Effect of sodium doping on graded Cu(In1−xGax)Se2 thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis

In the present work we have studied the effect of Na on the properties of graded Cu(In_1−xGa_x)Se₂ (CIGS) layer. Graded CIGS structures were prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis at a substrate temperature of 350 °C on soda lime glass. Sodium chloride is used as a dopant along with metal (Cu/In/Ga) chlorides and n, n-dimethyl selenourea precursors. The addition of Na exhibited better crystallinity with chalcopyrite phase and an improvement in preferential orientation along the (112) plane. Energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (line/point mapping) revealed a graded nature of the film and percentage incorporation of Na (0.86 at%). Raman studies showed that the film without sodium doping consists of mixed phase of chalcopyrite and CuAu ordering. Influence of sodium showed a remarkable decrease in electrical resistivity (0.49–0.087 Ω cm) as well as an increase in carrier concentration (3.0×10¹⁸–2.5×10¹⁹ cm⁻³) compared to the un-doped films. As carrier concentration increased after sodium doping, the band gap shifted from 1.32 eV to 1.20 eV. Activation energies for un-doped and Na doped films from modified Arrhenius plot were calculated to be 0.49 eV and 0.20 eV, respectively. Extremely short carrier lifetimes in the CIGS thin films were measured by a novel, non-destructive, noncontact method (transmission modulated photoconductive decay). Minority carrier lifetimes of graded CIGS layers without and with external Na doping are found to be 3.0 and 5.6 ns, respectively.     

Fabrication of CuInS2/CNTs absorber layers by sol–gel method

In this work, CuInS₂/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) layers are fabricated by the sol–gel spin-coating method. We introduce two forms of MWCNTs into a CIS₂ solution, washed functional multiwalled carbon nanotubes (W-FMWCNTs) and unwashed-functional multiwalled carbon nanotubes (UW-FMWCNTs), in order to investigate the effects of MWCNTs and an acidic environment on the physical properties of the CIS₂ absorber layers. The structure and morphology of the samples are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. The XRD study shows that all samples crystallize in a tetragonal structure. The results obtained from the optical, thermo-electric, and electrical measurements indicate that the two groups of CIS₂ layers prepared using W- and UW-FMWCNTs show the opposite behaviors. The Seebeck coefficient (SC) measurements indicate possible formation of a p–n junction.     

栅侧壁隔离层对45nm NOR闪存栅极干扰的影响

为了研究侧壁隔离层对闪存器件可靠性的影响,分别制备了Si3N4和SiO2-Si3N4-SiO2-Si3N4 (ONON)复合层作为栅侧壁隔离层的45 nm或非闪存(NOR flash)器件,对编程后、循环擦写后的闪存器进行栅极干扰的测试,讨论了不同栅侧壁隔离层对栅极干扰的影响.结果表明,虽然纯氧化硅隔离层可减少NOR自对准接触孔(SAC)刻蚀时对侧壁隔离层的损伤,但其在栅极干扰时在氧化物-氮化物-氧化物(ONO)处有更高的电场,从而在栅干扰后阈值电压变化较大,且由于在擦写操作过程中会陷入电荷,这些电荷在大的栅极电压和长时间的栅干扰作用下均会对闪存器的可靠性产生负面的影响.ONON隔离层的闪存器无可靠性失效.因此以ONON作为侧壁隔离层比以纯氮化硅作为侧壁隔离层的闪存器件具有更好的栅干扰性能.     

无线传感器网络体系结构和关键技术研究

文章介绍了无线传感器网络的体系结构,提出了一种基于跨层设计的管理控制机制;在对无线传感器网络的关键技术,如媒体接入控制(MAC)技术和无线路由协议,分别进行阐述和比较的基础上,提出了一种把简单的IEEE 802 MAC协议应用于无线传感器网络的思想;为了提高系统容量,提出了多信道策略,可以用来有效减少系统碰撞阻塞率,减少接入时延;认为虽然无线传感器网络的应用前景非常广阔,但是仍存在很多问题,除了要尽量减少功耗外,必须提高系统容量,减少碰撞阻塞率,以加快无线传感器网络实用化的进程.     

Enhanced storage/operation stability of small molecule organic photovoltaics using graphene oxide interfacial layer

Graphene and graphene oxide (GO) have been applied in flexible organic electronic devices with enhanced efficiency of polymeric photovoltaic (OPV) devices. In this work, we demonstrate that storage/operation stability of OPV can be substantially enhanced by spin-coating a GO buffer layer on ITO without any further treatment. With a 2 nm GO buffer layer, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a standard copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/fullerene (C₆₀) based OPV device shows about 30% enhancement from 1.5% to 1.9%. More importantly, while the PCE of the standard device drop to 1/1000 of its original value after 60-days of operation-storage cycles; those of GO-buffered device maintained 84% of initial PCE even after 132-days. Atomic force microscopy studies show that CuPc forms larger crystallites on the GO-buffered ITO substrate leading to better optical absorption and thus photon utilization. Stability enhancement is attributed to the diffusion barrier of the GO layer which slow down diffusion of oxygen species from ITO to the active layers.     

EPR and Raman study of silicon layers obtained by gas detonation spraying

We demonstrate availability of gas detonation deposition spraying (GDS) to obtain silicon layers that can be used for production of solar cells. Silicon powder remaining as secondary raw material of silicon and/or silicon production is used during GDS. To study defects and structural perfection of initial powders and obtained layers, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and Raman spectroscopy are used. It is shown that one part of EPR spectra displays resonances originating from different nearest-neighbor configurations of silicon dangling bonds, whereas an increase of the total number of paramagnetic defects in GDS silicon layer is related to the rise of conduction electrons or electrons filled band tail states. Thermal annealing of layers in hydrogen ambience further reduces the number of silicon dangling bonds owing to their passivation. Based on the results of X-ray diffraction, EPR and Raman spectroscopy it is assumed that the GDS Si layers are composed of randomly oriented and partially oxidized monocrystalline silicon grains. It is found that optical and photoelectric properties of the layers obtained indicate a possibility to apply them for solar cells production.     

Interfacial modifying layer-driven high-performance organic thin-film transistors and their nitrogen dioxide gas sensors

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) based on bottom-gate bottom-contact configuration were fabricated by inserting two kinds of modifying layers at the interface of source/drain electrode and organic semiconductor, while nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sensing capability was also evaluated based on the obtained OTFTs. Compared to OTFT without interfacial layer, the field-effect mobility (μ) was enhanced from 0.018 cm²/Vs to 0.15 cm²/Vs by incorporating with MoO_x interfacial layer. Moreover, when exposed to 30 ppm NO₂, the saturation current and μ of OTFT with MoO_x interfacial layer increase 22.7% and 26.7%, respectively, while in original OTFT, the values are only 3.0% and 3.7%, respectively. The mechanism of performance improvement of OTFT sensor was systematically studied by focusing on the interface of source/drain electrode and organic semiconductor. The reduced contact resistance leads to higher μ, meanwhile, pentacene morphology modulation on MoO_x contributes to better diffusion of NO₂ molecules. As a result, higher μ and more diffused gas molecules enhance the gas sensing property of the transistor.     

Efficient red phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes based on solution processed all-inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite as hole transporting layer

An efficient red phosphorescent organic light emitting diode (PhOLED) has been realized by utilizing a composite hole transporting layer comprised of all-inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite CsPbBr₃ via spin-coating and 1,3-bis(9-carbazolyl) benzene (mCP) by vacuum depositing, in which CsPbBr₃ film is used as a hole transporting layer and mCP plays a dominant role in electron and exciton blocking. And this PhOLED shows a saturated red emission coordinated at CIE (0.65, 0.33) driven at 7.5 V, a maximum brightness of 20,750 cd/m², and a maximum current efficiency of 10.64 cd/A, which is as 1.87 times as that 5.68 cd/A of the reference PhOLEDs based on traditional small organic molecular hole transporting material N,N′-bis(naphthalen-1-yl)-N,N′-bis(phenyl)-benzi (NPB). The electroluminescent (EL) spectra and the energy level alignment of different PhOLEDs are investigated. The enhanced EL performances are ascribed to improved hole injecting and transporting behaviors, and better electron and exciton confinements by introducing the composite hole transporting layer CsPbBr₃/mCP.     

Sputtered Zn(O,S) buffer layers for CIGS solar modules—from lab to pilot production

Sputtering of Zn(O,S) from ZnO/ZnS compound targets has been proven to be a promising buffer layer process for Cd‐free CIGS modules due to easy in‐line integration, low cost and high efficiency on lab scale. In this publication, we report on successful upscaling of the lab process to pilot production. A record aperture efficiency of 13.2% has been reached on a 50 × 120 cm² sized module. Neither a non‐doped ZnO layer nor additional annealing steps are required. Moreover, this very reproducible process yields a standard deviation comparable with that of the CdS base line. In contrast to lab experiments, strong performance gain after light soaking has been observed. The light‐soak‐induced power increase depends on the preparation of the window layer. Accelerated aging tests show high stability of module power. This is confirmed by outdoor testing for 20 months. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A survey of cross‐layer protocols for IEEE 802.11 wireless multi‐hop mesh networks

There has been an escalation in deployment and research of wireless mesh networks by both the business community and academia in the last few years. Their attractive characteristics include low deployment cost, a low‐cost option to extend network coverage and ease of maintenance due to their self‐healing properties. Multiple routes exist between the sender and receiver nodes because of the mesh layout that ensures network connectivity even when node or link failures occur. Recent advances among others include routing metrics, optimum routing, security, scheduling, cross‐layer designs and physical layer techniques. However, there are still challenges in wireless mesh networks as discussed in this paper that need to be addressed. Cross‐layer design allows information from adjacent and non‐adjacent layers to be used at a particular layer for performance improvement. This paper presents a survey of cross‐layer protocol design approaches applied to the IEEE 802.11 standards for wireless multi‐hop mesh networks that have been proposed over the last few years for improved performance. We summarize the current research efforts in cross‐layer protocol design using the IEEE 802.11 standard in identifying unsolved issues that are a promising avenue to further research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.