Structural,Optical and Electrical Properties of Polycrystalline CuO Thin Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering

Cupric oxide thin films were deposited on silicon and sapphire substrates by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures. The results showed that the CuO films were composed of different sizes of CuO nano-grains and the CuO films deposited on Si substrates showed a more dense and uniform surface than that deposited on Al₂O₃ substrates. It was noted that both the CuO films deposited on Si and Al₂O₃ substrates revealed only CuO related diffractions and the preferred orientation of the CuO films changed from (002) to (111) as the substrate temperature increased. Moreover, the carrier concentration was 1.141?×?10¹⁸ cm^?3 and the mobility was 0.401 cm²/v s at 450°C substrate temperature. The controllable electrical properties of the films can be achieved by the variation of crystal quality arising from the substrate temperature.     

Synthesis and gas sensing behavior of nanostructured V2O5 thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis

Nanocrystalline vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) thin films have been deposited by a spray pyrolysis technique on preheated glass substrates. The substrate temperature was changed between 300 and 500 °C. The structural and morphological properties of the films were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The influence of different substrate temperatures on ethanol response of V₂O₅ has also been investigated. XRD revealed that the films deposited at T_pyr=300 °C have low peak intensities, but the degree of crystallinity improved when the temperature was increased to 500 °C and films had orthorhombic structures with preferential orientations along the (0 0 1) direction. The fractal analysis showed a decreasing trend versus the pyrolysis temperature. Sensing properties of the samples were studied in the presence of ethanol vapor. The operating temperature of the sensor was optimized for the best gas response. The response increased linearly with different ethanol concentrations. It was found that films deposited at the lowest substrate temperature (300 °C) had the highest sensing response to ethanol.     

Deposition Characteristics of AlN Thin Film Prepared by the Dual Ion Beam Sputtering System

In this experiment, a radio frequency dual ion beam sputtering (DIBS) system was used to prepare aluminum nitride (AlN) films with a bottom Al electrode on a Si (100) substrate. After systematic testing of the processing variables, a high-quality film with preferred c-axis orientation was grown successfully on the Si (100) substrate with an Al target under 700 eV energy flux, N₂/(N₂ + Ar) ratio of 55%, and 4 × 10⁻⁴ torr in vacuum. The characteristics of the deposited AlN thin films were studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and electronic spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). The surface roughness was also measured. It was found that AlN films prepared by DIBS at room temperature are better than those prepared at 300°C, and those prepared with an Al target are better than those prepared with an AlN target. The inferiority of AlN films prepared with AlN targets is due to the AlN bond being broken down by the ion beam source.     

Texture of atomic layer deposited ruthenium

Ruthenium films were grown by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Si(1 0 0) and ALD TiN. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the as-deposited films on Si(1 0 0) were polycrystalline, on TiN they were (0 0 2) oriented. After annealing at 800 °C for 60 s, all Ru films were strongly (0 0 2) textured and very smooth. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that the lateral grain size of the annealed films was several 100 nm, which was large compared to the 10 nm thickness of the films. No ruthenium silicide was formed by annealing the ALD Ru films on Si(1 0 0). Comparison with sputter deposited films learned that this occurred because the ammonia plasma created a SiO_xN_y reaction barrier layer prior to film growth.     

Investigation on post annealed copper sulfide thin films from photochemical deposition technique

Cu_xS thin films were deposited on glass substrates at room temperature by photochemical deposition after 1 h photo irradiation using the precursor solution containing copper sulphate pentahydrate (CuSO₄·5H₂O), sodium thiosulphate (Na₂S₂O₃) as a source material for Copper and Sulphur respectively and Di Sodium salt of EDTA as a chelating agent in acidic medium (pH~3.0). The as deposited and annealed Cu_xS thin films were investigated using XRD, UV–vis, AFM, SEM and Hall measurements. The deposited thin films were annealed at temperature up to 400 °C for 1 h. Above 200 °C the deposited film of Cu_xS changes from anilite phase (Cu_1.75S) to digenite (Cu_1.8S) phase. The reduction in sulphur content of the films is evident in the EDX analysis. From the Hall Effect results as deposited and annealed films show p-type conductivity with increasing bulk concentration. Analyses of the optical bandgap of the films indicate an indirect bandgap between 1.75 and 2.35 eV.     

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition of silver thin films for future interconnects by direct liquid injection system

Deposition of Ag films by direct liquid injection-metal organic chemical vapor deposition (DLI-MOCVD) was chosen because this preparation method allows precise control of precursor flow and prevents early decomposition of the precursor as compared to the bubbler-delivery. Silver(I)-2,2-dimethyl-6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptafluoro-3,5-octanedionato-triethylphosphine [Ag(fod)(PEt₃)] as the precursor for Ag CVD was studied, which is liquid at 30 °C. Ag films were grown on different substrates of SiO₂/Si and TiN/Si. Argon and nitrogen/hydrogen carrier gas was used in a cold wall reactor at a pressure of 50–500 Pa with deposition temperature ranging between 220 °C and 350 °C. Ag films deposited on a TiN/Si diffusion barrier layer have favorable properties over films deposited on SiO₂/Si substrate. At lower temperature (220 °C), film growth is essentially reaction-limited on SiO₂ substrate. Significant dependence of the surface morphology on the deposition conditions exists in our experiments. According to XPS analysis pure Ag films are deposited by DLI-MOCVD at 250 °C by using argon as carrier gas.     

A novel thermally-stable zirconium amidinate ALD precursor for ZrO2 thin films

ZrO₂ thin films were deposited by the atomic layer deposition process on Si substrates using tetrakis(N,N′-dimethylacetamidinate) zirconium (Zr-AMD) as a Zr precursor and H₂O as an oxidizing agent. Tetrakis (ethylmethylamino) zirconium (TEMA-Zr) was also evaluated for a comparative study. Physical properties of ALD-derived ZrO₂ thin films were studied using ellipsometry, grazing incidence XRD (GI-XRD), high resolution TEM (HRTEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The ZrO₂ deposited using Zr-AMD showed a better thermal stability at high substrate temperature (>300 °C) compared to that using TEMA-Zr. GI-XRD analysis reveals that after 700 °C anneal both ZrO₂ films enter tetragonal phase. The electrical properties of N₂-annealed ZrO₂ film using Zr-AMD exhibit an EOT of 1.2 nm with leakage current density as low as 2 × 10⁻³ A/cm² (@V_fb−1 V). The new Zr amidinate is a promising ALD precursor for high-k dielectric applications.     

High performance sol–gel spin-coated titanium dioxide dielectric based MOS structures

High-κ TiO₂ thin films have been fabricated using cost effective sol–gel and spin-coating technique on p-Si (100) wafer. Plasma activation process was used for better adhesion between TiO₂ films and Si. The influence of annealing temperature on the structure-electrical properties of titania films were investigated in detail. Both XRD and Raman studies indicate that the anatase phase crystallizes at 400 °C, retaining its structural integrity up to 1000 °C. The thickness of the deposited films did not vary significantly with the annealing temperature, although the refractive index and the RMS roughness enhanced considerably, accompanied by a decrease in porosity. For electrical measurements, the films were integrated in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure. The electrical measurements evoke a temperature dependent dielectric constant with low leakage current density. The Capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics of the films annealed at 400 °C exhibited a high value of dielectric constant (~34). Further, frequency dependent C–V measurements showed a huge dispersion in accumulation capacitance due to the presence of TiO₂/Si interface states and dielectric polarization, was found to follow power law dependence on frequency (with exponent ‘s’=0.85). A low leakage current density of 3.6×10⁻⁷ A/cm² at 1 V was observed for the films annealed at 600 °C. The results of structure-electrical properties suggest that the deposition of titania by wet chemical method is more attractive and cost-effective for production of high-κ materials compared to other advanced deposition techniques such as sputtering, MBE, MOCVD and ALD. The results also suggest that the high value of dielectric constant ‘κ‘ obtained at low processing temperature expands its scope as a potential dielectric layer in MOS device technology.     

Thickness Dependence Study of Electron Beam Evaporated LBMO Manganite Thin Films for Bolometer Applications

La_0.7Ba_0.3MnO₃ (LBMO) thin films with different thicknesses were deposited on Si substrates using an electron beam evaporation technique for bolometer applications. To evaluate the influence of the thickness on their structural, compositional, morphological, and electrical properties, the LBMO thin films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and a four-probe method. XRD measurements showed that the crystal quality of the LBMO films improved with increasing thickness. The surface morphology revealed that the grain size and surface roughness of the films increased with increasing thickness. The resistivity increased with increasing thickness of the film. The temperature coefficient of resistance of the LBMO films decreased from 5.15%/K to 4.12%/K with increase of the film thickness from 20 nm to 100 nm.     

Growth of yttrium oxide thin films from β-diketonate precursor

Yttrium oxide thin films were deposited in a flow-type ALE reactor from Y(thd)₃ (Hthd ? 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione) and either ozone or oxygen. The influence of the substrate and source temperatures, pressure and pulse durations on the film growth on soda-lime and silicon substrates was studied. Films were also grown on Corning glass, sapphire and Si/CeO₂ substrates to study the effect of the substrate on the growth rate and crystallinity of the films. Spectrophotometry, XRD and AFM were used to determine the optical properties, thickness, crystallinity and surface morphology of the films. All the films deposited with ozone were crystalline, but differences in preferential orientation depending on the substrate were observed. The growth rate with ozone was about 0.8 Å cycle^?1 on all substrates except sapphire where it was higher. The films deposited with oxygen were less crystalline and the growth rate was significantly lower than in depositions with ozone under the same growth conditions.     

Electrical and compositional properties of TaSi2 films

Tantalum silicide (TaSi₂) thin films were sputter deposited on p- and n-type silicon substrates using ultrapure TaSi₂ targets. The TaSi₂/Si samples were annealed in nitrogen or forming gas or oxygen containing steam at temperatures in the range of 400–900°C. The sheet resistances of TaSi₂/Si were measured by four-point probe before and after anneal. The structure of these films was investigated using x-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. It has been found that the sheet resistance decreases with the increase in annealing temperature and also with the increase in film thickness. X-ray diffraction patterns show changes in the morphological structure of the films. Oxidation characteristics of the film have been investigated in the temperature range of 400–900°C in oxygen containing steam ambient. The oxidation time ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 h. No oxide formation of the tantalum silicide films was observed in this investigation. This has been attributed to the high purity of TaSi₂ sputter targets used in the preparation of the films.     

Influences of post-annealing temperature on the structural and electrical properties of mixed oxides (CuFeO2 and CuFe2O4) thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis technique

P-type mixed oxides (CuFeO₂ and CuFe₂O₄) transparent conducting thin films have been successfully deposited on p-type Si (111) substrates at 450 °C by spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD) and annealed at 800 °C for 2 h. The crystal structure, surface morphology and electrical property have been investigated. It is observed that the CuFeO₂ and CuFe₂O₄ thin films as deposited and annealed, have polycrystalline hexagonal structure and the crystallite size increases by annealing processes. The electrical property of the Ni/CuFeO₂/Si Metal–Semiconductor–Metal (MSM) photo detectors was investigated using the current–voltage (I–V) measurements. The barrier heights ϕ_Β of Ni/CuFeO₂/Ni MSM thin films of as deposited and annealed on Si substrates were calculated and its values are 0.478, 0.345 eV, respectively with an applied bias voltage of 3 V.     

Temperature effect on the physical properties of CuIn11S17 thin films for photovoltaic applications

CuIn₁₁S₁₇ compound was synthesized by horizontal Bridgman method using high-purity copper, indium and sulfur elements. CuIn₁₁S₁₇ thin films were prepared by high vacuum evaporation on glass substrates. The glass substrates were heated at 30, 100 and 200 °C. The structural properties of the powder and the films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD analysis of thin films revealed that the sample deposited at a room temperature was amorphous in nature while those deposited on heated substrates were polycrystalline with a preferred orientation along the (311) plane of the spinel phase. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy was used to study the optical properties of thin films. The results showed that CuIn₁₁S₁₇ thin films have high absorption coefficient α in the visible range (10⁵–10⁶ cm⁻¹). The band gap E_g of the films decrease from 2.30 to 1.98 eV with increasing the substrate temperature (T_s) from 30 to 200 °C. We exploited the models of Swanepoel, Wemple–DiDomenico and Spitzer–Fan for the analysis of the dispersion of the refractive index n and the determination of the optical constants of the films. Hot probe method showed that CuIn₁₁S₁₇ films deposited at T_s=30 °C and T_s=100 °C are p-type conductivity whereas the sample deposited at T_s=200 °C is highly compensated.     

Deposition and characterization of Si-rich silicon oxide films using HMDS for integrated photonics

Silicon-rich silicon oxide (SRSO) films were deposited using thermal-CVD system with organic precursor hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and oxygen (O₂) at the temperature range of 760–820 °C. The deposited SRSO films were characterized by using ellipsometry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX). The effect of deposition temperature on the physical and optical properties of deposited SRSO films has been studied and analyzed. It has been observed that the refractive index (RI) of the deposited films increases while the stress of compressive nature decreases with the corresponding increase in deposition temperature. The peak positions of Si–O–Si stretching bond and the full-width at half maxima (FWHM) of these peaks have been investigated by using FTIR spectroscopy. It was found that the peak position of Si–O–Si stretching bond move toward lower wave number while the corresponding FWHM increases with increase in the deposition temperature. The peak intensities of Si–H, O–H and Si–OH bonds decrease with corresponding increase in deposition temperature, which signifies an improvement in the quality of the deposited SRSO films. The SEM and EDAX analysis clearly reveals the successful deposition of SRSO films with some dense clusters of silicon having size about 500 nm on the surface of the deposited films.     

HgI2多晶薄膜的气相同质外延生长

为提高HgI2多晶薄膜的气相定向生长效果,在ITO导电玻璃上从不同浓度的C3H6O-HgI2-H2O溶液中过饱和析出HgI2衬底层。通过XRD对比衬底层的定向效果,选择最佳的衬底并气相外延沉积HgI2多晶薄膜。利用SEM、XRD分析了薄膜的定向生长特性;以137 Cs为放射源,在室温下测试了探测器的探测效率。     

Characterization of crystalline MOCVD SrTiO3 films on SiO2/Si(100)

SrTiO₃ thin films (STO), were deposited on Si(100) covered by 2 nm of SiO₂, at different temperatures from 450 °C to 850 °C using liquid injection MOCVD, the bimetallic precursor being Sr₂Ti₂(OiPr)₈(tmhd)₄. The STO films were analysed by XRD, FTIR, SIMS and TEM. An amorphous layer was observed between STO and SiO₂/Si. The nature and thickness of the interlayer were determined, as well as the most favourable conditions for a good quality crystalline STO film, and a reduced interlayer.     

Effect of processing parameter on structural,optical and electrical properties of photovoltaic chalcogenide nanostructured RF magnetron sputtered thin absorbing films

The aim of this work was to develop high quality of CuIn_1−xGa_xSe₂ thin absorbing films with x (Ga/In+Ga)<0.3 by sputtering without selenization process. CuIn_0.8Ga_0.2Se₂ (CIGS) thin absorbing films were deposited on soda lime glass substrate by RF magnetron sputtering using single quaternary chalcogenide (CIGS) target. The effect of substrate temperature, sputtering power & working pressure on structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of deposited films were studied. CIGS thin films were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy and four probe methods. It was observed that microstructure, surface morphology, elemental composition, transmittance as well as conductivity of thin films were strongly dependent on deposition parameters. The optimum parameters for CIGS thin films were obtained at a power 100 W, pressure 5 mT and substrate temperature 500 °C. XRD revealed that thin film deposited at above said parameters was polycrystalline in nature with larger crystallite size (32 nm) and low dislocation density (0.97×10¹⁵ lines m⁻²). The deposited film also showed preferred orientation along (112) plane. The morphology of the film depicted by FE-SEM was compact and uniform without any micro cracks and pits. The deposited film exhibited good stoichiometry (Ga/In+Ga=0.19 and In/In+Ga=0.8) with desired Cu/In+Ga ratio (0.92), which is essential for high efficiency solar cells. Transmittance of deposited film was found to be very low (1.09%). The absorption coefficient of film was ~10⁵ cm⁻¹ for high energy photon. The band gap of CIGS thin film evaluated from transmission data was found to be 1.13 eV which is optimum for solar cell application. The electrical conductivity (7.87 Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹) of deposited CIGS thin film at optimum parameters was also high enough for practical purpose.     

Sol–gel synthesized Titania nanoparticles deposited on porous polycrystalline silicon: Improved carbon dioxide sensor properties

Titania nanoparticles (TNPs) were synthesized by a sol–gel method in our laboratory using titanium tetrachloride as the precursor and isopropanol as the solvent. The particles׳ size distribution histogram was determined using ImageJ software and the size of TNPs was obtained in the range of 7.5–10.5 nm. The nanoparticle with the average size of 8.5 nm was calculated using Scherrer׳s formula. Homogeneous and spherical nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis). The X-ray powder diffraction analysis showed that the prepared sample (TNPs) has pure anatase phase. TNPs were deposited on porous polycrystalline silicon (PPS) substrate by electron beam evaporation. The TNPs thickness was 23±2 nm at 10⁻⁵ mbar pressure at room temperature. Porosity was performed by an anodization method. Since polycrystalline silicon wafers consist of different grains with different orientations, the pore size distribution in porous layer is non-uniform [1]. Therefore, the average diameter of pores can be reported in PPS layer analysis. Average diameter of pores was estimated in the range of 5 μm which was characterized by FESEM. The nanostructured thin films devices (Al/Si/PPS/TNPs/Al and Al/Si/PPS/Al) were fabricated in the sandwich form by aluminum (Al) electrodes which were also deposited by electron beam evaporation. Electrical measurements (I–V curves) demonstrated the semiconducting behavior of thin film devices. The gas sensitivity was studied on exposure to 10% CO₂ gas. As a result, conductivity of devices increased on exposure to CO₂ gas. The device with TNPs thin film (Al/Si/PPS/TNPs/Al) was more sensitive and, had better response and reversibility in comparison with the device without TNPs thin film (Al/Si/PPS/Al).     

Synthesis of the PZT films deposited on pt-coated (100) Si substrates for nonvolatile memory applications

Ferroelectric lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) thin films were deposited by the pulsed laser deposition technique on Pt-coated (100) Si substrates. This study was focused on the investigation of the PZT film growth on (100) Si substrate at varying deposition parameters and electrical characterization of the films including hysteresis loop and fatigue properties by RT66A Standardized Ferroelectric Test System. PZT deposited at higher temperature (575°C in 450 mTorr O₂ partial pressure) showed the best crystalline structure. The remnant polarization and the retained polarization of the ferroelectric capacitors were 13 μC/cm² and 20 μC/cm², respectively. The crystallographic properties of the films were determined using the x-ray diffractometer method. The cross-sectional transmission electron microscope results showed very smooth interfaces among different layers of films.     

Low temperature mobility controlled by charged dislocations and neutral defects in Pb1−xEuxSe layers grown by MBE

Electrical properties of Pb_1−xEu_xSe thin films grown by MBE on two different substrates with varying concentrations of Eu were studied. The electrical measurements were made in the temperature range of 4–300 K. The samples deposited on Si substrate (111) using CaF₂ buffer layer are n-type. Those directly deposited on BaF₂ substrate (111) are all p-type. For europium compositions less than 4%, acoustic phonons, polar optical phonons and neutral impurities mechanisms scattering govern the temperature variations of Hall mobility. Beyond this value of the europium composition, and at low temperature, scattering by charged dislocations becomes the most dominant mechanism.