Fabrication of large-grain polycrystalline Ge films using absorptive films

Amorphous germanium (a-Ge) films in samples with or without an absorptive film are crystallized by short-pulse XeF excimer laser crystallization (ELC). An in situ time-resolved optical reflection and transmission (TRORT) monitoring system combining a cw He-Ne probe laser, a digital oscilloscope and two photodetectors is developed to investigate the melting and resolidification dynamics of Ge films during ELC. TRORT measurements reveal that the longest melt duration is prolonged from 250 to 1000 ns by adding absorptive films in the samples. Absorptive films are shown to be effective in improving the melt duration of the molten state and the grain size of polycrystalline Ge films. The grain size with a diameter of approximately 12 μm can be fabricated in the superlateral growth regime for 90-nm-thick a-Ge films at room temperature in air by single-shot ELC.     

Octaethylporphin films. II absorption and emission of amorphous films

Amorphous thin films octaethylporphin have been prepared and are observed to crystallize over time if thicker than about 100 nm. Transmission spectra of amorphous films have a sharper Soret band than transmission spectra of crystalline films and lack the exciton band seen in crystalline films. The exciton band can be resolved in amorphous films by taking a difference spectrum between two amorphous films of different thickness. Fluorescence is observed from one impurity in amorphous films as compared to two impurities in crystalline films. This indicates a smaller exciton diffusion length in amorphous films as compared to crystalline films, consistent with the differences in the transmission spectra of the two kinds of film.     

Magnetic oxide films

Magnetic oxide films including europium oxide, yttrium and gadolinium iron garnets, orthoferrites, and ferrites are reviewed from a point of view which stresses the common aspects of oxide film growth and the resulting structural and magnetic properties. The growth techniques of each material are described. They include chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, chemical solution, liquid epitaxy, and evaporation. Problems such as non-stoichiometry, strain, cracking, and substrate-film interaction are discussed for each material. The substrate is found to exert a strong influence on the film quality and generally a better match between film and substrate results in improved films. The magnetic characteristics of the films including the magnetization, coercive force, Faraday rotation, and ferromagnetic resonance linewidth are discussed. In terms of these properties, the films are compared with the corresponding bulk materials. The means of improving magnetic oxide films are considered, and an assessment is made of the possibility of producing thin films whose structural and magnetic properties are comparable with those of bulk material.     

Nickel-iron-gold magnetic films

Ni-Fe-Au films can be made by vacuum evaporation from a single melt since Au has an evaporation rate comparable to that of Ni and Fe. In films 400 Å thick the addition of Au does not changeH _c , butH _k increases 0·1 Oe per 1% Au until 10% Au is reached and then remains constant for Au percentages up to 26%. The change ofH _k with substrate deposition temperature is about the same as for Ni-Fe films (–0·01 Oe/°C). Films with 8% Au have the same skew as Ni-Fe films when made at a substrate temperature of 300 °C, but for Ni-Fe-Au films the change of skew with substrate temperature is about one fourth that of Ni-Fe films. The small area dispersion is reduced by a factor of 2 to 3 for Au additions of 4 to 26 percent.     

Phonons in films

The oscillations of a film (lamina) with free boundaries are discussed. Calculations were performed and a computer analysis made of the dispersion curves for various types of oscillation. The results are presented here graphically. The density of states for phonons in a film is determined. The effects that the properties of phonons in films have on certain physical properties are discussed.Presented at the VI^th All-Union Conference on the Theory of Semiconductors.In conclusion, we are deeply grateful to M. Ya. Shirobokov for his valuable discussions and constant interest in the work, and to V. Metrikin for performing a great deal of computation. The authors are also very grateful to I. M, Lifshits for his fruitful discussion of the work and a number of valuable remarks.     

Dielectric relaxations in ultrathin isotactic PMMA films and PS-PMMA-PS trilayer films

The European Physical Journal E - The local and cooperative dynamics of supported ultrathin films (L = 6.4 - 120 nm) of isotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (i-PMMA, $\overline{M}_n = 118\times10^3$...     

Stability of soap films: hysteresis and nucleation of black films

We study the stability of soap films of a nonionic surfactant under different applied capillary pressures on the film. Depending on the pressure, either a thick common black film (CBF), or a micro-scopically thin Newton black film (NBF) is formed as a (metastable) equilibrium state, with a first-order (discontinuous) transition between the two. Studying the dynamics of the CBF-NBF transition, it is found that under certain conditions a hysteresis for the transition is observed: for a given range of pressures, either of the two states may be observed. We quantify the nucleation process that is at the basis of these observations both experimentally and theoretically.     

Dielectric relaxations in ultrathin isotactic PMMA films and PS-PMMA-PS trilayer films

The local and cooperative dynamics of supported ultrathin films ( L = 6.4 - 120 nm) of isotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (i-PMMA, Mn = 118 x 10(3) g/mol) was studied using dielectric relaxation spectroscopy for a wide range of frequencies (0.1 Hz to 10(6) Hz) and temperatures (250 - 423 K). To assess the influence of the PMMA film surfaces on the glass transition dynamics, two different sample geometries were employed: a single layer PMMA film with the film surfaces in direct contact with aluminum films which act as attractive, hard boundaries; and a stacked polystyrene-PMMA-polystyrene trilayer film which contains diffuse PMMA-PS interfaces. For single layer films of i-PMMA, a decrease of the glass transition temperature T(g) by up to 10 K was observed for a film thickness L < 25 nm (comparable to R(EE)), indicated by a decrease of the peak temperature T(alpha) in the loss epsilon(")(T) at low and high frequencies and by a decrease in the temperature corresponding to the maximum in the apparent activation energy E(a)(T) of the alpha-process. In contrast, measurements of i-PMMA sandwiched between PS-layers revealed a slight (up to 5 K) increase in T(g) for PMMA film thickness values less than 30 nm. The slowing down of the glass transition dynamics for the thinnest PMMA films is consistent with an increased contribution from the less mobile PMMA-PS interdiffusion regions.     

Rapid crystallization of silicon films using Joule heating of metal films

50-nm thick amorphous silicon films formed on glass substrates were crystallized by rapid Joule heating induced by an electrical current flowing in 100-nm-thick Cr strips formed adjacently to 200-nm-thick SiO₂ intermediate layers. 3-μs-pulsed voltages were applied to the Cr strips. Melting of the Cr strips caused a high Joule heating intensity of about 1×10⁶ W/cm². Raman scattering measurements revealed complete crystallization of the silicon films at a Joule heating energy of 1.9 J/cm² via the SiO₂ intermediate layer. Transmission electron microscopy measurements confirmed a crystalline grain size of 50–100 nm. 1-μm-long crystalline grain growth was also observed just beneath the edge of the Cr strips. The electrical conductivity increased from 10^-5 S/cm to 0.3 S/cm for 7×10¹⁷-cm^-3-phosphorus-doped silicon films because of activation of the phosphorus atoms because of crystallization. The numerical analysis showed a density of localized defect states at the mid gap of 8.0×10¹⁷ cm^-3. Oxygen plasma treatment at 250 °C and 100 W for 5 min reduced the density of the defect states to 2.7×10¹⁷ cm^-3. Received: 3 April 2001 / Accepted: 9 April 2001 / Published online: 25 July 2001     

Rapid joule heating of metal films used to crystallize silicon films

We analyzed the rapid heating properties of 50-nm-thick silicon films via 250-nm-thick SiO₂ intermediate layers by heat diffusion from joule heating induced by electrical current flow in chromium strips. Numerical heat-flow simulation resulted in that the silicon films were heated to the melting point by a joule-heating intensity above 1 MW/cm². A marked increase in electrical conductance associated with silicon melting was experimentally detected. Taper-shaped chromium strips detected the temperature gradient in the lateral direction caused by the spatial distribution of the joule-heating intensity. Crystallization occurred according to the temperature gradient. A 2–4-μm lateral crystalline grain growth was demonstrated for the silicon films. Received: 20 November 2001 / Accepted: 22 November 2001 / Published online: 20 March 2002     

Dielectric properties of anodic films on sputter-deposited Ti-Si porous columnar films

For electrolytic capacitor application of the single-phase Ti alloys containing supersaturated silicon, which form anodic oxide films with superior dielectric properties, porous Ti-7 at% Si columnar films, as well as Ti columnar films, have been prepared by oblique angle magnetron sputtering on to aluminum substrate with a concave cell structure to enhance the surface area and hence capacitance. The deposited films of both Ti and Ti-7 at% Si have isolated columnar morphology with each column revealing nanogranular texture. The distances between columns are ∼500 nm, corresponding to the cell size of the textured substrate and the gaps between columns are 100-200 nm. When the porous Ti-7 at% Si film is anodized at a constant current density in ammonium pentaborate electrolyte, the growth of a uniform amorphous oxide film continues to ∼35 V, while it is limited to less than 6 V on the porous Ti film. The maximum voltage of the growth of uniform amorphous oxide films on the Ti-7 at% Si films is similar for both the flat and porous columnar films, suggesting little influence of surface roughness on the amorphous-to-crystalline transition of growing anodic oxide under the high electric field. Due to the suppression of crystallization to sufficiently high voltages, the anodic oxide films formed on the porous Ti-7 at% Si film shows markedly improved dielectric properties, in comparison with those on the porous Ti film.     

ZnO退火条件对硫化法制备的ZnS薄膜特性的影响

采用反应磁控溅射法在玻璃和石英衬底上沉积了ZnO薄膜, 然后经过不同条件退火和在H22S气氛中硫化最终得到ZnS薄膜. 用x射线粉末衍射仪、扫描电子显微镜和UV—VIS分光光度计 对ZnS薄膜样品进行了分析. 结果表明, ZnO薄膜硫化后的晶体结构和光学性质取决于它的退 火条件. 真空和纯O2₂中退火的ZnO薄膜硫化后只是部分形成六角晶系结构的ZnS . 而在空气 和纯N2₂中退火的ZnO薄膜则全部转变为ZnS, 在可见光范围内的光透过率 关键词： ZnS薄膜 磁控溅射 ZnO硫化 太阳电池     

Ultralow-refractive-index optical thin films through nanoscale etching of ordered mesoporous silica films

A great deal of intensive research has been conducted to obtain high-quality transparent ultralow-refractive-index and ultralow-dielectric-constant thin films for microptics and microelectronics applications. Here, we report a simple procedure to prepare highly porous silica thin films with high optical quality and water resistance through nano-etching of mesoporous silica films followed by fluoroalkylsilane surface modification. The films possess an ultralow refractive index of 1.03 (800 nm) and an ultralow dielectric constant of 1.30 (100 kHz), to our knowledge the lowest values ever reported in thin film materials. The films are superhydrophobic (water contact angle=156 deg), thus exhibit high moisture stability.     

Influence of films thickness and structure on the photo-response of ZnO films

ZnO thin films were grown using Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method on glass substrates at room temperature. Annealing temperatures and film thickness effect on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of the films were studied. For this as-deposited films were annealed at 200, 300, 400 and 500 °C for 30 min in oxygen atmosphere. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies showed that the films are covered well with glass substrates and have good polycrystalline structure and crystalline levels. The film thickness effect on band gap values was investigated and band gap values were found to be within the range of 3.49-3.19 eV. The annealing temperature and light effect on electrical properties of the films were investigated and it was found that the current increased with increasing light intensity. The resistivity values were found as 10⁵ Ω-cm for as-deposited films from electrical measurements. The resistivity decreased decuple with annealing temperature and decreased centuple with light emission for annealed films.     

Piezoreflectivity in Ag films

The changes in the dielectric constant of Ag films 1000 Å thick, in a direction parallel and perpendicular to the film, have been computed from piezoreflectance spectra measured at an angle of incidence of 45° and light polarized s and p. The results are compared to those computed for crystallites. They are interpreted in terms of band structure.