nanocrystals from SEM were estimated to be～10–12 nm. Spectroscopic properties of thin films were investigated using the UV–vis spectroscopy, Photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. The optical band gap of the CdS thin film was estimated by UV–vis spectroscopy. The average transmittance of CdS thin film in the visible region of solar spectrum found to be～85%. Optical band gap of CdS thin film was calculated from transmittance spectrum ～2.71 eV which is higher than bulk CdS (2.40 eV) material. This confirms the blue shifting in band edge of CdS nanocrystalline thin films. PL spectrum of thin films showed that the fundamental band edge emission peak centred at 459 nm also recall as green band emission.     

Structural and optical properties of (Al,K)-co-doped ZnO thin films deposited by a sol–gel technique

Thin films of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) and (Al, K)-co-doped ZnO (AKZO) were synthesized by sol–gel spin coating and their structural and optical properties were investigated. All the films had a preferential orientation in which the c-axis was perpendicular to the substrate. The optical bandgap increased after Al doping, but decreased after K doping at a given Al doping concentration. UV emission and a broad visible emission band were observed in photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The intensity of both emission bands decreased after Al and K co-doping. PL excitation (PLE) spectra of the blue emission band indicate that the initial state is possibly the same for all the samples and a similar case occurs for the orange–red emission band. The green emission can be attributed to electronic transitions involving oxygen vacancies. A possible process for the orange–red emission of the thin films is radiative recombination of an electron trapped in a zinc interstitial defect with a hole deeply trapped in interstitial oxygen.     

The effect of temperature on the growth of Ag2O nanoparticles and thin films from bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)silver(I) complex by the thermal decomposition of spin–coated films

Bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)silver(I) complex (Ag-HNA) was prepared through the reaction of the ligand and silver nitrate. Silver oxide nanoparticles were synthesized via thermal decomposition at different temperatures by calcinating Ag complex inside a ceramic boat. The same metal precursor was used to prepare Ag₂O thin films at different temperatures by spin coating onto a glass substrate. The prepared silver complex was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. The effects of decomposition temperatures (150, 200, 250 and 300 °C) and of the annealing temperatures for the films at 200, 250, 300 and 350 °C were studied. The surface morphologies, structural and optical properties of the nanoparticles and films were investigated. The results shows that the temperature plays a significant role in controlling nature of the nanoparticles and thin films. The X-Ray diffraction patterns of Ag₂O nanoparticles and the prepared thin films prepared revealed the face-centred cubic structures.     

Post-annealing effects on structural and magnetic properties of Mn–N codoped ZnO thin films

The sputtered ZnO:Mn thin films were implanted with nitrogen ions (N⁺) and subsequently annealed at different temperatures up to 800 °C in N₂ atmosphere. The structural and magnetic properties of the samples were systematically investigated. Both x-ray diffraction and Raman analyses reveal that all the films are of the wurtzite structure of ZnO with no distinct evidence of secondary phases. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies indicate that both Mn²⁺ and N³⁻ ions were incorporated into ZnO lattice successfully. While the films without nitrogen ions show paramagnetic behavior, ferromagnetism with clear hysteresis at 300 K is observed in Mn–N codoped ZnO films. Most importantly, we also found that the magnetic behavior of the codoped ZnO is very sensitive to the annealing temperature due to its effect on the activation of nitrogen ions. The strongest ferromagnetism is obtained in the films with the highest amount of nitrogen ions acceptors. Our results support the predication that the ferromagnetic ZnO:Mn²⁺ should be more stable of a hole-rich environment by theory.     

Up-conversion luminescence of erbium (III) oxalate nanoparticles/titania/ÿ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane composite sol-gel thin films

Erbium (III) oxalate nanoparticles dispersed titania/ÿ-Glycidoxypropyltrimeth-oxysilane composite materials for photonic applications were prepared by a chemical approach combining the microemulsion technique and the sol-gel method at low temperature. Transmission electron microscopy observation shows that the size of the erbium (III) oxalate nanoparticles is in the range from 10 to 40 nm. A relatively strong room-temperature green up-conversion emission at 543 nm (⁴S_3/2→⁴I_15/2) has been measured for the composite thin films with different erbium oxalate content and heat treatment temperature upon excitation at 993 nm. The lifetime of the visible up-conversion emission has been measured. UV-visible transmission spectroscopy results showed that a relatively high transparency (in the visible range) composite thin film could be obtained at a suitably low heat treatment temperature.     

Enhancement in optical characteristics of c-axis-oriented radio frequency–sputtered ZnO thin films through growth ambient and annealing temperature optimization

High-quality radio frequency–sputtered ZnO were grown on Si substrates at 400 °C at various partial gas pressures (Ar/Ar+O2). Subsequently, to remove as-grown defects, high temperature annealing from 700 to 900 °C on as-grown samples in constant oxygen flow for 10 s was performed. X-ray diffraction study confirmed the formation of highly crystalline films with a dominant peak at (002). The sample grown in 50% Ar and 50% O₂ ambient exhibited the lowest linewidth (2θ=~0.2728°) and highest stoichiometry. Grain size of the as grown samples decreased with increase in the partial pressure of oxygen till a certain ratio (1:1), and photoluminescence (PL) improved with increase in annealing temperature. Low-temperature (18 K) PL measurements showed a near-band-edge emission peak at 3.37 eV, and the highest peak intensity (more than six orders compared to others with narrow linewidth of ~0.01272 eV) was exhibited by the sample annealed at 900 °C and was six orders higher than that of the as-grown sample. All as-grown samples exhibited dominant visible-range peaks due to emission from defect states.     

C-AFM study on multi - resistive switching modes observed in metal–organic frameworks thin films

Metal-organic framework (MOF) materials have recently attracted much attention for use in resistive random-access memory due to the advantages of having high insulative properties, well-defined structures, a large specific surface area, and an adjustable pore size. In this study, the memory device based on zirconium (IV)-carboxylate MOF (UiO-66) nanoparticles exhibits the low operation voltage (V < 0.5 V), high ON/OFF ratio (~10⁴), excellent endurance (5 × 10² cycles), and longtime retention (10⁴ s). To clarify the resistive switching mechanism of the Ag/PVA-MOF/FTO device, conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) was used. The results indicate that all of the electrode, Zr₆ clusters of UiO-66, PVA, and UiO-66 conjugation have simultaneous contributions to the resistance switching behavior. The resistive switching can be controlled either by the electron hopping process between Ag⁺ ions and Zr₆ nodes in threshold mode or the formation/rupture of the metal filaments in the bipolar switching mode. Interestingly, inherent characteristics of MOF materials, such as high porosity and large size cages (octahedral, tetrahedral), strongly influence the transport properties and switching mechanism of the device which is also discussed in detail. These resistive switching characteristics and mechanisms of UiO-66 could provide a thorough understanding for future research and application not just for UiO-66 but also for the general MOFs materials.     

Band structure anisotropy effects on the hole transport transient in 4H–SiC

We study the role of band structure anisotropy on the hole transport in 4H–SiC during the transient regime. For the same strength of the applied electric field, the drift velocity overshoot of the hole is stronger and reaches steady state later when the field is applied perpendicular to the c-axis, than when the field is in the c-axis direction. In both cases, the time for the hole drift velocity and mean energy to reach steady state is under 50 fs, depending on the electric field strength, and are one order of magnitude shorter than the time for the electron drift velocity and mean energy to attain the steady state.