Effect of thermal annealing on physical properties of vacuum evaporated In2S3 buffer layer for eco-friendly photovoltaic applications

The present communication reports the effect of thermal annealing on the physical properties of In₂S₃ thin films for eco-friendly buffer layer photovoltaic applications. The thin films of thickness 150 nm were deposited on glass and indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates employing thermal vacuum evaporation technique followed by post-deposition thermal annealing in air atmosphere within a low temperature range 150–450 °C. These as-deposited and annealed films were subjected to the X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis spectrophotometer, current–voltage tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for structural, optical, electrical and surface morphological analysis respectively. The compositional analysis of as-deposited film is also carried out using energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The XRD patterns reveal that the as-deposited and annealed films (≤300 °C) have amorphous nature while films annealed at 450 °C show tetragonal phase of β-In₂S₃ with preferred orientation (109) and polycrystalline in nature. The crystallographic parameters like lattice constant, inter-planner spacing, grain size, internal strain, dislocation density and number of crystallites per unit area are calculated for thermally annealed (450 °C) thin films. The optical band gap was found in the range 2.84–3.04 eV and observed to increase with annealing temperature. The current–voltage characteristics show that the as-deposited and annealed films exhibit linear ohmic behavior. The SEM studies show that the as-deposited and annealed films are uniform, homogeneous and free from crystal defects and voids. The grains in the thin films are similar in size and densely packed and observed to increase with thermal annealing. The experimental results reveal that the thermal annealing play significant role in the structural, optical, electrical and morphological properties of deposited In₂S₃ thin films and may be used as cadmium-free eco-friendly buffer layer for thin films solar cells applications.     

Variation of the structural,optical and electrical properties of CBD CdO with processing temperature

Nanostructures of CdO thin films are prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The synthesized film is annealed in static air by using the hotplate at 373, 473, 573 and 673 K for 10 min. The effect of annealing temperature on structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of CdO thin films has been investigated. The prepared thin films are characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), optical reflection microscope (ORM), UV–Visible Spectrophotometer and electrical resistivity. XRD shows the emergence of the cubic phase of CdO film in a preferred orientation (111) plane at 573 K. The AFM and ORM show that CdO films have smooth homogeneous surface in the formula with the emergence of nanoclusters gathering as nanoparticles with the average of grain size about 100 nm at 573 K. The optical properties prove that deposited films have high transparency within the visible range of the spectrum that reaches to more than 85% with a wide band gap that extends from 2.42 eV to 2.7 eV. The electrical properties of the CdO films show that resistivity decreases with increased annealing temperatures. In addition, it is proved that more than one activation energy appears and they change according to the temperature of annealing and this comes as a result of the polycrystalline structure. This study indicates that the properties of CdO thin films could be improved with annealing temperature and these films can be used in many technological applications.     

Chemical bath deposition of nanocrystalline ZnS thin films: Influence of pH on the reaction solution

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films were deposited onto glass substrates using chemical bath deposition technique (CBD). The deposition were carried out in a bath solution with pH ranged from 9 to 11. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to characterize the films structure and morphology respectively. The amorphous structure of as-deposited films is converted to a nanocrystalline one after a thermal annealing at 550 °C. The deposited ZnS films exhibit a high optical transmission in the UV–visible range (≥80%). They have a direct band gap. Using a solution with pH equal to 10 yields to films with larger optical band gap, smoother surface and lower electrical conductivity.     

Optical and microstructural characterization of the effects of rapid thermal annealing of CdTe thin films grown on Si (100) substrates

The effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on CdTe/Si (100) heterostructures have been studied in order to improve the structural quality of CdTe epilayers. Samples of CdTe (111) polycrystalline thin films grown by vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) on Si (100) substrates have been investigated. The strained structures were rapidly thermally annealed at 400°C, 450°C, 500°C, 550°C, and 600°C for 10 sec. The microstructural properties of the CdTe films were characterized by carrying out scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). We have shown that the structural quality of the CdTe epilayers improves significantly with increasing annealing temperature. The optimum annealing temperature resulting in the highest film quality has been found to be 500°C. Additionally, we have shown that the surface nucleation characterized by the island size distribution can be correlated with the crystalline quality of the film.     

Effect of annealing atmosphere on the electrical properties of nickel oxide/zinc oxide p–n junction grown by sol–gel technique

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and nickel oxide (NiO) thin films were prepared on glass substrates by a sol–gel method. Spin coating was used to fabricate a p-NiO/n-ZnO junction. The influence of the post annealing atmosphere (air or nitrogen) on the microstructure and surface morphology of NiO and ZnO thin films and the p-NiO/n-ZnO junction are examined. The structural properties are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the surface morphology of the thin films and the p–n junction are investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Optical properties are investigated by UV–visible spectroscopy and the electrical properties, such as I–V photocurrent, are characterized by a voltage source meter instrument. XRD patterns show that the films are polycrystalline with preferred orientation in the (002) direction for the ZnO films and the (200) direction for the NiO films. The AFM results indicate that the morphology of the ZnO and NiO films and the p-NiO/n-ZnO junction are mainly influenced by the annealing atmosphere. All films have a high optical transmittance of about 80% in the visible region and a sharp absorption edge. The optical band gaps of the two materials change with the annealing atmosphere (air or nitrogen). The p-NiO/n-ZnO heterojunction device has an average transmittance of over 80% in the visible region, which lies between the transmittance of the ZnO and NiO films separately. The ideality factor, barrier height, and series resistance of the heterojunction treated in different annealing atmospheres are determined by using conventional forward bias I–V characteristics and also Norde׳s and Cheung׳s methods.     

Thickness dependent physical properties of chemically deposited nanocrystalline MgSe thin films deposited at room temperature by solution growth method

Chemical bath deposition method has been employed to deposit nanocrystalline magnesium selenide thin films of thickness 104–292 nm onto glass substrates at room temperature. The deposition bath consists of magnesium chloride, triethanolamine (TEA) and selenium dioxide. The as deposited films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical absorption, electrical resistivity and thermo-emf measurements. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that the crystallinity of the magnesium selenide thin film increases with thickness. SEM studies reveal that MgSe films exhibit uniform distribution of round shaped grains over the entire substrate surface.The optical band-gap and electrical resistivity of MgSe film decrease as the film thickness increases. Such type of dependence is attributed to the quantum size effect that is observed in nanocrystalline semiconductors.The thermo-emf measurement confirms its p-type conductivity.     

Effect of sputtering power on optical properties of prepared TiO2 thin films by thermal oxidation of sputtered Ti layers

In this research, TiO₂ thin films prepared via thermal oxidation of Ti layers were deposited by RF-magnetron sputtering method at three different sputtering powers. The effects of sputtering power on structure, surface and optical properties of TiO₂ thin films grown on glass substrate were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopic (AFM) and UV–visible spectrophotometer. The results reveal that, the structure of layers is changed from amorphous to crystalline at anatase phase by thermal oxidation of deposited Ti layers and rutile phase is formed when sputtering power is increased. The optical parameters: absorption coefficient, dielectric constants, extinction coefficient, refractive index, optical conductivity and dissipation factor are decreased with increase in sputtering power, but increase in optical band gap is observed. The roughness of thin films surface is affected by changes in sputtering power which is obtained by AFM images.     

Structural and electrical analysis of poly-Ge films fabricated by e-beam evaporation for optoelectronic applications

We have investigated the relationship between structural and electrical properties of Ge thin films deposited on single crystal silicon (100) substrates by electron beam evaporation at room temperature. Post-thermal annealing was applied to obtain poly-crystalline Ge thin films. The structural effects of the annealing temperature and annealing time on the crystallization of Ge films were analyzed using Raman and X-ray diffraction measurements. Raman and X-ray diffraction spectra revealed a structural evolution from amorphous to crystalline phase with increasing annealing temperature and annealing time. It was found that high quality poly-crystalline Ge films were obtained with crystallization ratio of 90% at an annealing temperarure of 500 °C following the crystallization threshold of 450 °C. Effects of structural ordering on the electrical properties were investigated through current-voltage characteristics of fabricated heterostructure devices (Ge/p-Si). Smooth cathode-anode interchange in the diode behavior has been clearly observed following the structural ordering as a function of annealing temperature in a systematic way. These outcomes could be exploited for engineering of low-cost Ge based novel electronic and opto-electronic devices.     

Preparation and characterization of cubic lattice ZnS：Na Films with （111） preferred orientation

ZnS：Na thin films with （111） preferred orientation were deposited on glass substrates by vacuum evaporation method. The as-prepared films were annealed in flowing argon at 400--500 ℃ to improve the film crystallinity and electrically activate the dopants. The structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnS：Na films are investigated by X-ray diffrac- tion （XRD）, photoluminescence （PL）, optical transmittance measurements and the four-point probe method. Results show that the as-prepared ZnS：Na films are amorphous, and exhibit （111） preferred orientation after annealing at 400 --500 ℃. The PL emissions at 414 nm and 439 nm are enhanced due to the increase of the intrinsic defects induced by the thermal annealing. However, all the samoles exhibit high resistivitv due to the heavy self-compensation.     

Effect of post deposition heat treatment on microstructure parameters,optical constants and composition of thermally evaporated CdTe thin films

Thin film microstructure and its properties can be effectively altered with post deposition heat treatments. In this respect, CdTe thin films were deposited on glass substrates at a substrate temperature of 200 °C using thermal evaporation technique, followed by air annealing at different temperatures from 200 to 500 °C. Structural analysis reveals that CdTe thin films have a cubic zincblend structure with two oxide phases related to CdTe₂O₅ and CdTeO₃ at annealing temperature of 400 and 500 °C respectively. Regardless of the annealing temperature, the plane (111) was found to be the preferred orientation for all films. The crystallite size was observed to increase with annealing temperature. All films were found to display higher lattice parameters than the standard, and hence found to carry a compressive stress. Optical measurements suggest high uniformity of films both before and after post deposition heat treatment. Films annealed at 400 °C displayed superior optical properties due to its high refractive index, optical conductivity, relative density and low disorder. Furthermore, according to the compositional measurements, CdTe thin films were found to exhibit Te rich and Cd rich nature at regions near the substrate and center of the film respectively, for all annealing temperatures. However, composition of the regions near the substrate was found to become more Te rich with increasing annealing temperature. The study suggests that changing the annealing temperature as a post deposition treatment affects structural and optical properties of CdTe thin film as well as its composition. According to the observations, films annealed at 400 °C can be concluded to be the best films for photovoltaic applications due to its superior optical and structural properties.     

Study of Structural,Electrical and Optical Properties of (200)-Oriented CdTe Thin Films Depending on the Post-deposition Low Temperature

Cadmium telluride nanoparticles (CdTe NPs) have been synthesized by a sonochemical technique, deposited on glass and quartz glass at 100°C and 2.7?×?10^?6 kPa and then studied by analyzing the x-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), current–voltage test (I–V) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD results indicated the formation of a strong preferential (200) orientation of CdTe with a cubic zinc-blende structure on both substrates. In order to show the effect of heating on the structure and optical properties of the prepared thin films, they were annealed at temperatures of 50°C, 70°C and 100°C for 1 h. It was found that the grain size in this orientation increases with the increase of the temperature. In addition, the obtained optical band gap energies by UV–Vis measurements were in the range of 1.46–1.53 eV. The electrical properties of the prepared films were observed to increase with annealing using I–V measurements. The thin films were also found to be uniform with a small particle size, as revealed by SEM.

     

Influence of Pb doping on the structural,morphological and optical properties of sol–gel ZnO thin films

In this work, undoped and lead (Pb)-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrate using the sol–gel dip-coating process. The effects of different Pb doping concentrations on the structural, morphological, optical, electrical and photoluminescence properties of such films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-rays (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV–vis–NIR spectrophotometry, Hall effect measurement and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. XRD patterns of the synthesized films exhibited hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure with a c-axis preferred (002) orientation. AFM images showed that film morphology and surface roughness were influenced by the Pb doping level. Incorporation of Pb was confirmed from elemental analysis using EDS. The UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy characterizations demonstrated that all the films were highly transparent with average visible transmission values ranging from 75% to 85%. Electrical measurement shows that carrier concentration and resistivity are dependent on Pb content. Room temperature PL spectra clearly indicated a great dependence of the UV, green and red emissions on the Pb concentration. In particular, the red emission at 2 eV is quenched after introduction of Pb atoms.     

营养治疗对门诊血液透析患者的作用

利用中频磁控反应溅射技术在玻璃衬底上制备氮化铝(AlN)薄膜,并经退火处理.利用X-衍射和原子力显微镜分析了AlN薄膜的结构及表面形貌.结果表明,衬底温度和退火工艺对AlN薄膜的结构和表面形貌有重要影响.研究表明,衬底温度为230 ℃时,AlN薄膜的表面粗糙度最小,退火能减小AlN薄膜表面粗糙度.     

Behavior of chemically deposited PbS thin films subjected to two different routes of post deposition annealing

Lead sulfide (PbS) thin films were prepared on soda lime glass substrates at room temperature by Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) technique. This paper reports a comparative study of characteristic properties of as-prepared PbS thin films after thermal treatment through two different routes. Studies were carried out for as-prepared as well as rapidly and gradually annealed samples at 100, 200 and 300 °C. The characterizations of the films were carried out using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and optical measurement techniques. The structural studies confirmed the polycrystalline nature and the cubic structure of the films. As-deposited films partly transformed to Pb₂O₃ when gradually annealed to 300 °C. The presence of nano crystallites was revealed by structural and optical absorption measurements. The values of average crystallite size were found to be in the range 18–20 nm. The variation in the microstructure, thickness, grain size, micro strain and optical band gap on two types of annealing were compared and analyzed. Data showed that post deposition parameters and thermal treatment strongly influence the optical properties of PbS films. Optical band gap of the film gets modified remarkably on annealing. Direct band gap energy values for rapidly and gradually annealed samples varied in the range of 1.68–2.01 eV and 1.68–2.12 eV respectively. Thus we were succeeded in tailoring direct band gap energies by post deposition annealing method.     

Effect of annealing on physical properties of CBD synthesized nanocrystalline FeSe thin films

Nanocrystalline FeSe thin films were successfully prepared by solution growth method using ferric chloride and sodium selenosulphate as cationic and anionic precursors along with complexing agent oxalic acid. The thickness dependent physical properties of FeSe thin films prepared by varying deposition time are discussed. The FeSe films of thickness 161 nm were further annealed to investigate its impact on physical properties. The X-ray diffraction studies showed that, as deposited FeSe films are nano crystalline in nature and their crystallinity increases with thickness as well as with annealing temperature. The morphological studies showed that FeSe exhibits granular surface with channel like features at higher thickness. The electrical resistivity and thermo-emf measurements confirmed that, FeSe films are semiconducting in nature with P-type conductivity. The activation and band gap energies of FeSe films are found dependent on film thickness as well as on annealing temperature.     

Effects of the substrate temperature and solution molarity on the structural opto-electric properties of ZnO thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis

Zinc oxide (ZnO) was largely studied in various applications such as photovoltaic conversion, optoelectronics and piezoelectric, because of its interesting physical properties (morphological, structural, optical and electrical). The present work deals with the preparation of zinc oxide thin films (ZnO) deposited by the spray pyrolysis method. The starting solution was zinc chloride (ZnCl₂). Effects of solution molarity and substrate temperature on films properties were investigated. All films deposited were characterized by various techniques such as X-ray diffraction for structural characterizations, profilometry for thickness measurements, UV–vis transmission spectrophotometry for optical properties and the four probes conductivity measurements for electrical characterization. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns show that the films deposited are polycrystalline with (0 0 2) plan as preferential orientation. The UV–vis spectroscopy confirms the possibility of good transparent ZnO thin films deposition with an average transmission of about ∼85% in the visible region. However, the measured electrical resistivities of the deposited films were in the order of 10⁴ Ω cm     

Influence of Mn doping on structural,optical and electrical properties of CdO thin films prepared by cost effective spray pyrolysis method

Transparent and conducting cadmium oxide (CdO) and manganese doped CdO (Mn: CdO) thin films were deposited using a low cost spray pyrolysis method on the glass substrate at 300 °C. For Mn doping, various concentrations of manganese acetate (1–3 wt%) was used in the spraying precursor solution. The structural, electrical and optical properties of CdO and Mn: CdO films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), UV–vis and Hall measurement. X-ray diffraction study reveals that the CdO and Mn: CdO films are possessing cubic crystal structures. SEM and AFM studies reveal that the grain size and roughness of the films are increased with increasing Mn doping concentration. Optical transmittance spectra of the CdO film decreases with increasing doping concentration of manganese. The optical band gap of the films decreases from 2.42 eV to 2.08 eV with increasing concentration of manganese. A minimum resistivity of 1.11×10⁻³ Ω cm and maximum mobility of 20.77 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ is achieved for 1 wt% of manganese doping.     

3英寸CdTe/Si复合衬底外延技术研究

报道了采用分子束外延法,在3 in硅衬底上通过As钝化、ZnTe缓冲层生长、CdTe生长、周期性退火等工艺进行CdTe/Si复合衬底制备技术研究情况,采用光学显微镜、X射线高分辨衍射仪、原子力显微镜、红外傅里叶光谱仪和湿化学腐蚀等手段对碲化镉薄膜进行了表征,测试分析结果表明碲化镉薄膜的晶向得到了较好的控制,孪晶得到了抑...     

PLD法制备ZnO薄膜的退火特性和蓝光机制研究

通过脉冲激光沉积(PLD)方法,在O2中和100～500℃衬底温度下,用粉末靶在Si(111)衬底上制备了ZnO薄膜,在300℃温度下生长的薄膜在400～800℃温度和N2氛围中进行了退火处理,用X射线衍射(XRD)谱、原子力显微镜(AFM)和光致发光(PL)谱表征薄膜的结构和光学特性。XRD谱显示,在生长温度300℃时获得较好的复晶薄膜,在退火温度700℃时获得最好的六方结构的结晶薄膜;AFM显示,在此退火条件下,薄膜表面平整、晶粒均匀;PL谱结果显示,在700℃退火时有最好的光学特性。     

Effect of Bi doping on the properties of CdSe thin films for optoelectronic device applications

CdSe and Bi (1%, 2%, 3%) doped CdSe thin films were deposited on the glass substrates using thermal evaporation technique. Effect of Bi doping on the structural, optical, electrical and photo response properties of CdSe thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction studies reveals that undoped and Bi doped CdSe films are polycrystalline in nature with hexagonal crystal structure along (002) direction. No significant changes are observed in the lattice parameters or the grain size indicating minimum lattice distortion. The optical band gap of undoped CdSe film was estimated to be 1.67 eV. Replacement of cadmium by bismuth results in an increase in the electrical conductivity of doped films. Doping with bismuth is found to improve the photo sensitivity of CdSe thin films.