Properties of MgxZn1−xO thin films sputtered in different gases

Mg_xZn_1−xO alloy films were prepared on sapphire substrates using Ar and N₂ as the sputtering gases. The effect of the sputtering gas on the structural, optical and electrical properties of the Mg_xZn_1−xO films was studied. By using N₂ as the sputtering gas, the Mg_xZn_1−xO film shows p-type conductivity and the band gap is larger than that employing Ar as the sputtering gas. The reason for this phenomenon is thought to be related to the reaction between N-O or N-Zn, and the N-doping.     

Influence of sputtering power and Ar–N2 flow on the structure and optical properties of indium nitride films prepared by magnetron sputtering

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the deposition of indium nitride (InN) thin films on Si (100) substrates by using pulsed DC magnetron sputtering. Effects of varying sputtering power and Ar–N₂ flow ratio on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of indium nitride (InN) films were investigated. The structural characterization indicated nanocrystalline InN film with preferred orientation towards (101) plane that exhibited the optimum crystalline quality at 130?W and for 40:60 Ar–N₂ ratio. The surface morphology of InN, as observed through FESEM, contained irregularly shaped nanocrystals with size that increases with higher sputtering power and Ar:N₂ flow ratio. The optical properties of InN films were studied using ellipsometer at room temperature. The band gap of InN was decreased with the increase of sputtering power to 130?W, whereas an increase in the band gap was noticed with the increase of the Ar:N₂ flow ratio.     

反应磁控溅射法制备的氟化类金刚石薄膜的XPS结构研究

采用射频反应磁控溅射法用高纯石墨作靶、三氟甲烷(CHF₃)和氩气(Ar)作源气体制 备了氟化类金刚石（FDLC）薄膜，通过XPS光谱结合拉曼光谱、红外透射光谱和紫外 可见光光谱研究了源气体流量比等工艺条件对薄膜中键结构、sp2/sp3杂化比以及光学带隙等性能的影响.结果表明在低功率(60W)、高气压(2.0Pa)和适当的流量比(Ar/CHF₃=2∶ 1)下利用射频反应磁控溅射法可制备出氟含量高且具有较宽光学带隙和超低介电常数的FDLC薄膜. 关键词： 反应磁控溅射 氟化类金刚石薄膜 红外透射光谱 XPS光谱     

Structural and electrical properties of fluorine-doped zinc tin oxide thin films prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

Transparent and conductive thin films of fluorine doped zinc tin oxide (FZTO) were deposited on glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering using a 30 wt% ZnO with 70 wt% SnO₂ ceramic targets. The F-doping was carried out by introducing a mixed gas of pure Ar, CF₄, and O₂ forming gas into the sputtering chamber while sputtering ZTO target. The effect of annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical performances of FZTO thin films has been studied. FZTO thin film annealed at 600 °C shows the decrease in resistivity 5.47 × 10⁻³ Ω cm, carrier concentration ∼10¹⁹ cm⁻³, mobility ∼20 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and an increase in optical band gap from 3.41 to 3.60 eV with increasing the annealing temperatures which is well explained by Burstein–Moss effect. The optical transmittance of FZTO films was higher than 80% in all specimens. Work function (ϕ) of the FZTO films increase from 3.80 eV to 4.10 eV through annealing and are largely dependent on the amounts of incorporated F. FZTO is a possible potential transparent conducting oxide (TCO) alternative for application in optoelectronics.     

N掺杂Cu2O薄膜的光学性质及第一性原理分析

采用射频磁控溅射技术, 在不同温度下制备了N掺杂Cu₂O薄膜．透射光谱分析发现, N掺杂导致Cu₂O成为允许的带隙直接跃迁半导体, 并使Cu₂O的光学禁带宽度增加．不同温度下沉积的薄膜光学禁带宽度E_g=2.52± 0.03 eV．第一性原理计算表明, N掺杂导致Cu₂O的禁带宽度增加了约25%, 主要与价带顶下移和导带底上移有关, 与实验报道基本符合．N的2p电子态分布不同于O原子, 在价带顶附近具有较大的态密度是N掺杂Cu₂O变成允许的带隙直接跃迁半导体的根本原因．     

Effect of ambient gas on structural and optical properties of titanium oxynitride films

Titanium oxynitride films have been deposited on glass substrates by reactive RF magnetron sputtering of titanium target. The influence of oxygen partial pressure in N₂ + Ar and N₂ + He mixtures was examined on structural and optical properties of titanium oxynitride films. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, EDS, surface profilometer, AFM and contact angle measurement system. With increase in oxygen partial pressure, the grain size decreases from ∼70 nm to ∼50 nm in N₂ + Ar mixture, while from ∼60 nm to ∼37 nm in N₂ + He mixture. The thickness calculated from optical transmission data and surface profilometer is in good agreement with each other. The deposited samples are hydrophobic by nature and the contact angle was found to decrease with increase in oxygen partial pressure. Samples prepared in oxygen partial pressure ≥5.5% show transmittance of about 97% in the visible region of the spectrum in both N₂ + Ar and N₂ + He mixtures. The atomic mass of the sputtering gas (Ar and He) significantly affects the primary crystallite size, orientation as well as band gap. We were able to relate the better crystallisation of titanium atoms with low partial pressure of oxygen when films are deposited in helium instead of argon due to Penning ionization.     

Effect of balanced and unbalanced magnetron sputtering processes on the properties of SnO2 thin films

A comparative study has been carried on the role of balanced magnetron (BM) and unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering processes on the properties of SnO₂ thin films. The oxygen partial pressure, substrate temperature and deposition pressure were kept 20%, 700 °C and 30 mTorr, respectively and the applied RF power varied in the range of 150–250 W. It is observed that the UBM deposition causes significant effect on the structural, electrical and optical properties of SnO₂ thin films than BM as evidenced by X-ray diffraction, C-V, Spectroscopic Ellipsometer and Photoluminescence measurements. The value of band gap (E_g) of the films deposited at 150 W in UBM is found as E_g = 3.83 eV which is much higher than the value of E_g = 3.69 eV as observed in BM sputtering indicating that UBM sputtering results in good crystalline quality. Further, the C-V measurements of SnO₂ thin films deposited using UBM at high power 250 W show hysteresis with large flat band shift indicating that these thin films can be used for the fabrication of memory device. The observed results have been attributed to different mechanisms which exist simultaneously under unbalanced magnetron sputtering due to ion bombardment of growing SnO₂ thin film by energetic Ar+ ions.     

Application of MEH-PPV/SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> bilayer as hybrid solar cell

The effects of oxygen content in the sputtering gas on the crystallographic and optoelectronic properties of 210 nm-thick Zr–doped In₂O₃ (Zr–In₂O₃) films by rf magnetron sputtering were initially studied. The results of X-ray diffraction show that the Zr–In₂O₃ films grown on glass substrates exhibit mixed crystallographic orientations. Moreover, the Zr–In₂O₃ film grown in an Ar atmosphere promotes the appearance of crystallographic orientation of (222). The surface of the Zr–In₂O₃ film becomes rougher as the oxygen content in the sputtering gas decreases; the current images obtained by conductive atomic force microscopy reveal that the surfaces of the Zr–In₂O₃ films exhibit a distribution of coexisting conducting and nonconducting regions, and that the area of the nonconducting surface increases with the oxygen content in the sputtering gas. The resistivity is minimized to 3.51×10⁻⁴ Ω cm when the Zr–In₂O₃ film is grown in an Ar atmosphere and the average transmittance in the visible light region is ∼85%. The optical band gap decreases as the oxygen content in the sputtering gas increases.     

The effect of rf power on the growth of InN films by modified activated reactive evaporation

We report the effect of rf power on the structural, optical and electrical properties of InN films grown by modified activated reactive evaporation. In this technique, the substrates were kept on the cathode instead of ground electrode. The films grown at higher rf power shows preferential c-axis orientations for both silicon and glass substrates. The films prepared at 100 W show best structural, electrical and optical properties. The c-axis lattice constant was found to decrease with increase in rf power which can be attributed to reduction in excess nitrogen in the films. The band gap decreases with increase in rf power due to Moss-Burstein shift. The decrease in carrier concentration and optical band gap with increase in rf power can also be related to excess nitrogen in the film. The Raman spectra shows a red shift in the A₁(LO) and E₂ (high) mode from the reported value. The possible origin of the present large band gap is due to Moss-Burstein shift. The new film growth method opens opportunities for integrating novel substrate materials with group III nitride technologies.     

氢稀释对FTS沉积a-Si:H薄膜结构特性的影响

采用对靶磁控反应溅射技术,以氢气作为反应气体在不同的氢稀释比条件下制备了氢化非晶硅薄膜.利用台阶仪、傅里叶红外透射光谱、Raman谱和紫外-可见光透射谱测量研究了不同氢稀释比对氢化非晶硅薄膜生长速率和结构特性的影响.分析结果发现,利用对靶磁控溅射技术能够实现低温快速沉积高质量氢化非晶硅薄膜的制备.随着氢稀释比不断增加,薄膜沉积速率呈现先减小后增大的趋势.傅里叶红外透射光谱表明,氢化非晶硅薄膜中氢含量先增大后变小.而Raman谱和紫外-可见光透射谱分析发现,氢稀释比的增加使氢化非晶硅薄膜有序度和光学带隙均先增大后减小.可见,此技术通过改变氢稀释比R能够实现氢化非晶硅薄膜结构的有效控制.     

Effect of Ar in the source gas on the microstructure and optoelectronic properties of microcrystalline silicon films deposited by plasma-enhanced CVD

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon films have been prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique using silane diluted in H₂ or H₂ + Ar. The microstructures for silicon films have been evaluated by Raman scattering spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Optical characterization has been done by UV-vis spectroscopy. It is found that the addition of Ar in diluent gases efficiently improves the deposition rate and crystallinity due to an enhanced dissociation of the source gas and the energy of deexcitation of Ar* released within the growth zone. Meanwhile, the enhanced crystallinity and the reducing of hydrogen ion bombardment with increasing Ar dilution lead to the polymerization and also a bad passivation of the hydrogen which cause the widening of the optical gap and increase of defect states in the μc-Si films. The absorption coefficient and dark conductivity are found to decrease basically with increasing Ar dilution corresponding to the widening optical gap and more defects. That the activation energy increases with increasing Ar dilution or decreasing hydrogen dilution is due to the fact that more defect states lead to a pulling down of the Fermi level.     

Structural and optical properties of the SiCN thin films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

Silicon carbonitride (SiCN) thin films were deposited on n-type Si (1 0 0) and glass substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering of a polycrystalline silicon target in a mixture of argon (Ar), nitrogen (N₂) and acetylene (C₂H₂). The properties of the films were characterized by scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The results show that the C₂H₂ flow rate plays an important role in the composition, structural and optical properties of the films. The films have an even surface and an amorphous structure. With the increase of C₂H₂ flow rate, the C content gradually increases while Si and N contents have a tendency to decrease in the SiCN films, and the optical band gap of the films monotonically decreases. The main bonds are Si-O, N-H_n, C-C, C-N, Si-N, Si-C and Si-H in the SiCN films while the chemical bonding network of Si-O, C-C, C-O, C-N, N-Si and CN is formed in the surface of the SiCN films.     

Characterization of Zn<Subscript>2</Subscript>SnO<Subscript>4</Subscript> Thin Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Zn₂SnO₄ (ZTO) is a stable semiconductor in ZnO–SnO₂ system and important transparent conducting oxide (TCO) predominantly used in optoelectronic devices. ZTO thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering using Zn₂SnO₄ ceramic target in this paper. The effects of annealing temperatures and oxygen contents on characterization of ZTO thin films were studied. The results show that ZTO thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering are amorphous with an optical band gap of 3.22 eV. After annealing at 650°C in Ar atmosphere for 40 min, ZTO films possess a spinel structure with an optical band gap of 3.62 eV. The atomic force microscope (AFM) data of morphology reveals that the surface roughness of films is about 2 nm. The results of energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) show that the concentration ratio of Zn to Sn is in the range from 1.44 to 1.57. The results of Hall-effect-measurement system reveal that the resistivity of films varies from 102 to 10–1 Ωcm, carrier concentration is about 10¹⁷ cm^–3, and mobility ranges from 10⁰ to 10¹ cm² v^–1 s^–1.     

Structural and optical evaluation of WOxNy films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

Thin films of tungsten oxynitrides were deposited on substrates preheated at 300 °C from metallic tungsten target using reactive pulsed d.c. magnetron sputtering. The deposition was carried out at different nitrogen to total reactive gas partial pressures ratios. The energy dispersive analysis of X-ray showed that significant incorporation of nitrogen occurred only when the nitrogen partial pressure exceeded 74% of the total reactive gas pressure. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the formation of a specific crystalline phase is affected by the composition and the possibility of competitive growth of different phases. The increase of nitrogen content into the films increases the optical absorption and decreases the optical band gap. The refractive index was determined from the transmittance spectra using Swanepoel's method. It was found that the refractive index increases with increasing nitrogen content over the entire spectral range. The values of the tungsten effective coordination number, N_c, was estimated from the analysis of the dispersion of the refractive index, and an increase in N_c with increasing nitrogen content was observed.     

Structural and optical properties of nitrogen-incorporated HfO2 gate dielectrics deposited by reactive sputtering

High-k HfO_xN_y thin films with different nitrogen-incorporation content have been fabricated on Si (1 0 0) substrate by means of radio-frequency reactive sputtering method. Analyses from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopic have indicated that the increase of the crystallization temperature of HfO₂ thin films and the decrease of the roughness root-mean-square value of HfO₂ thin films due to the incorporation of nitrogen. Based on a parameterized Tauc-Lorentz (TL) dispersion model, the optical properties of the HfO_xN_y thin films related to different nitrogen-incorporation content are systematically investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometer. Increase in the refractive index and the extinction coefficient and reduction in band gap with increase of nitrogen-incorporation content are discussed in detail.     

Effect of RF power and sputtering pressure on the structural and optical properties of TiO2 thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

TiO₂ thin films were deposited onto quartz substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. The samples deposited at various RF powers and sputtering pressures and post annealed at 873 K, were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. XRD spectrum indicates that the films are amorphous-like in nature. But micro-Raman analysis shows the presence of anatase phase in all the samples. At low sputtering pressure, increase in RF power favors the formation of rutile phase. Presence of oxygen defects, which can contribute to PL emission is evident in the XPS studies. Surface morphology is much affected by changes in sputtering pressure which is evident in the SEM images. A decrease in optical band gap from 3.65 to 3.58 eV is observed with increase in RF power whereas increase in sputtering pressure results in an increase in optical band gap from 3.58 to 3.75 eV. The blue shift of absorption edge in all the samples compared to that of solid anatase is attributed to quantum size effect. The very low value of extinction coefficient in the range 0.0544-0.1049 indicates the excellent optical quality of the samples. PL spectra of the films showed emissions in the UV and visible regions.     

Electrical and optical properties of ZnO thin films prepared by magnetron rf sputtering—influence of Al, Er and H

The influence of Al, Er and H in ZnO thin films (ZnO:Al, ZnO:Er and ZnO:H) deposited by magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures, T_s, on their optical, structural and electrical properties was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses show an improvement of the crystalline structure with increasing T_s. The optical band gap, , of the films, from transmission and reflection spectra, ranged from 3.27 to 3.41 eV. The Urbach band tail width was also calculated. Incorporation of Al and Er resulted in a reduced and an increased resistivity, ρ, respectively, and an increase in the Urbach tail width in both cases. However, sputtering in an Ar+H₂ gas mixture led to an increase in ρ and an improvement in the structural order of the films. A discussion of the influence of T_s and of Al, Er and H on the properties is presented.     

Investigation of nonlinear optical parameters of zinc based amorphous chalcogenide films

Third order nonlinear optical properties of amorphous Zn_x–S_y–Se_100−x−y chalcogenide films have been investigated using single beam transmission z-scan technique at 1064 nm of Nd:YAG laser. Measurement of optical properties of amorphous Zn_x–S_y–Se_100−x−y chalcogenide films prepared by thermal evaporation technique has been made. X-ray diffraction patterns of chalcogenide films confirm the amorphous nature. Optical band gap (E_g) has been estimated using Tauc's plot method from transmission spectra that is found to decrease with increase in content due to valence band broadening and band tailing the system. Nonlinear refractive index (n₂), nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) and third order nonlinear susceptibility (χ³) of chalcogenide films have been estimated. Self-focusing effect has been observed in closed aperture and reverse saturable absorption in open aperture scheme. Limiting threshold and dynamic range have been calculated from optical limiting studies. The increase in nonlinearity with increase in Zn content has been observed that is understood to be due to decrease in band gap on Zn doping. High nonlinearity makes these films a potential candidate for waveguides, fibers and two photon absorption in optical limiters.     

Soft X-ray spectroscopic study on the electronic structure of WO3 thin films fabricated under various annealing temperature and gas flow conditions

The electrical properties of WO₃ thin films vary significantly depending on the growth conditions. In this work, the influence of O₂ gas on the band gap of WO₃ thin films during growth was investigated via electronic structure characterization using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). A substantial decrease in the electrical conductivity of the WO₃ films was observed with an increase in the O₂ partial pressure during growth. Spectral differences in the peak energy and intensity were apparent for WO₃ films grown under only Ar and those grown in Ar:O₂. It is difficult to explain the acquired spectrum of WO₃ with oxygen defects through the rigid-band model in terms of the simple addition of electrons to the conduction band of WO₃. Our results show that an oxygen deficiency in WO₃ moves the conduction band to the Fermi edge.     

Laser-induced changes on optical band gap of amorphous and crystallized thin films of Se75S25−xAGx

Optical band gap of amorphous, crystallized, laser induced amorphous and laser induced crystallized films of Se₇₅S_25−xAg_x (x=4, 6 and 8) glassy alloys was studied from absorption spectra. The amorphous and crystallized films were induced by pulse laser for 10 min. After laser irradiation on amorphous and crystalline films, optical band gap was measured. It has been found that the mechanism of the optical absorption follows the rule of indirect transition. The amorphous thin films show an increase in the optical band gap, while the crystallized (thermally annealed) thin films show a decrease in the optical band gap by inducing laser irradiation. Crystallization and amorphization of chalcogenide films were accompanied with the change in the optical band gap. The change in optical energy gap could be determined by identification of the transformed phase. These results are interpreted in terms of concentration of localized states due to shift in Fermi level.