Ferroelectric and Pyroelectric Properties of Highly (111)-oriented Nanocrystalline Pb(Zr0:95Ti0:05)O3 Thin Films

"Lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr0:95Ti0:05)O3 (PZT95/5) antiferroelectric thin films with 300 nm thickness were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a sol-gel method with rapid thermal annealing processing. The X-ray diffraction results showed that the highly (111)-oriented pervoskite PZT95/5 thin films were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates when annealed at 600-700 oC. Electrical measurements were conducted on PZT95/5 films in metal-ferroelectric-metal capacitor configuration. The PZT95/5 thin films annealed at 600-700 oC showed well-saturated hysteresis loops at an applied voltage of 20 V. At 1 kHz, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the films were 519 and 0.028, 677 and 0.029, 987 and 0.025, respectively for the thin films annealed at 600, 650, and 700 oC. The average remanent polarization (Pr) and the coercive electric field (Ec) obtained from the P-E hysteresis loops, were 19.1 1C/cm2 and 135.6 kV/cm, 29.31C/cm2 and 88.57 kV/cm, 45.3 1C/cm2 and 102.1 kV/cm, respectively for PZT95/5 thin films annealed at 600, 650 and 700 oC for 10 min in the oxygen atmosphere. This showed a good ferroelectricity of the prepared PZT95/5 films on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by the simple sol-gel processing. The pyroelectric coeocient (p) of antiferroelectric PZT95/5 films was measured by a dynamic technique. At room temperature, the p values of the antiferroelectric PZT95/5 films at 1 kHz were 274, 238, and 212 1C/m2K."     

Effect of swift heavy ion irradiation on the physical properties of CuIn(S0.4Se0.6)2 alloy thin films prepared by solution growth technique

Alloy thin films of CuIn(S_0.4Se_0.6)₂ material were deposited using the solution growth technique. The various deposition parameters such as pH of solution, time, concentration of ions and temperature have been optimized for the device grade thin films. The as-deposited films were annealed in a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) system at 450 °C in air for 5 min and subjected to high-energy Ag ion irradiations. Ag ion irradiation has been performed with an energy of 100 MeV at a fluency of 5×10¹² ions/cm² on the thin film. The changes in optical and electrical properties that occurred before and after post-deposition treatments in CuIn(S_0.4Se_0.6)₂ thin films were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and AFM; increase in crystallinity was observed after annealing and irradiation. In addition, structural damages were observed in irradiated thin films. After annealing and irradiation, the surface roughness was seen to be increased. Decrease in resistivity was observed, which is consistent with the optical energy band gap. The results are explained by considering the high energy deposited due to the electronic energy loss upon irradiation, which modified the properties of the material.     

Preparation and Refractive Index of Nano BST Thin Films

"Radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique is used to deposit Ba0:65Sr0:35TiO3 (BST) thin films on fused quartz substrates. In order to prepare the high quality BST thin films, the crystallization and microstructure of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and atom force microstructure. The more intense characteristic diffraction peaks and better crystallization can be observed in BST thin films deposited at 600 oC and subsequently annealed at 700 oC. The refractive index of the films is determined from the measured transmission spectra. The dependences of the refractive index on the deposition parameters of BST thin films are different. The refractive index of the films increases with the substrate temperature. At lower sputtering pressure, the refractive index increases from 1.797 to 2.179 with the pressure increase. However, when the pressure increases up to 3.9 Pa, the refractive index instead reduces to 1.860. The oxygen to argon ratio also plays an important effect on the refractive index of the films. It has been found that the refractive index increases with the ratio of oxygen to argon increasing. The refractive index of BST thin films is strongly dependent on the annealing temperature, which also increases as the annealing temperature ascends. In one word, the refractive index of BST thin films is finally affected by the films microstructure and texture."     

Electrodeposition of CuInSe2 films by an alternating double-potentiostatic method using nearly neutral electrolytes

One step electrodeposition with an alternating double-potentiostatic(DPSED) program was used to prepare CuInSe₂ thin films in nearly neutral aqueous electrolytes with sodium citrate complex. Linear sweep voltammetry(LSV) was measured to probe voltammetric properties of electrolytes with respect to Cu, In and Se individual precursor and their mixed solutions. Compositional and structural characteristics of the as-deposited and annealed films at 400 °C in Ar atmosphere for 0.5 h were analyzed by XRD and XPS. The results showed that reduction of Cu²⁺ to Cu⁺ at one potential point of ?800 mV and subsequently formation of CuIn alloy as well as metal In and amorphous Se at the other potential point of ?1400 mV were responsible for synthesis of CISe chalcopyrite. Composition self-regulation made DPSED films have three elements co-deposition and more uniform element distribution, which promoted chalcopyrite CISe formation.     

Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of Ag/Fe/Ag Pseudo-Sandwich Nanogranular Films

"Nanogranular Ag/Fe/Ag films were prepared by magnetron sputtering from a silver and an iron target onto glass substrates at room temperature and subsequent in situ annealing. The structural and magnetic properties of the films were investigated as a function of silver layer thickness and annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction shows the Fe(110) peak is formed in all the samples. Vibrating sample magnetometer measurements indicate that the magnetic moments lie well perpendicular to the film plane. Coercivityreaches the maximum in the sample annealed at 500 oC for 30 min with 3 nm Ag layer. A scanning probemicroscope was used to scan surface morphology and magnetic domain structures. In as-deposited samplesthe average grain size and the average roughness is smaller than that the annealing samples. After annealing,the grain size is larger and the contrast of domains increases, but the domain size becomes smaller."     

以乙醇作溶剂电沉积制备CIGS薄膜

利用恒电位电沉积法在以乙醇为溶剂的溶液中制备了铜铟镓硒(CIGS)薄膜.并采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线能谱仪(EDS)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)和紫外-可见-近红外(UV-VIS-NIR)分光光度计分别对薄膜的形貌、成分、晶体结构和吸收特性进行了表征.结果表明在-1.6V(相对于饱和甘汞电极电位)工作电位下沉积的薄膜经450°C退火后能够形成形貌均匀致密、结晶性良好、带隙约为1.17eV的黄铜矿结构CuIn0.7Ga0.3Se2薄膜.实验过程中发现,以乙醇为溶剂可以有效避免在水溶液中出现的析氢现象,减小了沉积电位的限制.     

Metal Precursor Influence on Performance of CuIn1-xGaxSe2 Films

CuIn_1-xGa_xSe₂ (CIGS) films were prepared by a two-stage method, in which Cu-In-Ga metallic precursors were firstly deposited on unheated Mo-coated soda lime glass substrates by direct current sputtering CuGa (20%Ga) and radio frequency sputtering In targets inan Ar atmosphere, followed by selenization at 520 oC for 40 min in Se vapor. By adjust-ing the sputtering thickness ratio of surface CuGa (20%Ga) and bottom CuGa (20%Ga) alloy layers in metal precursor, different CIGS thin films were fabricated. Through X-ray diffraction spectra, Raman spectra, local energy dispersive spectrometer, planar- and cross-sectional views of scanning electron microscopy measurements, it revealed that the CIGS thin films from selenization of metal precursor with CuGa:In:CuGa thickness ratio of 7:20:3 (sample-2-se) was of chalcopyrite structure with the preferred (112) orientation, and the grains sizes ranged from 0.5 μm to 2 μm, and sample-2-se had no binary compound phase of In-Se and order defect compound phase. Consequently, the results of illuminated current-voltage curve and quantum efficiency measurements showed that the CIGS film device made from sample-2-se had relative higher photo-electric conversion efficiency (3.59%) and good spectrum response.     

Microwave assisted novel MoBi2S5 nanoflowers: Synthesis,characterization, photoelectrochemical performance

In the present article, we have studied the effect of post annealing treatment on microstructural, optical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of MoBi₂S₅ thin films synthesized by microwave assisted technique. The synthesized thin films are vacuum annealed for 4 h at 473 K temperature. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer techniques were used for characterization of the as deposited and annealed MoBi₂S₅ thin films. The XRD patterns confirm the synthesized and annealed thin films have nanocrystalline nature with rhombohedral-orthorhombic crystal structure. SEM micrographs indicate that, nanoflowers exhibit sharper end after annealing. The optical absorption study illustrates that the optical band gap energy has been decrease from 2.0 eV to 1.75 eV with annealing. Finally, applicability of synthesized thin films has been checked for PEC property. The J-V curves revealed that synthesized thin film photoanodes are suitable for PEC cell application. As well, used simple, economical method has great potential for synthesis of various thin film materials.     

Effects of deposition temperature and annealing temperature on the morphology and electrochemical capacitance of Ni(OH)2 thin films

In this paper, we report 3D nickel (II) hydroxide thin films with porous nanostructures prepared on Ni foam by direct current electrodeposition from aqueous solution of Ni(NO₃)₂ through basic chemicals. The effect of deposition temperature on Ni(OH)₂ thin film morphology is examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy, which is found to have significant influence on capacitance performance of Ni(OH)₂ thin films. Moreover, the effect of annealing temperature on electrochemical capacitance and long-time stability of Ni(OH)₂ thin films is investigated. An optimum-specific capacitance value of 2,447?farads?g^?1 is obtained for Ni(OH)₂ thin film deposited at 20?°C and annealed at 100?°C.     

Preparation of High-Orderly TiO2 Nanotubes in Organic Solution and Characterization of C-doped TiO2

"High-orderly TiO2 nanotube arrays were fabricated by anodic oxidation of pure titanium substrate in organic electrolyte containing fluoride. Different morphological nanotubes of titania were obtained through controlling the different anodization voltages and durations. The length of the longest nanotubes was approximately 60 1m and the length-to-width aspect ratio was about 600. The nanotube layers were then annealed at different temperatures (450, 550, and 650 oC) in air for 2 h. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-Ray (EDS) and UV-Vis spectrometer. The XRD results demonstrated that the as-anodized samples were amorphous and the structure changed to antanse and rutile when the samples were annealed at higher temperature. The EDS microanalysis indicated the presence of carbon in the TiO2 nanotubes. The result of degradation of methylene blue showed clearly that the photocatalytic activity of C-doped TiO2 nanotubes increased by 10%."     

Microstructure and electrical properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films deposited by sol-gel method on La<Subscript>0.7</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.3</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript>/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Si substrate

(La_0.7Sr_0.3)MnO₃ thin films were deposited on SiO₂/Si substrates by a metal-organic decomposition (MOD) method, and then Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT) thin films were grown on (La_0.7Sr_0.3)MnO₃-coated SiO₂/Si substrates by a sol-gel method. The effects of annealing temperature on the crystalline phases, microstructures and electrical properties of the PZT films were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis results indicated that the PZT films with a perovskite single phase could be obtained by annealing at 650°C. The dielectric constant and the remnant polarization of the PZT films increased with increasing annealing temperature. The remnant polarization and the coercive field of the films annealed at 650°C were 18.3 μC/cm² and 35.5 kV/cm, respectively, whereas the dielectric constant and loss value measured at 1 kHz were approximately 1100 and 0.81, respectively.     

Ga和Cu/In衬底上电沉积金属Ga

在酸性水溶液中,分别在金属Ga和Cu/In衬底上进行了Ga电沉积的研究。用循环伏安法研究了导电盐、pH值对电沉积Ga的影响。系统研究了Ga的沉积过程,发现Ga会逐渐向薄膜内部扩散,在Cu/In界面上与CuIn合金反应生成CuGa₂合金。针对Cu/In薄膜和Ga薄膜是活泼金属的特点,在溶液中加入三乙醇胺有效地保护了Cu/In薄膜和Ga金属薄膜不被氧化,并且提高了Ga沉积的电流效率。在Cu/In薄膜上制备出了均匀光亮的金属Ga薄膜。对电沉积出Cu-In-Ga预置层进行了硒化处理,得到了质量较好的Cu(In_1-xGa_x)Se₂(CIGS)薄膜,并制备了太阳电池。电池效率达到了9.42%。     

Electrodeposition of selenium from 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium trifluromethylsulfonate

The electrodeposition of thin selenium (Se) films from 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium trifluromethylsulfonate at room and elevated temperatures on gold and on copper substrates was studied under open-air conditions. The effect of bath temperature on the composition and structure of the deposited films was examined using cyclic voltammetry, chemical analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis. The obtained results showed that on gold substrate and at room temperature, a reddish Se film grows mainly in amorphous, monoclinic, rhombohedral and hexagonal structure, while at temperatures ≥90 °C, a grayish film of hexagonal and rhombohedral structure is deposited. Photoelectron spectroscopy shows that both films consist of pure Se with only slight surface contaminations by remnants from the electrodeposition. Due to the differences in phase structure and the presence of the monoclinic phase, the reddish films showed higher light absorbance. The band gap of the reddish film is close to that of pure amorphous Se reported in literature. Deposition on copper substrate leads to formation of CuSe and CuSe₂ at room temperature and at 70 °C, respectively.     

Dielectric and Pyroelectric Properties of Compositionally Graded Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 Thin Films Prepared by Sol-gel Process

"Compositionally graded ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 (PZT) thin films were grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by using a sol-gel process. The final structure consists of six layers, up-graded graded films starting from PbZrO3 on the Pt electrode to the top PZT(50) layer, it consists of no Ti, 10%Ti, 20%Ti, 30%Ti, 40%Ti, and 50%Ti respectively. Whereas films with opposite gradient are called down-graded graded films. Structure and dielectric properties of the graded films was investigated by X-ray diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy and by impedance analysis. The up-graded and down-graded PZT films annealed at 600 o, exhibited the remanent polarization values of 18.0 and 24.2 1C/cm2, respectively. The typical small signal dielectric constants and loss tanffi at a frequency of 100 Hz were 523 and 0.018, 544, and 0.020, respectively, for up-graded and down-graded PZT thin films. The temperature dependence of pyroelectric coeoients of the graded PZT films was measured by a dynamic technique. From 20 o to 82 o, the pyroelectric coeoients of the up-graded and down-graded PZT films up to 374 and 407 1C/m2K, respectively."     

Annealing temperature dependent catalytic water oxidation activity of iron oxyhydroxide thin films

Nanostructured iron oxyhydroxide(Fe OOH) thin films have been synthesized using an electrodeposition method on a nickel foam(NF) substrate and effect of air annealing temperature on the catalytic performance is studied. The as-deposited and annealed thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM) and linear sweep voltammetry(LSV) to determine their structural, morphological, compositional and electrochemical properties, respectively. The as-deposited nanostructured amorphous Fe OOH thin film is converted into a polycrystalline Fe_2O_3 with hematite crystal structure at a high temperature. The Fe OOH thin film acts as an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction(OER) in an alkaline 1 M KOH electrolyte. The film annealed at 200 °C shows high catalytic activity with an onset overpotential of 240 m V with a smaller Tafel slope of 48 m V/dec. Additionally, it needs an overpotential of 290 mV to the drive the current density of 10 m A/cm~2 and shows good stability in the 1 M KOH electrolyte solution.     

Effect of Li- and Ta-doping on the ferroelectric properties of Na0.5K0.5NbO3 thin films prepared by a chelate route

The effects of lithium and tantalum doping on the properties of Na_0.5K_0.5NbO₃ (NKN) thin films were investigated. The films were fabricated by an optimized chelate route which offers the advantage of a simple and rapid solution synthesis. The optimization was achieved by investigating the effects of alkaline volatilization loss on film properties. In this way, undoped NKN thin films fabricated by this conventional method exhibited good ferroelectric properties (P_r ~ 8 μC/cm², and E_c ~ 55 kV/cm for films annealed at 650 °C). The developed chelate route was then used to grow Li (5 %) and Ta (10 %) substituted thin films. Such structures allowed us to compare the effect of these dopant cations on phase formation, microstructure and ferroelectric properties. We show that both modifications produced a remarkable improvement on the ferroelectricity of the films. While the undoped material exhibited large leakage components in films annealed at 600 °C, films modified with Li or Ta presented well saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loops, indicating that those ions have a significant influence on the conducting process. The remnant polarizations of the Ta-doped films are greater than those of the Li-doped samples. This feature is however reversed for films annealed at low temperature (600 °C) due to the presence of a non-ferroelectric secondary phase in the Ta-doped composition.     

Effect of sol temperature on the structure,morphology, optical and photoluminescence properties of nanocrystalline zirconia thin films

Transparent nanocrystalline zirconia thin films were prepared by sol–gel dip coating technique using Zirconium oxychloride octahydrate as source material on quartz substrates, keeping the sol at room temperature (SET I) and 60 °C (SET II). X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows the formation of mixed phase [tetragonal (T) + monoclinic (M)] in SET I and a pure tetragonal phase in SET II ZrO₂ thin films annealed at 400 °C. Phase transformation from tetragonal to monoclinic was achieved in SET II film annealed at 500 °C. Atomic force microscopy analysis reveals lower rms roughness and skewness in SET II film annealed at 500 °C indicating better optical quality. The transmittance spectra gives a higher average transmittance >85% (UV–VIS region) in SET II films. Optical spectra indicate that the ZrO₂ films contain direct—band transitions. The sub- band in the monoclinic ZrO₂ films introduced interstitial O⁻defect states above the top of the valance band. The energy bandgap increased (5.57–5.74 eV) in SET I films and decreased (5.74–5.62 eV) in SET II films, with annealing temperature. This is associated with the variations in grain sizes. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra give intense band at 384 and 396 nm in SET I and SET II films, respectively. A twofold increase in the PL intensity is observed in SET II film. The “Red” shift of SET I films and “Blue” shift of SET II films with annealing temperature, originates from the change of stress of the film due to lattice distortions.     

电沉积-退火工艺制备铜铟硒太阳能电池薄膜及表征

CuInSe₂ (CIS) films with good crystalline quality were synthesized by electrodeposition followed by annealing in Se vapor at 530 oC. The morphology, composition, crystal structure, optical and electrical properties of the CIS films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy, and admittance spectroscopy. The results revealed that the annealed CIS films had chalcopyrite structure and consisted of relatively large grains in the range of 500-1000 nm and single grain of films extend usually through the whole film thickness. The band gap of CIS films was 0.98 eV and carrier concentration was in the order of 10¹⁶ cm^-3 after etching the Cu-Se compounds on the film surface. Solar cells with the structure of AZO/i-ZnO/CdS/CIS/Mo/glass were fabricated. Current density vs. voltage test under standard reported condition showed the solar cells with an area of 0.2 cm² had a conversion efficiency of 0.96%. The underlying physics was also discussed.     

Structural,morphological and optical studies on chemically deposited nanocrystalline CdZnSe thin films

In the present paper, cadmium zinc selenide (Cd_0.5Zn_0.5Se) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition with optimized deposition parameters. 2-mercaptoethanol was used as a capping agent. The as-deposited thin films were annealed at 300, 500 and 700 °C and then subjected to various structural, morphological and optical investigations. The effect of the presence of capping agent and annealing on these properties was discussed. The phenomenon of phase transformation occurred during annealing. The optical band gap energies were found in the range 2.37–1.7 eV with respect to the annealing temperatures.     

Structural and electrical properties of Li doped ZnO under Ar/H2 atmosphere

Thin films of ZnO were grown by the sol–gel method using spin-coating technique on (0001) sapphire substrates. The effect of doping under Ar/H₂ atmosphere on the structural and electrical properties of ZnO was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), I–V characterization, Hall effect and micro-photoluminescence. The films that were annealed at 600 °C in Ar/H₂ (95/5) % atmosphere showed (002) a predominant orientation. The crystalline nature of 2 mol.  % of Li doped films were better when compared to 1 mol.  % of Li doped films. The incorporation of Li in ZnO lattice was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and micro-photoluminescence. Hall effect measurements and I–V characterization of the Li doped ZnO thin films exhibited a better p-type behavior.