The use of aluminium doped ZnO as transparent conductive oxide for CdS/CdTe solar cells

CdTe/CdS and CdTe/ZnO thin film solar cells were grown with a high vacuum evaporation based low temperature process (≤ 420 °C). Aluminium doped zinc oxide (AZO) was used as transparent conducting oxide (TCO) material. AZO exhibited excellent stability during the solar cell processing, and no significant change in electrical conductivity or transparency was observed. The current density loss due to absorption in the 1 μm thick AZO layer with 5 Ω per square sheet resistance was found to be 1.2 mA/cm². We investigated the influence of an intrinsic ZnO layer (i:ZnO) in combination with various CdS thicknesses. The i:ZnO layer was found to significantly increase the open circuit voltage of the solar cells with very thin CdS layer. Increasing thickness of the i:ZnO layer leads to UV absorption losses, narrowing of the depletion layer width and hence reduced collection efficiency in the long wavelength (685-830 nm) part. With AZO/i:ZnO bi-layer TCO we could achieve cell efficiencies of 15.6% on glass and 12.4% on the flexible polyimide film.     

Optical, electrical and structural characteristics of Al:ZnO thin films with various thicknesses deposited by DC sputtering at room temperature and annealed in air or vacuum

Transparent and conductive Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films have been grown with various thicknesses between 0.3 and 1.1 μm by magnetron sputtering at room temperature onto soda lime glass substrates. After deposition, the samples have been annealed at temperatures ranging from 150 to 450 °C in air or vacuum. The optical, electrical, and structural characteristics of the AZO coatings have been analyzed as a function of the film thickness and the annealing parameters by spectrophotometry, Hall effect measurements, and X-ray diffraction. As-grown layers are found polycrystalline, with hexagonal structure that shows some elongation of the unit cells along the c-axis, having visible transmittance ∼85-90% and resistivity ∼1.6-2.0 mΩ cm, both parameters slightly decreasing when the film thickness increases. Heating in air or vacuum produces further elongation of the crystalline lattice together with some increase of the visible transmittance and a decrease of the electrical resistance that depends on the heating temperature and atmosphere. The best characteristics have been obtained after treatment in vacuum at 350 °C, where the highest carrier concentrations are achieved, giving visible transmittance ∼90-95% and resistivity ∼0.8-0.9 mΩ cm for the AZO layers with various thicknesses. Some relationships between the analyzed properties have been established, showing the dependence of the lattice distortion, the band gap energy and the mobility on the carrier concentration.     

Colloidal lithography and Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition process integration to fabricate ZnO nanohole arrays

A complete set up of optimal process conditions for an effective colloidal lithography/catalyst assisted MOCVD process integration is presented. It mainly focuses on the determination of the deposition temperature threshold for ZnO Metal-Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) as well as the concentration of metal-organic silver (Ag) catalyst. Indeed, the optimization of such process parameters allows to tailor the ZnO film morphology in order to make the colloidal lithography/catalyst assisted MOCVD approach a valuable bottom up method to fabricate bi-dimensional ordered ZnO nanohole arrays.     

合成工艺对ZnVSb基压敏陶瓷性能的影响

研究了三种合成工艺对ZnVSb系压敏电阻烧结、显微结构和性能的影响。通过对陶瓷密度、显微结构及电学特性的检测、分析发现：化学计量比相同情况下,与V2O5＋Sb2O3预热处理工艺相比,以SbVO4取代Sb2O3合成工艺及传统氧化物合成工艺逐步加剧了尖晶石相在材料中的形成和掺杂元素在晶界的偏聚;导致材料内部晶界势垒逐渐升高,材料的非线性系数及压敏电压逐渐上升。研究结果为ZVSb系压敏电阻材料的设计、制备提供了新的思路。     

O2气流量对MOCVD法生长ZnO薄膜性质的影响

采用低压MOCVD方法,在(0001)Al2O3衬底上沉积了ZnO薄膜.研究了Ⅵ族源O2气流量的变化对薄膜结构、表面形貌及光致发光特性的影响.增加O2气流量,ZnO薄膜结晶质量有所降低,半高宽从0.20°展宽至0.30°,由单一c轴取向变成无取向薄膜.同时,生成的柱状晶粒平均尺寸减少,晶粒更加均匀,均方根粗糙度减小.PL谱分析表明随O2气流量加大,带边峰明显增强,深能级峰明显减弱,ZnO薄膜光学质量提高.这些事实说明在本实验条件下,采用低压MOCVD方法生长的ZnO薄膜在光致发光特性主要依赖于Zn、O组份配比,而不是薄膜的微观结构质量.     

滴加方式对NAC-FAS工艺制备ZnO-TiO_2复合纳米晶的影响

以硫酸氧钛、二水合乙酸锌、氢氧化钠为原料,研究了不同的滴加方式对NAC-FAS工艺制备ZnO-TiO_2复合纳米晶的影响,利用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)对样品的结构、形貌进行了表征。结果表明:通过NAC-FAS工艺预制TiO_2纳米晶可以制备得到复合ZnO-TiO_2纳米晶,其平均粒径为15nm,复合纳米晶呈球状。通过NAC-FAS工艺直接滴加反应溶液,不能制备得到ZnO-TiO_2,只能制备得到单一晶相或非晶相。     

Piezo‐Phototronic Effect on Selective Electron or Hole Transport through Depletion Region of Vis–NIR Broadband Photodiode

Silicon underpins nearly all microelectronics today and will continue to do so for some decades to come. However, for silicon photonics, the indirect band gap of silicon and lack of adjustability severely limit its use in applications such as broadband photodiodes. Here, a high‐performance p‐Si/n‐ZnO broadband photodiode working in a wide wavelength range from visible to near‐infrared light with high sensitivity, fast response, and good stability is reported. The absorption of near‐infrared wavelength light is significantly enhanced due to the nanostructured/textured top surface. The general performance of the broadband photodiodes can be further improved by the piezo‐phototronic effect. The enhancement of responsivity can reach a maximum of 78% to 442 nm illumination, the linearity and saturation limit to 1060 nm light are also significantly increased by applying external strains. The photodiode is illuminated with different wavelength lights to selectively choose the photogenerated charge carriers (either electrons or holes) passing through the depletion region, to investigate the piezo‐phototronic effect on electron or hole transport separately for the first time. This is essential for studying the basic principles in order to develop a full understanding about piezotronics and it also enables the development of the better performance of optoelectronics.     

Characterization of ZnO nanowires grown on Si (100) with and without Au catalyst

ZnO nanowires were grown on Si (100) substrates with and without Au catalyst by chemical vapor deposition employing the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) and vapor-solid (VS) mechanisms, respectively. The diameters of the resulting nanowires were in the range 80-150 nm with typical length about 10 μm. The near-band-edge (NBE) emission of ZnO nanowires grown with and without catalyst was observed at 382 nm and 386 nm, respectively. The intensity of the NBE emission of ZnO nanowires grown without the catalyst was higher than that of the green luminescence. By sharp contrast, the intensity of the NBE emission of ZnO nanowires grown with catalyst was lower than that of green luminescence. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum of the ZnO nanowires grown without catalyst exhibited a peak intensity of c-plane 5 times higher than that of m-plane and 10 times higher than that of a-plane. However, the XRD spectrum of the ZnO nanowires grown with catalyst exhibited a peak intensity of the c-plane about 1.5 times higher than that of the m-plane and 4 times higher than that of a-plane intensity. Thus, the ZnO nanowires grown without catalyst have a preferential orientation along the c-axis direction. Our results show that the catalyst strongly effects optical and structural properties of the ZnO nanowires.     

Rapid and Superior Bacteria Killing of Carbon Quantum Dots/ZnO Decorated Injectable Folic Acid‐Conjugated PDA Hydrogel through Dual‐Light Triggered ROS and Membrane Permeability

One of the most difficult challenges in the biomedical field is bacterial infection, which causes tremendous harm to human health. In this work, an injectable hydrogel is synthesized through rapid assembly of dopamine (DA) and folic acid (FA) cross‐linked by transition metal ions (TMIs, i.e., Zn²⁺), which was named as DFT‐hydrogel. Both the two carboxyl groups in the FA molecule and catechol in polydopamine (PDA) easily chelates Zn²⁺ to form metal–ligand coordination, thereby allowing this injectable hydrogel to match the shapes of wounds. In addition, PDA in the hydrogel coated around carbon quantum dot‐decorated ZnO (C/ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) to rapidly generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and heat under illumination with 660 and 808 nm light, endows this hybrid hydrogel with great antibacterial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, typical Gram‐positive bacteria) and Escherichia coli (E. coli, typical Gram‐negative bacteria). The antibacterial efficacy of the prepared DFT‐C/ZnO‐hydrogel against S. aureus and E. coli under dual‐light irradiation is 99.9%. Importantly, the hydrogels release zinc ions over 12 days, resulting in a sustained antimicrobial effect and promoted fibroblast growth. Thus, this hybrid hydrogel exhibits great potential for the reconstruction of bacteria‐infected tissues, especially exposed wounds.     

ZnO光子晶体的自组装工艺及带隙特征研究

以Zn（Ac）2和DEG为原料,采用胶体自组装工艺制备了不同胶粒尺寸的ZnO光子晶体,探索了胶体自组装ZnO光子晶体的制备工艺,研究了自组装温度、溶剂、悬浮液浓度、热处理温度等因素对光子晶体排布平整度、周期性和空间紧密度的影响规律,对各种工艺条件下光子晶体的带隙特征进行了研究,试验结果表明,通过自组装工艺条件选择可实现对光子晶体带隙结构的可控性制备。