Temperature dependence of Fluorine-doped tin oxide films produced by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) films were prepared at different substrate temperatures by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique on glass substrates. Among F-doped tin oxide films, the lowest resistivitiy was found to be 6.2 × 10^− 4 Ω-cm for a doping percentage of 50 mol% of fluorine in 0.5 M solution, deposited at 400 °C. Hall coefficient analyses and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) measured the electron carrier concentration that varies from 3.52 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3 to 6.21 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3 with increasing fluorine content from 4.6 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3 to 7.2 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3 in FTO films deposited on various temperatures. Deposition temperature on FTO films has been optimized for achieving a minimum resistivity and maximum optical transmittance.     

Simultaneous recrystallization, phosphorous diffusion and antireflection coating of silicon films using laser treatment

Laser technique application to polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cell fabrication on glass substrates has received appreciable attention. In this paper, a laser-doping technique is developed for plasma-deposited amorphous silicon film. A process involving recrystallization, phosphorous diffusion and antireflection coating can be achieved simultaneously using the laser annealing process. The doping precursor, a phosphorous-doped titanium dioxide (TiO₂) solution, is synthesized using a sol-gel method and spin-coated onto the sample. After laser irradiation, the polycrystalline silicon grain size was about 0.5∼1.0 μm with a carrier concentration of 2 × 10¹⁹ cm^− 3 and electron mobility of 92.6 cm²/V s. The average polycrystalline silicon reflectance can be reduced to a value of 4.65% at wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm, indicating the upper TiO₂ film of antireflection coating.     

Uniformity of gallium doped zinc oxide thin film prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Recently, transparent conducting oxide thin films have attracted attention for the application to transparent conducting electrodes. In this work, we evaluated the uniformity of electrical, optical and structural properties for gallium doped zinc oxide thin films prepared on the 10 × 10 cm² silica glass substrate by pulsed laser deposition. The resistivity, carrier concentration, mobility, bonding state and atomic composition of the film were uniform along in-plane and depth direction over the 10 × 10 cm² area of the substrate. The film showed the average transmittance of 81-87%, resistivity of 1.4 × 10^− 3 Ω cm, carrier concentration of 9.7 × 10²⁰/cm³ and mobility of 5 cm²/Vs in spite of the amorphous X-ray diffraction pattern. The gradual thickness distribution was found, however, the potential for large-area and low temperature deposition of transparent conducting oxide thin film using pulsed laser deposition method was confirmed.     

Spectroscopic properties and energy transfer process in Er doped ZrF4-based fluoride glass for 2.7 μm laser materials

Intense 2.7 μm emission from Er³⁺ doped in a new type of ZrF₄-based fluoride glass is reported. 2.7 μm emission characteristics and energy transfer process upon excitation of a conventional 980 nm laser diode are investigated. Based on the absorption spectra, the Judd-Ofelt parameters and radiative properties were calculated and compared with those of other glass hosts. The prepared glass possesses higher predicted spontaneous transition probability (29.04 s⁻¹) along with larger calculated emission cross section (9.16 × 10⁻²¹ cm²). Besides, the energy transfer coefficient of laser upper level (⁴I_11/2) can reach as high as 6.56 × 10⁻³⁹ cm⁶/s. Hence, these results indicate that this Er³⁺ doped ZrF₄-based fluoride glass has potential applications in 2.7 μm laser.     

Activation of phosphorous doping in high quality ZnO thin film grown on Yttria-stabilized zirconia (1 1 1) by thermal treatment

Phosphorous doped (P-doped) ZnO thin films are grown on c-sapphire and Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Post growth annealing is carried out to activate phosphorous to act as acceptor. The rocking curve of annealed P-doped ZnO films grown on YSZ (111) has full width at half maximum of 0.08°, more than two times narrower than that of the as-grown one. Neutral acceptor bound exciton (A⁰X) is observed from low temperature photoluminescence with estimated activation energy of 11.3 meV. Low carrier concentration of as-grown P-doped ZnO films indicated phosphorous doping creates acceptor states and/or reduced the oxygen vacancies. The carrier concentration of annealed samples is reduced by five order magnitudes from 3.21 × 10¹⁸ cm^− 3 to 1.21-8.19 × 10¹³ cm^− 3. At annealing temperature of 850 °C, the sample has the lowest carrier concentration and highest resistivity. This is an indication that the phosphorous in P-doped ZnO has been activated.     

The effect of sodium doping to CuInSe2 monograin powder properties

The effect of sodium doping to the electrical and photoluminescence properties of CuInSe₂ monograin powders was studied. Sodium was added in controlled amounts from 5 × 10¹⁶ cm^− 3 to 1 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3. The photoluminescence spectra of Na-doped stoichiometric CuInSe₂ powders had two bands with peak positions at 0.97 and 0.99 eV. The photoluminescence bands showed the shift of peak positions depending on the Na doping level. Peak positions with maximum energy were observed if added sodium concentration was 1 × 10¹⁹ cm^− 3. This material had the highest carrier concentration 2 × 10¹⁷ cm^− 3. In the case of stoichiometric CuInSe₂ (Cu:In:Se = 25.7:25.3:49.0), Na doping at concentrations of 3 × 10¹⁷ cm^− 3 and higher avoided the precipitation of Cu-Se phase. Solar cells output parameters were dependent on the Na doping level. Sodium concentration 3 × 10¹⁸ cm^− 3 resulted in the best open-circuit voltage.     

Novel thermoelectric materials based on boron-doped silicon microchannel plates

The thermoelectric properties of boron-doped silicon microchannel plates (MCPs) were investigated. The samples were prepared by photo-assisted electrochemical etching (PAECE). The Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity at room temperature (25 °C) were measured to determine the thermoelectric properties of the samples. In order to decrease the very high resistivity, boron doping was introduced and by modulating the doping time, a series of samples with different resistivity as well as Seebeck coefficient were obtained. Boron doping changed the electrical resistivity of the samples from 1.5 × 10⁵ Ω cm to 5.8 × 10⁻³ Ω cm, and the absolute Seebeck coefficient deteriorated relatively slightly from 674 μV/K to 159 μV/K. According to the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, the power factor was calculated and a peak value of 4.7 × 10⁻¹ mW m⁻¹ K⁻² was obtained. The results indicate that silicon MCPs doped with boron are promising silicon-based thermoelectric materials.     

Diffusion of iron into solar-grade CIGS layers from natural and radioactive front-side sources

Diffusion of Fe in CIGS was investigated on solar-grade CIGS layers using radiotracer sputter-profiling of ⁵⁹Fe or in-depth secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) of natural iron isotopes. In both cases natural or radioactively labelled iron was deposited on the front-surface of CIGS/Mo/float-glass samples. Fe penetration profiles were measured after isothermal annealing in a lamp oven at different temperatures. A diffusivity of 4 × 10^− 13 cm² s^− 1 was deduced from Gaussian-type SIMS profiles originating from annealing at 300 °C. It was found that pronounced sputter-broadening effects may complicate the interpretation of the diffusion profiles.     

Growth, spectroscopic properties and laser performance of Nd-doped potassium ytterbium tungstate laser crystal

The 5 at.% Nd³⁺-doped potassium ytterbium tungstate (Nd³⁺:KYb(WO₄)₂, hereafter Nd:KYbW) laser crystal with the dimension up to 28 mm × 15 mm × 12 mm was grown by the top seeded solution growth (TSSG) method. The infrared spectrum of crystal sample was measured, and the vibrational peaks were assigned. According to the absorption and emission spectra of crystal sample, the absorption and emission cross-sections are 16.03 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² at 808 nm and 10.72 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² at 1067 nm, respectively. The fluorescence life of ⁴F_3/2 energy level is 196.33 μs, and the fluorescence branching ratio for the ⁴F_3/2-⁴I_11/2 transition at 1067 nm is 55.74%. The energy transfer between Nd³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions was observed from the fluorescence spectra pumped by 808 and 980 nm LD sources and the Stark levels of Yb³⁺ in Nd:KYbW crystal were determined. Highly efficient laser output up to 305 mW of Nd:KYbW crystal at 1067 nm has been achieved under pumping by a CW 808 nm laser diode at room temperature. The optical-optical conversion efficiency is 33.9% and the slope efficiency is 46.8%.     

Fabrication and laser behavior of the Yb:YAG ceramic microchips

Highly transparent 5 at.% Yb:YAG ceramic microchips were fabricated by vacuum sintering technology. The calculated cross section of the absorption σ_abs and emission σ_em were 6.1 × 10⁻²¹ cm² at 940 nm and 1.9 × 10⁻²⁰ cm² at 1030 nm, respectively. The fluorescence lifetime of the unannealed sample was 0.618 ms, and became 1.229 ms after annealing. Laser oscillation around 1037 nm was observed when pumped by the fiber-coupled laser with 970 nm. The threshold power was 3.0 W and the slope efficiency was about 12% when using the transmission of 2.6% output coupler.     

Enhancement-mode thin film transistor with nitrogen-doped ZnO channel layer deposited by laser molecular beam epitaxy

The thin film transistors (TFTs) based on nitrogen doped zinc oxide (ZnO) were investigated by laser molecular beam epitaxy. The increase of ZnO films' resistivity by nitrogen doping was found and applied in enhancement mode ZnO-TFTs. The ZnO-TFTs with a conventional bottom-gate structure were fabricated on thermally oxidized p-type silicon substrate. Electrical measurement has revealed that the devices operate as an n-channel enhancement mode and exhibit an on/off ratio of 10⁴. The threshold voltage is 5.15 V. The channel mobility on the order of 2.66 cm² V^− 1 s^− 1 has been determined.     

Structural, optical, and nonlinear optical absorption/refraction studies of the manganese nanoparticles prepared by laser ablation in ethanol

The structural, optical, and nonlinear optical properties of the manganese nanoparticles prepared by laser ablation in various liquids were investigated using the 532 and 1064 nm, 50 ps laser pulses. The TEM and spectral measurements showed temporal dynamics of size distribution of Mn nanoparticles in solutions. The nonlinear absorption (β = 2 × 10⁻¹⁰ and 4 × 10⁻¹¹ cm W⁻¹) and positive nonlinear refraction (γ = 8 × 10⁻¹⁵ and 2 × 10⁻¹⁴ cm² W⁻¹) of picosecond radiation were observed in the Mn colloidal suspensions using the 1064 and 532 nm radiation, respectively     

Effect of VI/II ratio upon photoluminescence and electrical properties of phosphorus-doped ZnTe films grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We have investigated photoluminescence and electrical properties of P−doped ZnTe layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy as a function of VI/II ratio. Near band-edge emissions are strongly influenced by VI/II ratio. The low VI/II ratio corresponding to Zn-rich condition brings about heavy p-type doping with P as compared to Te-rich condition. The best VI/II ratio for obtaining high quality layer is one. A maximum carrier concentration of 5.4 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³ is attained even for as-grown ZnTe layer. In this sample, the carrier concentration is almost independent of the measurement temperature, indicating conduction in an impurity band formed by shallow acceptor.     

Nonlinear optical properties of laser deposited CuO thin films

In this work we investigate the third-order optical nonlinearities in CuO films by Z-scan method using a femtosecond laser (800 nm, 50 fs, 200 Hz). Single-phase CuO thin films have been obtained using pulsed laser deposition technique. The structure properties, surface image, optical transmittance and reflectance of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. The Z-scan results show that laser-deposited CuO films exhibit large nonlinear refractive coefficient, n₂ = − 3.96 × 10^− 17 m²/W, and nonlinear absorption coefficient, β = − 1.69 × 10^− 10 m/W, respectively.     

Study of ultra-shallow pn junctions formed by excimer laser annealing

Excellent ultra-shallow p⁺n junctions have been formed by thermally treating the BF₂⁺-implanted Si samples by excimer laser annealing (ELA) at 300–400 mJ cm⁻² with post low-temperature long-time furnace annealing (FA) at 600 °C. A junction with a leakage current density lower than 20 nA cm⁻² and a sheet resistance smaller than 200 Ω □⁻¹ can be well achieved. No considerable dopant diffusion is observed by using this low-thermal-budget annealing process. However, by simply using the ELA treatment at 300–400 mJ cm⁻², the resultant junction shows a leakage current density as high as 10⁴ nA cm⁻² and a peripheral leakage current density of 10³ nA cm⁻¹. The large junction leakage is primarily due to the leakage current generated within the junction region near the local-oxidation-of-silicon (LOCOS) edge, and which is substantially caused by the ELA treatment. The large peripheral junction leakage current density can be significantly reduced to be about 0.2 nA cm⁻¹ after a post low-temperature FA treatment at 600 °C. As a result, the scheme that employs ELA treatment with post low-temperature FA treatment would be efficient for forming excellent ultra-shallow p⁺n junctions at low thermal budget.     

Titanium diffusion in gold thin films

In the present study, diffusion phenomena in titanium/gold (Ti/Au) thin films occurring at temperatures ranging between 200 and 400 °C are investigated.The motivation is twofold: the first objective is to characterize Ti diffusion into Au layer as an effect of different heat-treatments. The second goal is to prove that the implementation of a thin titanium nitride (TiN) layer between Ti and Au can remarkably reduce Ti diffusion.It is observed that Ti atoms can fully diffuse through polycrystalline Au thin films (260 nm thick) already at temperatures as a low as 250 °C. Starting from secondary ion mass spectroscopy data, the overall diffusion activation energy ΔE = 0.66 eV and the corresponding pre-exponential factor D₀ = 5 × 10^− 11 cm²/s are determined. As for the grain boundary diffusivity, both the activation energy range 0.54 < ΔE_gb < 0.66 eV and the pre-exponential factor s₀D_gb0 = 1.14 × 10^− 8 cm²/s are obtained. Finally, it is observed that the insertion of a thin TiN layer (40 nm) between gold and titanium acts as an effective diffusion barrier up to 400 °C.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of Tm:Lu2O3 nanocrystals. An approach towards new laser ceramics

Nanocrystals of Tm³⁺ Thulium doped cubic sesquioxides, Tm:Lu₂O₃, with a maximum size around 30 nm have been synthesized by a modified Pechini sol-gel method. The calcination temperature for the synthesis is 1073 K. Electron microscopy was used to analyze the presence of aggregates, and the type of boundary between the nanocrystals. The linear coefficient of thermal expansion for these nanocrystals has been determined to be around 7.5 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹. The growth of the nanocrystals has been studied in terms of temperature and time. Nanocrystals start to grow at temperatures around 1267 K. Finally, the grain growth activation energy of this material has been evaluated to be 76 kJ/mol, indicating a diffusion growth mechanism. Linear thermal expansion of prepared nanocrystals is ≈7.5 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹.     

Enhanced electrochromism in cerium doped molybdenum oxide thin films

Cerium (5-15% by weight) doped molybdenum oxide thin films have been prepared on FTO coated glass substrate at 250 °C using sol-gel dip coating method. The structural and morphological changes were observed with the help of XRD, SEM and EDS analysis. The amorphous structure of the Ce doped samples, favours easy intercalation and deintercalation processes. Mo oxide films with 10 wt.% of Ce exhibit maximum anodic diffusion coefficient of 24.99 × 10⁻¹¹ cm²/s and the change in optical transmittance of (ΔT at 550 nm) of 79.28% between coloured and bleached state with the optical density of (ΔOD) 1.15.     

Study of the physical properties of Bi doped CdTe thin films deposited by close space vapour transport

Bi doped cadmium telluride (CdTe:Bi) thin films were grown on glass-substrates by the close space vapour transport method. CdTe:Bi crystals grown by the vertical Bridgman method, varying the nominal Bi concentration in the range between 1 × 10¹⁷ and 8 × 10¹⁸ cm^− 3, were used in powder form for CdTe:Bi thin film deposition. Dark conductivity and photoconductivity measurements in the 90-300 K temperature range and determination by photoacoustic spectroscopy of the optical-absorption coefficient of the films in the 1.0 to 2.4 eV spectral region were carried out. The influence of Bi doping levels upon the intergrain barrier height and other associated grain boundary parameters of the polycrystalline CdTe:Bi thin films were determined from electrical, optical and morphological characterization.     

Conductive Ga doped ZnO/Cu/Ga doped ZnO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering at room temperature for flexible electronics

Ga doped ZnO(GZO)/Cu/GZO multilayers were deposited by magnetron sputtering on polycarbonate substrates at room temperature. We investigated the structural, electrical, and optical properties of multilayers at various thicknesses of Cu and GZO layers. The lowest resistivity value of 3.3 × 10^− 5 Ω cm with a carrier concentration of 2.9 × 10²² cm^− 3 was obtained at the optimum Cu (10 nm) and GZO (10 nm) layer thickness. The highest value of figure of merit φ_TC is 2.68 × 10^− 3 Ω^− 1 for the GZO (10 nm)/Cu(10 nm)/GZO(10 nm) multilayer. The highest average near infrared reflectivity in the wavelength range 1000-2500 nm is as high as 70% for the GZO(10 nm)/Cu(10 nm)/GZO(10 nm) multilayer.