Influence of deposition temperature on the structural and morphological properties of Be3N2 thin films grown by reactive laser ablation

Be₃N₂ thin films have been grown on Si(1 1 1) substrates using the pulsed laser deposition method at different substrate temperatures: room temperature (RT), 200 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C. Additionally, two samples were deposited at RT and were annealed after deposition in situ at 600 °C and 700 °C. In order to obtain the stoichiometry of the samples, they have been characterized in situ by X-ray photoelectron (XPS) and reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS). The influence of the substrate temperature on the morphological and structural properties of the films was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that all prepared films presented the Be₃N₂ stoichiometry. Formation of whiskers with diameters of 100-200 nm appears at the surface of the films prepared with a substrate temperature of 600 °C or 700 °C. However, the samples grown at RT and annealed at 600 °C or 700 °C do not show whiskers on the surface. The average root mean square (RMS) roughness and the average grain size of the samples grown with respect the substrate temperature is presented. The films grown with a substrate temperature between the room temperature to 400 °C, and the sample annealed in situ at 600 °C were amorphous; while the αBe₃N₂ phase was presented on the samples with a substrate temperature of 600 °C, 700 °C and that deposited with the substrate at RT and annealed in situ at 700 °C.     

Spin polarization measurements of Co2Mn (Ga0.5Sn0.5) thin films

Co₂MnGa_0.5Sn_0.5 (CMGS) thin films were epitaxially grown on MgO (0 0 1) substrates by magnetron sputtering and the current spin polarizations of the films with different post annealing conditions were measured by the point contact Andreev reflection method. The film deposited at a substrate temperature of 150 °C had a B2 structure and its spin polarization was estimated to be 59%. The film was ordered to the L2₁ structure by annealing at 600 °C, and the spin polarization was enhanced to 66%. The spin polarization and the intensity of the L2₁ diffraction showed clear correlation, suggesting L2₁ ordering is essential to achieve higher spin polarization of this quaternary Heusler alloy.     

Crystallization of amorphous Co2MnSi thin film

Amorphous Co₂MnSi thin film was deposited using radio-frequency sputtering. The amorphous film crystallized into a single-phased L2₁ structure at 500 °C, which was highly disordered. The structure was meta-stable as the crystallized film decomposed upon further heating. Increasing the annealing temperature to 600 °C precipitated fcc Co together with Co₂MnSi. Magnetic measurements showed that the as-deposited amorphous film was paramagnetic, exhibiting a spin glass state below 44 K. The phase transition at 500 °C produced a ferromagnetic Co₂MnSi thin film whose saturation magnetic moment was considerably lower than reported values due to the disordered structure of the crystallized film.     

Effects of annealing temperature on structure and magnetic properties of amorphous Fe61Co27P12 nanowire arrays

Arrays of Fe₆₁Co₂₇P₁₂ nanowire with an aspect ratio about 70 were prepared in anodic aluminum oxide templates by electrodeposition. The influences of annealing temperature on structure and magnetic properties of Fe₆₁Co₂₇P₁₂ nanowires were studied. When the specimens were annealed below 400 °C, there are no obvious changes in structure except relaxation. With the annealing temperature increasing from 400 to 600 °C, the Fe-Co phase is detected by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectra. The crystalline fraction and hyperfine field can be derived from Mössbauer spectra. The room temperature magnetic hysteresis loops show that the coercivity and squareness of the nanowire arrays in parallel to the wire axis increase with the increasing of annealing temperature, which mainly attributes to the strengthening of anisotropy.     

Effects of the substrate temperature on the properties of CuIn5S8 thin films

Structural, optical and electrical properties of CuIn₅S₈ thin films grown by thermal evaporation have been studied relating the effects of substrate heating conditions of these properties. The CuIn₅S₈ thin films were carried out at substrate temperatures in the temperature range 100-300 °C. The effects of heated substrate on their physico-chemical properties were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), optical transmission and hot probe method. X-ray diffraction revealed that the films are strong preferred orientation along the (3 1 1) plane upon substrate temperature 200 °C and amorphous for the substrate temperatures below 200 °C. No secondary phases are observed for all the films. The composition is greatly affected by heated substrate. From the optical transmission and reflection, an important absorption coefficient exceeds 10⁵ cm⁻¹ at 800 nm was found. As increasing the substrate temperature, the optical energy band gap decreases from 1.70 eV for the unheated films to 1.25 eV for the deposited films at 300 °C. It was found that CuIn₅S₈ thin film is an n-type semiconductor at 250° C.     

Epitaxial growth of YSZ buffer layer for YBa2Cu3O7−δ coated conductor by reel-to-reel pulsed laser deposition

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layers were deposited on CeO₂ buffered biaxially textured Ni-W substrate by reel-to-reel pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for the application of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ (YBCO) coated conductor and the influence of substrate temperature and laser energy on their crystallinity and microstructure were studied. YSZ thin films were prepared with substrate temperature ranging from 600 to 800 °C and laser energy ranging from 120 to 350 mJ. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to investigate how thin film structure and surface morphology depend on these parameters. It was found that the YSZ films grown at substrate temperature below 600 °C or laser energy above 300 mJ showed amorphous phase, the (0 0 1) preferred orientation and the crystallinity of the YSZ films were improved with increasing the temperature, but the surface roughness increased simultaneously, the SEM images of YSZ films on CeO₂/NiW tapes showed surface morphologies without micro-cracks. Based on these results, we developed the epitaxial PLD-YSZ buffer layer process at the tape transfer speed of 3-4 m/h by the reel-to-reel system for 100 m class long YBCO tapes.     

High-temperature application of the low-emissivity Au/Ni films on alloys

The 200 nm-thickness Ni film was imposed as the diffusion barrier layer between the Au film and the alloy substrate to improve the low-emissivity durability of the Au film at high temperature. The results show that the Au/Ni multilayer films still kept low emissivity after working at 600 °C for 200 h. It was concluded that the Ni interlayer effectively retarded the diffusion between gold film and the metal alloy below 600 °C.     

Effect of high magnetic field annealing on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Co-Fe layered double hydroxide

The effects of high magnetic field (10 T) on the products obtained by calcination of Co-Fe LDH precursors at different temperatures were investigated. The XRD results indicated that Fe^III substituted for Co^III in Co₃O₄ to yield Co^IICo^IIIFe^IIIO₄ under the calcination of Co-Fe LDH precursors at 400 °C. The products obtained by magnetic field annealing at 400 °C had a porous plate-like morphology, whereas the products without magnetic field annealing were composed of nanoparticles. It was seen that CoFe₂O₄ phase could be formed at low temperature (about 500 °C) under the magnetic field annealing. The grain size of products obtained by magnetic field annealing at 800 °C was larger than that of zero magnetic field. It was found that the saturation magnetization was significantly enhanced after magnetic field annealing, especially at lower temperature (≤600 °C). The possible reason for the effects on the microstructure and magnetic properties of products obtained by magnetic field annealing was discussed.     

Mössbauer study of the pulsed laser deposition of polycrystalline magnetic films

Polycrystalline magnetite films were grown by pulsed laser deposition from an α-Fe₂O₃ target at 450 °C. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the presence of a single-phase spinel film with preferred orientation when the deposition was performed at low oxygen pressure. Mössbauer spectroscopy at both room temperature and 120 K was used to identify the hyperfine parameters of the magnetite film deposited on glass at 450 °C and at an oxygen partial pressure of 10⁻⁴ Torr.     

Effect of annealing on phase composition,structural and magnetic properties of Sm-Co based nanomagnetic material synthesized by sol-gel process

Sm-Co based nanomagnetic material was synthesized by means of a Pechini-type sol-gel process. In this method, a suitable gel-precursor was prepared using respective metal salts and complexing agent such as citric acid. The gel-precursor was dried at 300 °C and then subjected to various reductive annealing temperatures: 350, 500 and 600 °C. The nanopowders so obtained were characterized for their structure, phase composition and magnetic properties. FT-IR studies on the gel-precursor showed the binding of metal cations with the citrate molecules in the form of metal-citrate complex. The gel-precursor, which was annealed at 350 °C showed the presence of both meta-stable cobalt carbide (Co₂C, Co₃C) and Co₃O₄ phases; while the sample annealed at 500 °C indicated the sign of SmCo₅ phase. Upon increasing the reductive annealing temperature to 600 °C, crystalline phase such as fcc-Co and Sm₂C₃ were formed prominently. FE-SEM analysis revealed the change in sample morphology from spherical to oblate spheres upon increasing the annealing temperature. VSM measurements demonstrated ferromagnetic nature at room temperature for all the nanopowders obtained irrespective of their after reductive annealing temperature.     

Structure and magnetic properties of γ′-Fe4N films grown on MgO-buffered Si (0 0 1)

γ′-Fe₄N thin films were grown on MgO-buffered Si (1 0 0) by pulsed laser deposition technique. Different crystallographic orientations and in-plane magnetic anisotropies were achieved by varying the growth temperature of the MgO buffer layer. When the MgO buffer layer was grown at room temperature, the γ′-Fe₄N film shows isotropic in-plane magnetic properties without obvious texture; while in-plane magnetic anisotropy was recorded for the γ′-Fe₄N films deposited on a 600 °C-grown-MgO buffer due to the formation of a (1 0 0)-oriented biaxial texture. Such a difference in in-plane magnetic anisotropy is attributed to the epitaxial growth of γ′-Fe₄N film on an MgO buffer with relaxed strain when the MgO layer was grown at a high temperature of 600 °C.     

Exchange interaction effect of TbCo/FePt bilayers

Interlayer exchange coupling in dc-magnetron sputtered Tb_29.6Co_70.4/FePt bilayers with different annealing temperatures of the FePt film have been investigated. The dependence of ordering degree on perpendicular magnetic properties of the FePt film was studied. The Tb_29.6Co_70.4/FePt film has high perpendicular coercivity and high saturated magnetization about 7.5 kOe, and 302 emu/cm³, respectively as the substrate temperature is 500 °C and annealing at 500 °C for 30 min. It also shows a strong exchange coupling between this FePt layer and Tb_29.6Co_70.4 layer. We also examined the interface wall energy in the exchange coupled Tb_29.6Co_70.4/FePt double layers.     

Auger and photoluminescence analysis of ZnO nanowires grown on AlN thin film

ZnO nanowires were grown on AlN thin film deposited on the glass substrates using a physical vapor deposition method in a conventional tube furnace without introducing any catalysts. The temperature of the substrates was maintained between 500 and 600 °C during the growth process. The typical average diameters of the obtained nanowires on substrate at 600 and 500 °C were about 57 and 22 nm respectively with several micrometers in length. X-ray diffraction and Auger spectroscopy results showed Al diffused from AlN thin film into the ZnO nanowires for the sample grown at 600 °C. Photoluminescence of the nanowires exhibits appearance of two emission bands, one related to ultraviolet emission with a strong peak at 380-382 nm, and the other related to deep level emission with a weak peak at 503-505 nm. The ultraviolet peak of the nanowires grown at 500 °C was blue shifted by 2 nm compared to those grown at 600 °C. This shift could be attributed to surface effect.     

Structural and optical properties of SrCu2O2 films deposited on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition

We deposited SrCu₂O₂ (SCO) films on sapphire (Al₂O₃) (0 0 0 1) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The crystallographic orientation of the SCO thin film showed clear dependence on the growth temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed that the film deposited at 400 °C was mainly oriented in the SCO [2 0 0] direction, whereas when the growth temperature was increased to 600 °C, the SCO film showed a dominant orientation of SCO [1 1 2]. The SCO film deposited at 500 °C was obvious polycrystalline, showing multi peaks from (2 0 0), (1 1 2), and (2 1 1) diffraction in the XRD spectrum. The SCO film deposited at 600 °C showed a band gap energy of 3.3 eV and transparency up to 80% around 500 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the SCO films grown at 500 °C and 600 °C mainly showed blue-green emission, which was attributed to the intra-band transition of the isolated Cu⁺ and Cu⁺–Cu⁺ pairs according to the temperature dependent-PL analysis.     

Magneto-resistance above 300 K in nano-crystalline Co–Ag metastable solid solutions

A series of nano-crystalline Co_xAg_100−x solid solutions have been prepared by NaBH₄ reduction of the corresponding metal salts at room temperature in Ar gas flow. Alloys heat-treated at 600 °C in Ar/H₂ (5%) show the evolution of metastable fcc Co precipitates in Ag. Magnetic studies indicate that all the compositions are ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures >400 K. For a nominal composition of Co₆₀Ag₄₀, heat-treated at 600 °C, an effective negative magneto-resistance (MR) ratio of the order of ∼21% at 350 K, at 2 T is observed. This could arise from the influence of magnetic field on the electron–phonon scattering effects near to T_c and to the spin-mixing scattering by magnons.     

Fabrication of p-type Li-doped ZnO films by pulsed laser deposition

p-Type ZnO thin films have been realized via doping Li as acceptor by using pulsed laser deposition. In our experiment, Li₂CO₃ was used as Li precursor, and the growth temperature was varied from 400 to 600 °C in pure O₂ ambient. The Li-doped ZnO film prepared at 450 °C possessed the lowest resistivity of 34 Ω cm with a Hall mobility of 0.134 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and hole concentration of 1.37 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements showed that the Li-doped ZnO films grown at different substrate temperatures were of completely (0 0 2)-preferred orientation.     

Formation of silicon nanodots from dysprosium-doped amorphous SiCxOy films grown by hot-filament assisted chemical vapor deposition of CH3SiH3 and Dy(DPM)3 gas jets

We report on Si nanodot formation by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of ultrathin films and following oxidation. The film growth was carried out by hot-filament assisted CVD of CH₃SiH₃ and Dy(DPM)₃ gas jets at the substrate temperature of 600 °C. The transmission electron microscopy observation and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated that ∼35 nm Dy-doped amorphous silicon oxycarbide (SiC_xO_y) films were grown on Si(1 0 0). The Dy concentration was 10-20% throughout the film. By further oxidation at 860 °C, the smooth amorphous film was changed to a rough structure composed of crystalline Si nanodots surrounded by heavily Dy-doped SiO₂.     

Laser-induced voltage characteristics of Bi2Sr2Co2Oy thin films on LaAlO3 substrates

We report the laser-induced voltage (LIV) effects in c-axis oriented Bi₂Sr₂Co₂O_y thin films grown on (0 0 1) LaAlO₃ substrates with the title angle α of 0°, 3°, 5° and 10° by a simple chemical solution deposition method. A large open-circuit voltage with the sensitivity of 300 mV/mJ is observed for the film on 10° tilting LaAlO₃ under a 308 nm irradiation with the pulse duration of 25 ns. When the film surface is irradiated by a 355 nm pulsed laser of 25 ps duration, a fast response with the rise time of 700 ps and the full width at half maximum of 1.5 ns is achieved. In addition, the experimental results reveal that the amplitude of the voltage signal is approximately proportional to sin 2α and the signal polarity is reversed when the film is irradiated from the substrate side rather than the film side, which suggests the LIV effects in Bi₂Sr₂Co₂O_y thin films originate from the anisotropic Seebeck coefficient of this material.     

Surface morphology and luminescence characterization of β-FeSi2 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

β-FeSi₂ thin films were prepared on Si (1 1 1) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) with a sintering FeSi₂ target and an electrolytic Fe target. The thin films without micron-size droplets were prepared using the electrolytic Fe target; however, the surface without droplets was remarkably rougher using the Fe target than using the FeSi₂ target. After deposition at 600 °C and then annealing at 900 °C for 20 h, XRD indicated that the thin film prepared using the Fe target had a poly-axis-orientation, but that prepared using the FeSi₂ target had a one-axis-orientation. The PL spectra of the thin films prepared using the FeSi₂ and Fe targets at a growth temperature of 600 °C and subsequently annealed at 900 °C for 20 h had A-, B- and C-bands. Moreover, it was found that the main peak at 0.808 eV (A-band) in the PL spectrum of the thin films prepared using the FeSi₂ target was the intrinsic luminescence of β-FeSi₂ from the dependence of PL peak energy on temperature and excitation power density.     

Oxygen reduction activity of N-doped carbon-based films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Carbon-based films with nitrogen species on their surface were prepared on a glassy carbon (GC) substrate for application as a non-platinum cathode catalyst for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Cobalt and carbon were deposited in the presence of N₂ gas using a pulsed laser deposition method and then the metal Co was removed by HCl-washing treatment. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity was electrochemically determined using a rotating disk electrode system in which the film samples on the GC substrate were replaceable. The ORR activity increased with the temperature of the GC substrate during deposition. A carbon-based film prepared at 600 °C in the presence of N₂ at 66.7 Pa showed the highest ORR activity among the tested samples (0.66 V vs. NHE). This film was composed of amorphous carbons doped with pyridine type nitrogen atoms on its surface.