Synthesis and characterization of EuBa2Ca2Cu3O9−x: The influence of temperature on dielectric properties and charge transport mechanism

High dielectric constant materials have a crucial importance for various microelectronic applications such as memory devices, supercapacitors etc. Among other insulators, perovskite structured oxide materials attract great interest not only for their high dielectric constants but also their unique electrical and magnetic properties such as superconductivity etc. From this point of view, a new Europium based copper oxide layered material with perovskite structure (EuBa₂Ca₂Cu₃O_9−x coded as Eu-1223) has been synthesized by solid state reaction method in this work. The physical and chemical properties of Eu-1223 have been determined by FTIR, SEM, XRF, XRD, TGA and DTA techniques. The influence of temperature on impedance and dielectric properties of Eu-1223 has been investigated by impedance spectroscopy measurements performed within the frequency interval of 5 Hz–13 MHz between 298 K and 408 K temperatures. It has been found that the Eu-1223 material has high dielectric constants at each temperature operated. In addition, Eu-1223 sample behaves as a colossal dielectric material up to 300 kHz for 408 K due to observation of dielectric constant values which are greater than 10³. Furthermore, it has been revealed that Eu-1223 material can be used as thermally sensitive resistors in electronic circuits due to its decreasing resistance with increasing temperature. Moreover, it has been observed that the relaxation frequency of the system shifts from 46.5 kHz (low frequency radio wave band) to 1.57 MHz (mid frequency radio wave band) as the temperature increasing from 298 K to 408 K. According to dc conductivity investigations, the variation of dc conductivity with the inverse of temperature satisfies linear relationship that indicates a thermally activated nearest neighbor hopping conduction. On the other hand, it has been determined that ac conductivity has frequency dependent relation which obeys ω^s for the high frequency region. Furthermore, the frequency exponent, s, which takes values between 0.7 and 0.4, shows a decreasing behavior with increasing temperature. In conclusion, ac charge transport mechanism has been predicted as correlated barrier hoping for Eu-1223.     

Fabrication and electrical characterization of Al/p-ZnIn2Se4 thin film Schottky diode structure

Polycrystalline thin films of ternary ZnIn₂Se₄ compound with p-type conductivity were deposited on a pre-deposited aluminium (Al) film by a flash evaporation technique. A Schottky diode comprising of Al/p-ZnIn₂Se₄ structure was fabricated and characterized in the temperature range 303–323 K in dark condition. The Schottky diode was subjected to current (I)-voltage (V) and capacitance (C)-voltage (V) characterization. The Al/p-ZnIn₂Se₄ Schottky diode showed behaviour typical of a p-n junction diode. The devices showed very good diode behaviour with the rectification ratio of about 10⁵ at 1.0 V in dark. The Schottky diode ideality factor, barrier height, carrier concentration, etc. were derived from I-V and C-V measurements. At lower applied voltages (V≤0.5 V), the electrical conduction was found to take place by thermionic emission (TE) whereas at higher voltages (V>0.5 V), a space charge limited conduction mechanism (SCLC) was observed. An energy band diagram was constructed for fabricated Al/p-ZnIn₂Se₄ Schottky diode.     

Composition,structure and electrical properties of DC reactive magnetron sputtered Al2O3 thin films

Thin films of alumina (Al₂O₃) were deposited over Si 〈1 0 0〉 substrates at room temperature at an oxygen gas pressure of 0.03 Pa and sputtering power of 60 W using DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The composition of the as-deposited film was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the O/Al atomic ratio was found to be 1.72. The films were then annealed in vacuum to 350, 550 and 750 °C and X-ray diffraction results revealed that both as-deposited and post deposition annealed films were amorphous. The surface morphology and topography of the films was studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, respectively. A progressive decrease in the root mean square (RMS) roughness of the films from 1.53 nm to 0.7 nm was observed with increase in the annealing temperature. Al–Al₂O₃–Al thin film capacitors were then fabricated on p-type Si 〈1 0 0〉 substrate to study the effect of temperature and frequency on the dielectric property of the films and the results are discussed.     

Structural,electrical and optical properties of sintered SnO2 pellets

Tin dioxide (SnO₂) powder was prepared by the co-precipitation method using SnCl₂ solution as a precursor. The powder was then pelletized and sintered. Structural characterization of the samples with XRD confirmed that all the pellets were of SnO₂ having polycrystalline nature with the crystallite size of the order of 90 nm. SEM-EDAX was used to confirm the morphology and composition of the samples. The measurements of electrical properties were carried out in the frequency range of 100 Hz to 100 kHz at various fixed temperatures from 40 °C to 160 °C. The a.c. conductivity and the dielectric constant were found to be dependent on both frequency and temperature. The frequency and temperature dependent conduction properties of SnO₂ are found to be in accordance with correlated barrier hoping model. Infrared and visible spectroscopic studies show that a strong vibration band characteristic of the SnO₂ stretching mode was present at around 620 cm^?1 and the samples exhibited optical transmittance in the visible range.     

Model based precise analysis of the injection currents in Al/ZrO2/Al2O3/ZrO2/SiO2/Si structures for use in charge trapping non-volatile memory devices

Metal/insulator/Silicon (MIS) capacitors containing multilayered ZrO₂/Al₂O₃/ZrO₂/SiO₂ dielectric were investigated in order to evaluate the possibility of their application in charge trapping non-volatile memory devices. The ZrO₂/Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ stacks were deposited by reactive rf magnetron sputtering on 2.4 nm thick SiO₂ thermally grown on p-type Si substrate. C–V characteristics at room temperature and I–V characteristics recorded at temperatures ranging from 297 K to 393 K were analyzed by a comprehensive model previously developed. It has been found that Poole-Frenkel conduction in ZrO₂ layers occurs via traps energetically located at 0.86 eV and 1.39 eV below the bottom of the conduction band. These levels are identified as the first two oxygen vacancies related levels in ZrO₂, closest to its conduction band edge, whose theoretical values reported in literature are: 0.80 eV, for fourfold, and 1.23 eV, for threefold coordinated oxygen vacancies.     

Fabrication,temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics and photoresponse properties of Au/α-PbO2/p-Si/Al heterojunction photodiode

Thin film of lead dioxide, α-PbO₂, has been grown by thermal evaporation technique on the single crystal of p-Si substrate and heterojunction photodiode, Au/α-PbO₂/p-Si/Al, was fabricated. The current-voltage characteristics of the diode have been studied in the temperature ranged from 303 to 373 K and the voltage applied during measurements varied from −1 to 1.5 V. It was found from the (I-V) characteristics of the diode that the conduction mechanisms in the forward bias direction are controlled by the thermionic emission at bias potential ≤0.7 V followed by single trap space charge limited current (SCLC) conduction in the voltage range >0.7 V. The capacitance-voltage characteristics of the device were studied at room temperature in dark condition and it has been shown that the diode is abrupt junction. The carrier concentration on both sides of the depletion layer has been determined. Energy band diagram for α-PbO₂/p-Si device was constructed. The device under illumination with light of intensity 20 W/m² gives acceptable values of photoresponse parameters such as photosensitivity and photoconductivity. The presented photodiode parameters exhibit the typical photosensor applications with reproducibility phenomenon.     

Temperature dependent dielectric studies of Ni/n-GaP Schottky diodes by capacitance and conductance measurements

The dielectric properties of Ni/n-GaP Schottky diode were investigated in the temperature range 140–300 K by capacitance–voltage (C–V) and conductance–voltage (G/ω–V) measurements. The effect of temperature on series resistance (R_s) and interface state density (N_ss) were investigated. The dependency of dielectric constant (ε′), dielectric loss (ε′′), loss tangent (tan δ), ac conductivity (σ_ac), real (M′) and imaginary (M′′) parts of the electric modulus over temperature were evaluated and analyzed at 1 MHz frequency. The temperature dependent characteristics of ε′ and ε′′ reveal the contribution of various polarization effects, which increases with temperature. The Arrhenius plot of σ_ac shows two activation energies revealing the presence of two distinct trap states in the chosen temperature range. Moreover, the capacitance–frequency (C–f) measurement over 1 kHz to 1 MHz was carried out to study the effect of localized interface states.     

Frequency and voltage dependency of interface states and series resistance in Al/SiO2/p-Si MOS structure

The capacitance–voltage (C–V) and conductance–voltage (G/ω–V) characteristics of Al/SiO₂/p-Si metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) Schottky diodes have been measured in the voltage range from ?3 to +3 V and frequency range from 5 KHz to 1 MHz at room temperature. It is found that both C and G/ω of the MOS capacitor are very sensitive to frequency. The fairly large frequency dispersion of C–V and G/ω–V characteristics can be interpreted in terms of the particular distribution of interface states at SiO₂/Si interface and the effect of series resistance. At relatively low frequencies, the interface states can follow an alternating current (AC) signal that contributes to excess capacitance and conductance. This leads to an anomalous peak of C–V curve in the depletion and accumulation regions. In addition, a peak at approximately ?0.2 V appears in the R_s–V profiles at low frequency. The peak values of the capacitance and conductance decrease with increasing frequency. The density distribution profile of interface state density (N_ss) obtained from C_HF–C_LF capacitance measurement also shows a peak in the depletion region.     

Fabrication of Microstructured thermoelectric Bi2Te3 thin films by seed layer assisted electrodeposition

In this work, bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) thin films have been fabricated on Bi₂Te₃/ITO substrates by constant potential electrochemical deposition at room temperature. Bi₂Te₃ seed layers with different thicknesses (2 nm, 4 nm and 6 nm) were deposited onto ITO substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) method. The SEM images show that the morphology of Bi₂Te₃ thin films can be controlled not only by the deposition potential, but also the thickness of seed layer. Moreover, the morphologies of Bi₂Te₃ thin films with different thickness of seed layers tend to be similar and contain two-layer structure along the vertical direction after prolonged deposition time. Due to the two layers structure, Bi₂Te₃ thin films have shown different electrical conductivity performances. At room temperature, Bi₂Te₃ thin films with 4 nm-thick seed layer possess the maximum electrical conductivity value of 617.9 s cm^-1.     

Synthesis of samarium telluride thin films by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method for supercapacitor application

The present paper deals with synthesis of samarium telluride (Sm₂Te₃) thin films using simple and low cost successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method for supercapacitor application. The Sm₂Te₃ thin films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for structural determination, energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX) for elemental composition, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) for surface morphological study and contact angle measurement for wettability study. The Sm₂Te₃ exhibits orthorhombic crystal structure with cloud like surface morphology. The film surface showed lyophilic behavior with contact angle of 5.7° for propylene carbonate (PC). Further, electrochemical measurements are carried out in LiClO₄–PC electrolyte using cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The Sm₂Te₃ film showed maximum specific capacitance and energy density of 144 F g⁻¹ and 10 W h kg⁻¹ respectively. The EIS study showed negligible change in resistive parameters after 1000 electrochemical cycles.     

Fabrication and electrical properties of Al/aniline green/n-Si/AuSb structure

The current–voltage (I–V), capacitance–voltage (C–V) and capacitance–frequency (C–f) characteristics of Al/aniline green(AG)/n-Si/AuSb structure were investigated at room temperature. A modified Norde's function combined with conventional forward I–V method was used to extract the parameters including barrier height (BH) and the series resistance. The barrier height and series resistance obtained from Norde's function was compared with those from Cheung functions, and it was seen that there was a good agreement between the BH values and series resistances from both methods. The C–V characteristics were performed at 10 and 500 kHz frequencies, and C–f characteristics were performed 0.0, +0.4 and −0.4 V.     

Potentiality of trap charge effects and SiON induced interface defects in a-Si3N4/SiON based MIS structure for resistive NVM device

Potential application of amorphous silicon nitride (a-Si₃N₄)/silicon oxy-nitride (SiON) film has been demonstrated as resistive non-volatile memory (NVM) device by studying the Al/Si₃N₄/SiON/p-Si metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) structure. The existence of several deep trap states was revealed by the photoluminescence characterizations. The bipolar resistive switching operation of this device was investigated by current–voltage measurements whereas the trap charge effect was studied in detail by hysteresis behavior of frequency dependent capacitance–voltage characteristics. A memory window of 4.6 V was found with the interface trap density being 6.4 × 10¹¹ cm⁻² eV⁻¹. Excellent charge retention characteristics have been observed for the said MIS structure enabling it to be used as a reliable non-volatile resistive memory device.     

Collective vibrational modes and dielectric relaxation of Ca2ErNbO6

The double perovskite oxide calcium erbium niobate, Ca₂ErNbO₆ (CEN) is synthesized by solid-state reaction technique. The Rietveld refinement of the room temperature X-ray diffraction pattern of the material shows that CEN is crystallized in the monoclinic P2₁/n crystal symmetry. Vibrational properties of the sample for P2₁/n symmetry are analysed using Raman and infrared spectroscopies. The dielectric relaxation and ac conductivity of CEN are investigated in the temperature range from 303 to 573 K and in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 1.1 MHz using impedance spectroscopy. Modified Cole–Cole equation is used to describe the relaxation phenomenon. The frequency dependent conductivity spectra follow the Jonscher power law. The values of Activation energy indicate that the dielectric relaxation and the conduction mechanism are due to adiabatic small polaron hopping of charge carriers. The complex impedance plane plot of the sample indicates the presence of both grain and grain-boundary effects and is analyzed by an electrical equivalent circuit consisting of resistances and constant-phase elements.     

On the current conduction mechanisms of CeO2/La2O3 stacked gate dielectric

It was found that the electrical properties of CeO₂/La₂O₃ stack are much better than a single layer La₂O₃ film. A thin CeO₂ capping layer can effectively suppress the oxygen vacancy formation in the La₂O₃ film. This work further investigates the current conduction mechanisms of the CeO₂ (1 nm thick)/La₂O₃ (4 nm thick) stack. Results show that this thin stacked dielectric film still has a large leakage current density; the typical 1−V leakage can exceed 1 mA/cm² at room temperature. The large leakage current should be due to both the oxide defect centers as well as the film structure. Results show that at low electric field (<0.2 MV/cm), the thermionic emission induced current conduction in this stacked structure is quite pronounced as a result of interface barrier lowering due to the capping CeO₂ film which has a higher k value than that of the La₂O₃ film. At higher electric fields, the current conduction is governed by Poole–Frenkel (PF) emission via defect centers with an effective energy level of 0.119 eV. The temperature dependent current–voltage characteristics further indicate that the dielectric defects may be regenerated as a result of the change of the thermal equilibrium of the redox reaction in CeO₂ film at high temperature and the drift of oxygen under the applied electric field.     

Electrical properties of low-dielectric-constant films prepared by PECVD in O2/CH4/HMDSO

Low-dielectric constant (low-k) films have been prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) mixed with oxygen or methane. The films are analyzed by ellipsometry, infrared absorption spectroscopy while their electrical properties are deduced from C–V, I–V and R–f measurements performed on Al/insulator/Si structures. For an oxygen and methane fraction equal to 50% and 22%, respectively, the dielectric constant and losses are decreased compared with those of the film prepared in a pure HMDSO plasma. The effect of adding 22% of CH₄ in HMDSO plasma increases the Si–CH₃ bonds containing in the polymer film and as the constant of methyl groups in the film increased the dielectric constant of the film decreases. For this film, the dielectric constant is 2.8, the dielectric losses at 1 kHz are equal to 2×10⁻³, the leakage current density measured for an electric field of 1 MV/cm is 3×10⁻⁹ A/cm² and the breakdown field is close to 5 MV/cm.     

Chalcogen-based thermoelectric power generation device using p-type Bi0.4Sb1.6Se2.4Te0.6 and n-type Bi2Se0.6Te2.4 prepared by solid-state microwave synthesis

This study reports on the fabrication of a chalcogen-based thermoelectric power generation (TEG) device using p-type Bi_0.4Sb_1.6Se_2.4Te_0.6 and n-type Bi₂Se_0.6Te_2.4 legs. Electrical power generation characteristics were monitored by changing both the temperature conditions and the number of p–n couples required to generate maximum power. The significance of the resistances including the internal resistance and contact resistance between legs and electrodes, are discussed. The maximum output power obtained with the 18 p–n couples device was 273.2 mW under the thermal condition of T_H=523 K hot-side temperature and ΔT=184 K temperature difference.     

Optical and electrical measurement of FeSe2 thin films obtained at low temperature

FeSe₂ thin films were prepared at low temperature by thermal annealing at 350 °C during 6 h of sequentially evaporated iron and selenium films under selenium atmosphere. The structural, optical and electrical characteristics were investigated. The roughness of films (~76 nm) was confirmed by AFM images. Moreover, optical band gap of FeSe₂, which was evaluated as nearly 1.11 eV and confirmed by the electrical study which yielded a value in the order of 1.08 eV. The electrical conductivity, conduction mechanism, dielectric properties and relaxation model of theses thin films were studied using impedance spectroscopy technique in the frequency range 5 Hz–13 MHz under various temperatures (180–300 °C). Besides, complex impedance and AC conductivity have been investigated on the basis of frequency and temperature dependence.     

Charge injection in metal/organic/metal structures with ZnO:Al/organic interface modified by Zn1−xMgxO:Al layer

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al, AZO) electrodes were covered with very thin (∼6 nm) Zn_1−xMg_xO:Al (AMZO) layers grown by atomic layer deposition. They were tested as hole blocking/electron injecting contacts to organic semiconductors. Depending on the ALD growth conditions, the magnesium content at the film surface varied from x = 0 to x = 0.6. Magnesium was present only at the ZnO:Al surface and subsurface regions and did not diffuse into deeper parts of the layer. The work function of the AZO/AMZO (x = 0.3) film was 3.4 eV (based on the ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy). To investigate carrier injection properties of such contacts, single layer organic structures with either pentacene or 2,4-bis[4-(N,N-diisobutylamino)-2,6-dihydroxyphenyl] squaraine layers were prepared. Deposition of the AMZO layers with x = 0.3 resulted in a decrease of the reverse currents by 1–2 orders of magnitude and an improvement of the diode rectification. The AMZO layer improved hole blocking/electron injecting properties of the AZO electrodes. The analysis of the current-voltage characteristics by a differential approach revealed a richer injection and recombination mechanisms in the structures containing the additional AMZO layer. Among those mechanisms, monomolecular, bimolecular and superhigh injection were identified.     

Facile synthetic route to implement a fully bendable organic metal–insulator–semiconductor device on polyimide sheet

Triblock copolymer surfactant, HO(CH₂CH₂O)₂₀(CH₂CH(CH₃)O)₇₀(CH₂CH₂O)₂₀H (i.e. P123)-based nanocrystalline (nc)-TiO₂ thin film had been synthesized on organic flexible polyimide (PI) sheet for their application in organic metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) device. The nc-TiO₂ film over PI was successfully deposited for the first time by a systematic solution proceeds dip-coating method and by the assistance of triblock copolymer surfactant. The effect of annealing temperature (270 °C, 5 h) on the texture, morphology and time-induced hydrophilicity was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle system, respectively, to examine the chemical composition of the film and the contact angle. The surface morphology of the semiconducting layer of organic pentacene was also investigated by using AFM and XRD, and confirmed that continuous crystalline film growth had occurred on the nc-TiO₂ surface over flexible PI sheet. The semiconductor–dielectric interface of pentacene and nc-TiO₂ films was characterized by current–voltage and capacitance–voltage measurements. This interface measurement in cross-link MIS structured device yielded a low leakage current density of 8.7 × 10^?12 A cm^?2 at 0 to ?5 V, maximum capacitance of 102.3 pF at 1 MHz and estimated dielectric constant value of 28.8. Furthermore, assessment of quality study of nc-TiO₂ film in real-life flexibility tests for different types of bending settings with high durability (c.a. 30 days) demonstrated a better comprehension of dielectric properties over flexible PI sheet. We expected them to have a keen interest in the scientific study, which could be an alternate opportunity to the excellent dielectric–semiconductor interface at economic and low temperature processing for large-area flexible field-effect transistors and sensors.