Photovoltaic properties of an amorphous carbon/fullerene junction

This paper demonstrates all-carbon photovoltaic devices made of amorphous carbon (a-C) and C₆₀ thin films. C₆₀ film is deposited by the sublimation in vacuum and a-C film is synthesized by exposing N₂ radicals to C₆₀ during the deposition. C₆₀ is converted into a-C when the rf power is larger than 150 W and the optical band gap decreases with increasing the power. Photovoltaic properties of device with the structure of Al/C₆₀/a-C/indium tin oxide/glass are presented. It is shown that the present cell has a strong spectral response in the wavelength range shorter than 550 nm and a small response at around 620 nm.     

Studies of carbon ion self-implantation into hydrogenated amorphous carbon films

The properties of polymer-like amorphous hydrogenated carbon thin films with low defect density have been studied. These films were implanted with carbon ions with a dose range of 10¹²–10¹⁶ cm⁻². The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of ion beam damage on this type of film. Optical absorption measurements observe a narrowing of the optical band gap, suggesting the introduction of a large number of defect states subsequent to the implantation resulting in the broadening of the band tails, only after a threshold ion dose of 10¹⁵ cm⁻². Nuclear reaction analysis suggests also a reduction in the hydrogen content of the film which coincides with film thinning.     

Growth and properties of Cu3SbS4 thin films prepared by a two-stage process for solar cell applications

Cu₃SbS₄ is a promising material for thin film heterojunction solar cells owing to its suitable optical and electrical properties. In this paper, we report the preparation of Cu₃SbS₄ thin films by annealing the Sb₂S₃/CuS stacks, produced by chemical bath deposition, in a graphite box held at different temperatures. The influence of annealing temperature on the growth and properties of these films is investigated. These films are systematically analyzed by evaluating their structural, microstructural, optical and electrical properties using suitable characterization techniques. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that these films exhibit tetragonal crystal structure with the lattice parameters a=0.537 nm and b=1.087 nm. Their crystallite size increases with increasing annealing temperature of the stacks. Raman spectroscopy analysis of these films exhibited modes at 132, 247, 273, 317, 344, 358 and 635 cm⁻¹ due to Cu₃SbS₄ phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the films prepared by annealing the stack at 350 °C exhibit a Cu-poor and Sb-rich composition with +1, +5 and −2 oxidation states of Cu, Sb and S, respectively. Morphological studies showed an improvement in the grain size of the films on increasing the annealing temperature. The direct optical band gap of these films was in the range of 0.82–0.85 eV. Hall measurements showed that the films are p-type in nature and their electrical resistivity, hole mobility and hole concentration are in the ranges of 0.14–1.20 Ω-cm, 0.05–2.11 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 9.4×10²⁰–1.4×10¹⁹ cm⁻³, respectively. These structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties suggest that Cu₃SbS₄ could be used as an absorber layer for bottom cell in multi-junction solar cells.     

Structure and electrical properties of a-C:H thin films deposited by RF sputtering

We investigated the film structure and the electrical properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin films. a-C:H thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. Two different RF power sources of 13.56 MHz and 60 MHz were used to deposit the a-C:H films. The bonding hydrogen concentration varied from 1.6 × 10²² cm^? 3 to 8.6 × 10²² cm^? 3. The concentration of incorporated hydrogen atoms varied from 18 to 57 at.%. The optical gap increased from 1.58 eV to 2.56 eV with increasing the hydrogen concentration. The resistivity increased from 10¹³ Ω cm to 10¹⁵ Ω cm with increasing the hydrogen concentration. The permittivity measured at 1 MHz decreased from 5.6 to 2.3 with increasing the hydrogen concentration. These results suggest that the film structure and electrical properties can be controlled by the hydrogen concentration.     

Polymeric semiconducting carbon from fullerene by pulsed laser ablation

The polymeric semiconducting carbon films are grown on silicon and quartz substrates by excimer (XeCl) pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique using fullerene C₆₀ precursor. The substrate temperature is varied up to 300 °C. The structure and optical properties of the films strongly depend on the substrate temperature. The grain size is increased and uniform polymeric film with improved morphology at higher temperature is observed. The Tauc gap is about 1.35 eV for the film deposited at 100°C and with temperature the gap is decreased upto 1.1 eV for the film deposited at 250 °C and increased to about 1.4 eV for the film deposited at 300 °C. The optical absorption properties are improved with substrate temperature. Raman spectra show the presence of both G peak and D peak and are peaked at about 1590 cm^− 1 and 1360 cm^− 1, respectively for the film deposited at 100 °C. The G peak position remains almost unchanged while D peak has changed only a little with temperature might be due to its better crystalline structure compared to the typical amorphous carbon films and might show interesting in device such as, optoelectronic applications.     

Fabrication of highly efficient TiO2/Ag/TiO2 multilayer transparent conducting electrode with N ion implantation for optoelectronic applications

Fabrication of highly conductive and transparent TiO₂/Ag/TiO₂ (referred hereafter as TAT) multilayer films with nitrogen implantation is reported. In the present work, TAT films were fabricated with a total thickness of 100 nm by sputtering on glass substrates at room temperature. The as-deposited films were implanted with 40 keV N ions for different fluences (1×10¹⁴, 5×10¹⁴, 1×10¹⁵, 5×10¹⁵ and 1×10¹⁶ ions/cm²). The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of N⁺ implantation on the optical and electrical properties of TAT multilayer films. X-ray diffraction of TAT films shows an amorphous TiO₂ film with a crystalline peak assigned to Ag (111) diffraction plane. The surface morphology studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) revealed smooth and uniform top layer of the sandwich structure. The surface roughness of pristine film was 1.7 nm which increases to 2.34 nm on implantation for 1×10¹⁴ ions/cm² fluence. Beyond this fluence, the roughness decreases. The oxide/metal/oxide structure exhibits an average transmittance ~80% for pristine and ~70% for the implanted film at fluence of 1×10¹⁶ ions/cm² in the visible region. The electrical resistivity of the pristine sample was obtained as 2.04×10⁻⁴ Ω cm which is minimized to 9.62×10⁻⁵ Ω cm at highest fluence. Sheet resistance of TAT films decreased from 20.4 to 9.62 Ω/□ with an increase in fluence. Electrical and optical parameters such as carrier concentration, carrier mobility, absorption coefficient, band gap, refractive index and extinction coefficient have been calculated for the pristine and implanted films to assess the performance of films. The TAT multilayer film with fluence of 1×10¹⁶ ions/cm² showed maximum Haacke figure of merit (FOM) of 5.7×10⁻³ Ω⁻¹. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of N 1s and Ti 2p spectra revealed that substitutional implantation of nitrogen into the TiO₂ lattice added new electronic states just above the valence band which is responsible for the narrowing of band gap resulting in the enhancement in electrical conductivity. This study reports that fabrication of multilayer transparent conducting electrode with nitrogen implantation that exhibits superior electrical and optical properties and hence can be an alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) for futuristic TCE applications in optoelectronic devices.     

Characterization of spray pyrolytically deposited high mobility praseodymium doped CdO thin films

Praseodymium (Pr) doped CdO thin films with high transparency and high mobility were deposited, using a homemade spray pyrolysis setup, on micro-slide glass substrates preheated at 300 °C. Polycrystalline nature and Cd-O bond vibration of deposited films were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, micro-Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. The oxidation state of Cd²⁺, O²⁻, and Pr³⁺ was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The highest average particle size (92 nm-FESEM) and high RMS (13.48 nm-AFM) values are obtained for 0.50 wt% Pr doped CdO thin film. The optical band gap is varied between 2.38 eV and 2.52 eV, depending on the Pr doping concentration. Photoluminescence spectra revealed that Pr doped CdO thin film exhibits strong green emission at 582 nm. High mobility (82 cm²/V s), high charge carrier concentration (2.19×10²⁰ cm⁻³) and high transmittance (83%) were observed for 0.50 wt% Pr doped CdO film. A high figure of merit (9.79×10⁻³ Ω⁻¹) was obtained for 0.50 wt% Pr doped CdO thin films. The mechanism behind the above results is discussed in detail in this paper.     

Preparation of diamond like carbon thin films above room temperature and their properties

Diamond like carbon (DLC) thin films were deposited on p-type silicon (p-Si), quartz and ITO substrates by microwave (MW) surface-wave plasma (SWP) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at different substrate temperatures (RT ∼ 300 °C). Argon (Ar: 200 sccm) was used as carrier gas while acetylene (C₂H₂: 20 sccm) and nitrogen (N: 5 sccm) were used as plasma source. Analytical methods such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), FT-IR and UV–visible spectroscopy were employed to investigate the structural and optical properties of the DLC thin films respectively. FT-IR spectra show the structural modification of the DLC thin films with substrate temperatures showing the distinct peak around 3350 cm^− 1 wave number; which may corresponds to the sp² C–H bond. Tauc optical gap and film thickness both decreased with increasing substrate temperature. The peaks of XPS core level C 1 s spectra of the DLC thin films shifted towards lower binding energy with substrate temperature. We also got the small photoconductivity action of the film deposited at 300 °C on ITO substrate.     

Polymeric amorphous carbon films with an extended range of optical gaps

A new type of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) film is prepared under low bias voltage and an extended range of plasma density in a radio-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system (RF-PECVD). The obtained a-C:H samples are grown on electrically floating substrates instead of substrates mounted on the powered or the grounded electrode of RF-PECVD, and have structure and properties that are significantly different from regular a-C:H films. The samples have an optical gap ranging from 1 to 4 eV, while maintaining low intrinsic stress between 0.1 and 0.2 GPa. Fractions of all types of CH_x carbon–hydrogen groups of the obtained samples are measured, analyzed, and used to locate these samples in the carbon-hydrogen ternary phase diagram. The obtained samples are located in the same general area as the regular a-C:H films, indicating configurational rather than compositional structural differences. The hydrogenation ratio of sp³ carbons in the obtained samples is found to remain at a very high level, and is used to explain their unique properties.     

Microstructure,optical and electrical properties of sputtered HfTiO high-k gate dielectric thin films

The microstructure, optical and electrical properties of HfTiO high-k gate dielectric thin films deposited on Si substrate and quartz substrate by RF magnetron sputtering have been investigated. Based on analysis from x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, it has been found that the as-deposited HfTiO films remain amorphous regardless of the working gas pressure. Meanwhile, combined with characterization of ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV–vis) and spectroscopy ellipsometry (SE), the deposition rate, band gap and optical properties of sputtered HfTiO gate dielectrics were determined. Besides, by means of the characteristic curves of high frequency capacitance–voltage (C–V) and leakage current density–voltage (J–V), the electrical parameters, such as permittivity, total positive charge density, border trap charge density, and leakage current density, have been obtained. The leakage current mechanisms are also discussed. The energy band gap of 3.70 eV, leakage current density of 1.39×10⁻⁵ A/cm² at bias voltage of 2 V, and total positive charge density and border trap charge density of 9.16×10¹¹ cm⁻² and 1.3×10¹¹ cm⁻², respectively render HfTiO thin films deposited at 0.6 Pa, potential high-k gate dielectrics in future CMOS devices.     

Influence of Er doping on the structural,optical and luminescence properties of pulsed laser deposited Er: BaZrO3 thin films

Pure and erbium doped (1, 2, 3 and 5 at%) Barium zirconate (BZE) thin films have been deposited on Si (0 0 1) substrate via pulsed laser deposition using 100 mJ Nd: YAG laser operated at second harmonics (532 nm). Er doping significantly affects the surface morphology, microstructure and optical properties of grown thin films. All the films exhibit cubic BaZrO₃ structure and are polycrystalline in nature as extracted from XRD data. The optical band gap energies (3.75–3.63 eV) of doped (1, 2, 3, and 5 at%) BZE thin films are found to be less than that of pure BZO film (4.03 eV). PL spectra, excited at 328 nm, mainly consist of violet-blue (412 nm) and green (523–543 nm) emissions for all the doped films. The green emission increases with the increase in Er doping upto 3 at% and then concentration quenching effect appears at 5 at%. It is noted that the relative intensity of PL emission and the optical band gap can be tuned by varying Er concentration to alter the properties of the phosphor. The emission peaks in photoluminescence spectra makes the Er: BZO films potential candidates to be used in optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs).     

Hydrogenated amorphous carbon films deposited in an electron cyclotron resonance–chemical vapor deposition discharge reactor using acetylene

Hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films have been deposited from acetylene gas in a microwave electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma reactor. The films were deposited at a pressure of 0.2 mTorr and at radio frequency (r.f.) induced substrate biases from 80–300 V. Selected film properties, including optical bandgap and bonded hydrogen content, were measured. At r.f. induced biases from 150 to 300 V, corresponding to ion energies for C₂H₂⁺ of approximately 150–300 eV, the hydrogen content remains constant and the optical bandgap peaks at a bias of 200 V, or approximately 100 eV per carbon in the C₂H₂⁺ ions. This ECR system result is in agreement with those observed by other researchers using different deposition methods where an optical bandgap maximum and an sp³ maximum occurs at ion energies of 90–100 eV per carbon atom. The discharge properties measured include a partial pressure analysis of the residual exit gas and the substrate current density.     

Dielectric properties and bright red emission of Y3+/Eu3+-codoped ZrO2 thin films prepared by chemical solution deposition

We report on an effective combination of good dielectric properties with bright red emission in Y³⁺/Eu³⁺-codoped ZrO₂ thin films. The thin films were deposited on fused silica and Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrates using a chemical solution deposition method. The crystal structure, surface morphology, electrical and optical properties of the thin films were investigated in terms of annealing temperature, and Y³⁺/Eu³⁺ doping content. The 5%Eu₂O₃–3%Y₂O₃–92%ZrO₂ thin film with 400 nm thickness annealed at 700 °C exhibits optimal photoluminescent properties and excellent electrical properties. Under excitation by 396 nm light, the thin film on fused silica substrate shows bright red emission bands centered at 593 nm and 609 nm, which can be attributed to the transitions of Eu³⁺ ions. Dielectric constant and dissipation factor of the thin films at 1 kHz are 30 and 0.01, respectively, and the capacitance density is about 65.5 nf/cm² when the bias electric field is less than 500 kV/cm. The thin films also exhibit a low leakage current density and a high optical transmittance with a large band gap.     

Effect of withdrawal rate on the evolution of optical properties of dip-coated yttria-doped zirconia thin films

In this work, the Swanepoel method is described and applied for determining various optical parameters and thicknesses of dip–coated yttria–doped zirconia thin films. Using this method the influence of the withdrawal rate on optical parameters was studied. The characterization of the deposited thin films was carried out by optical microscopy and FT–IR spectrophotometry. As expected, coating thickness was closely related to the withdrawal rate and consequently influenced optical parameters such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, and absorption coefficient. Regarding the average refractive index of the prepared thin films, n is in the 2.0 – 2.2 range, the higher refractive index average value being obtained with films deposited at 25 mm min⁻¹ (n = 2.19). The value of the optical band gap was also studied, this increased with withdrawal rate and was quite similar to values reported by other investigators at 50, 25 and 10 mm min⁻¹. Thus, this study proposes analysing the influence of the withdrawal rate for the manufacture of different types of thin films with previously specified optical parameters.     

The growth of transparent amorphous carbon thin films from coal

Large-area, uniform, transparent amorphous carbon (a-C) thin films were synthesized through simple chemical vapor deposition using coal as the solid carbon source. The atomic force microscopy characterization showed that the synthesized carbon thin film has ∼5 nm thickness with ∼0.55 nm surface roughness. The optical transmittance spectrum showed that the carbon thin film has >96% optical transmittance over the spectral range from 350 nm to 900 nm. The carbon thin films can be transferred to various substrates, which show promise for applications in solar cell, optical and magnetic storage disks, light emitting diodes, photodiodes, and biomedical implants.     

Structural,electrical and optical properties of molybdenum-doped TiO2 thin films

Molybdenum doped TiO₂ (MTO) thin films were prepared by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at room temperature and followed by a heat treatment in a reductive atmosphere containing 90% N₂ and 10% H₂. XRD and FESEM were employed to evaluate the microstructure of the MTO films, revealing that the addition of molybdenum enhances the crystallization and increases the grain size of TiO₂ films. The optimal electrical properties of the MTO films were obtained with 3 wt% Mo doping, producing a resistivity of 1.1×10^?3 Ω cm, a carrier density of 9.7×10²⁰ cm^?3 and a mobility of 5.9 cm²/Vs. The refractive index and extinction coefficient of MTO films were also measured as a function of film porosity. The optical band gap of the MTO films ranged from 3.28 to 3.36 eV, which is greater than that of the un-doped TiO₂ film. This blue shift of approximately 0.14 eV was attributed to the Burstein–Moss effect.     

Room-temperature UV-ozone assisted solution process for zirconium oxide films with high dielectric properties

A facile, low-cost, and room-temperature UV-ozone (UVO) assisted solution process was employed to prepare zirconium oxide (ZrO_x) films with high dielectric properties. ZrO_x films were deposited by a simple spin-coating of zirconium acetylacetonate (ZrAcAc) precursor in the environment-friendly solvent of ethanol. The smooth and amorphous ZrO_x films by UVO exhibit average visible transmittances over 90% and energy bandgap of 5.7 eV. Low leakage current of 6.0 × 10⁻⁸ A/cm² at 3 MV/cm and high dielectric constant of 13 (100 Hz) were achieved for ZrO_x dielectrics at the nearly room temperature. Moreover, a fully room-temperature solution-processed oxide thin films transistor (TFT) with UVO assisted ZrO_x dielectric films achieved acceptable performances, such as a low operating voltage of 3 V, high carrier mobility of 1.65 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, and on/off current ratio about 10⁴–10⁵. Our work indicates that simple room-temperature UVO is highly potential for low-temperature, solution-processed and high-performance oxide films and devices.     

Sputtering deposition of transparent conductive F-doped SnO2 (FTO) thin films in hydrogen-containing atmosphere

F-doped SnO₂ (FTO) thin films have been prepared by sputtering SnO₂-SnF₂ target in Ar+H₂ atmosphere. The effects of H₂/Ar flow ratio on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the films were investigated at two substrate temperatures of 150 and 300 °C and two base pressures of 3.5×10⁻³ and 1.5×10⁻² Pa. The results show that introducing H₂ into sputtering atmosphere can lead to the formation of a FTO film with a (101) preferred orientation and produce oxygen vacancy (V_O) at lower H₂/Ar flow ratios, but SnO phase at higher H₂/Ar flow ratios in the films. Accordingly, the resistivity of the films first decreases and then increases, but the transmittance decreases continuously with increasing H₂/Ar flow ratio. When H₂/Ar flow ratio is increased above a certain value, more amorphous SnO phase forms in the films, resulting in a big decrease in conductivity, transmittance, and band gap (E_g). Increasing substrate temperature can increase the Hall mobility due to the improvement of film crystallinity, but decrease the carrier concentration due to outward-diffusion of fluorine in the films. At a base pressure of 3.5×10⁻³ Pa, high substrate temperature (300 °C) can hinder the formation of SnO and thus improve the transparent conductive properties of the films. At a base pressure of 1.5×10⁻² Pa, the range of H₂/Ar flow ratio for forming the SnO₂ phase and hence for obtaining high transparent conductive FTO films is widened at both substrate temperatures of 150 and 300 °C.     

Highly conducting and transparent antimony doped tin oxide thin films: the role of sputtering power density

Sb doped SnO₂ thin films were deposited on quartz substrates by magnetron sputtering at 600 °C and the effects of sputtering power density on the preferential orientation, structural, surface morphological, optical and electrical properties had been studied. The XRD analyses confirm the formation of cassiterite tetragonal structure and the presence of preferential orientation in (2 1 1) direction for tin oxygen thin films. The dislocation density analyses reveal that the generated defects can be suppressed by the appropriate sputtering power density in the SnO₂ lattice. The studies of surface morphologies show that grain sizes and surface roughness are remarkably affected by the sputtering power density. The resistivity of Sb doped SnO₂ thin films gradually decreases as increasing the sputtering power density, reaches a minimum value of 8.23×10⁻⁴ Ω cm at 7.65/cm² and starts increasing thereafter. The possible mechanisms for the change in resistivity are proposed. The average transmittances are more than 83% in the visible region (380–780 nm) for all the thin films, the optical band gaps are above 4.1 eV. And the mechanisms of the variation of optical properties at different sputtering power densities are addressed.     

Mechanical and tribological properties of TiC/amorphous hydrogenated carbon composite coatings fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering with and without sample bias

TiC/amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) composite films were deposited by Ti DC magnetron sputtering using argon and acetylene as the carrier gas and precursor, respectively. The working pressure was maintained at 4 × 10^− 1 Pa and the composition of the films was modulated by controlling the partial pressure of acetylene. The composition and structure of the films were evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and glancing angle X-rays diffraction, whereas the hardness and elastic modulus values of the films fabricated using different sample biases were measured by nano-indentation. Ball-on-disk tribometry was used to measure the tribological properties, and secondary electron microscopy was used to analyze the wear tracks. The results show that the friction coefficients and wear rates do not vary significantly with the Ti concentrations when the Ti concentration is above 39.7 at.% or below 20 at.% but increase with increasing titanium concentrations between 20 at.% and 39.7 at.%. The wear mechanism depends on the relative amounts of TiC and a-C:H. At high Ti concentrations, the mechanism resembles that of TiC due to the thin a-C:H matrix surrounding the TiC grains. At low Ti concentrations, the mechanism is similar to that of DLC as the effects of the a-C:H matrix dominates over those of the TiC grains.