Effects of oxygen partial pressure and substrate temperature on the structure and optical properties of MgxZn1−xO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Deposited with different oxygen partial pressures and substrate temperatures, Mg_xZn_1−xO thin films were prepared using a Mg_0.6Zn_0.4O ceramic target by magnetron sputtering. The structural and optical properties of the prepared thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction spectra reveal that all the films on quartz substrate are grown along (2 0 0) orientation with cubic structure. The lattice constant decreases and the crystallite size increases with the increase of substrate temperature. Both energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and calculated results suggest the ratio of Mg/Zn increases with increasing substrate temperature. The thin film deposited with T_s = 500 °C has a minimal rms roughness of 7.37 nm. The transmittance of all the films is higher than 85% in the visual region. The optical band gap is not sensitive to the oxygen partial pressure, while it increases from 5.63 eV for T_s = 100 °C to 5.95 eV for T_s = 700 °C. In addition, the refractive indices calculated from transmission spectra are sensitive to the substrate temperature. The photoluminescence spectra of Mg_xZn_1−xO thin films excited by 330 nm ultraviolet light indicate that the peak intensity of the spectra is influenced by the oxygen partial pressure and substrate temperature.     

Mechanical reliability of transparent conducting IZTO film electrodes for flexible panel displays

The mechanical reliability of transparent In-Zn-Sn-O (IZTO) films grown using pulsed DC magnetron sputtering with a single oxide alloyed ceramic target on a transparent polyimide (PI) substrate at room temperature is investigated. All IZTO films deposited at room temperature have an amorphous structure. However, their optical and electrical properties change depending on the oxygen partial pressure applied during depositing process. At an oxygen partial pressure of 3%, the films exhibit a resistivity of 8.3 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and an optical transmittance of 86%. Outer bending tests show that the critical bending radius decreases from 10 mm to 7.5 mm when the oxygen partial pressure increases from 1% to 3%. In the inner bending test, the critical bending radius is independent of oxygen partial pressure at 3.5 mm, indicating excellent film flexibility. In the dynamic fatigue test, the electrical resistance of the films reduces by less than 1% for more than 2000 bending cycles. These results suggest that IZTO films have excellent mechanical durability and flexibility in comparison to ITO films.     

Effect of substrate temperature on structural, optical and electrical properties of pulsed laser ablated nanostructured indium oxide films

Nanocrystalline indium oxide (INO) films are deposited in a back ground oxygen pressure at 0.02 mbar on quartz substrates at different substrate temperatures (T_s) ranging from 300 to 573 K using pulsed laser deposition technique. The films are characterized using GIXRD, XPS, AFM and UV-visible spectroscopy to study the effect of substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of films. The XRD patterns suggest that the films deposited at room temperature are amorphous in nature and the crystalline nature of the films increases with increase in substrate temperature. Films prepared at T_s ≥ 473 K are polycrystalline in nature (cubic phase). Crystalline grain size calculation based on Debye Scherrer formula indicates that the particle size enhances with the increase in substrate temperature. Lattice constant of the films are calculated from the XRD data. XPS studies suggest that all the INO films consist of both crystalline and amorphous phases. XPS results show an increase in oxygen content with increase in substrate temperature and reveals that the films deposited at higher substrate temperatures exhibit better stoichiometry. The thickness measurements using interferometric techniques show that the film thickness decreases with increase in substrate temperature. Analysis of the optical transmittance data of the films shows a blue shift in the values of optical band gap energy for the films compared to that of the bulk material owing to the quantum confinement effect due to the presence of quantum dots in the films. Refractive index and porosity of the films are also investigated. Room temperature DC electrical measurements shows that the INO films investigated are having relatively high electrical resistivity in the range of 0.80-1.90 Ωm. Low temperature electrical conductivity measurements in the temperature range of 50-300 K for the film deposited at 300 K give a linear Arrhenius plot suggesting thermally activated conduction. Surface morphology studies of the films using AFM reveal the formation of nanostructured indium oxide thin films.     

Effect of substrate temperature and annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and microstructural properties of thin Pt films by rf magnetron sputtering

Influence of both substrate temperature, T_s, and annealing temperature, T_a, on the structural, electrical and microstructural properties of sputtered deposited Pt thin films have been investigated. X-ray diffraction results show that as deposited Pt films (T_s = 300, 400 °C) are preferentially oriented along (1 1 1) direction. A little growth both along (2 0 0) and (3 1 1) directions are also noticed in the as deposited Pt films. After annealing in air (T_a = 500-700 °C), films become strongly oriented along (1 1 1) plane. With annealing temperature, average crystallite size, D, of the Pt films increases and micro-strain, e, and lattice constant, a₀, decreases. Residual strain observed in the as deposited Pt films is found to be compressive in nature while that in the annealed films is tensile. This change in the strain from compressive to tensile upon annealing is explained in the light of mismatch between the thermal expansion coefficients of the film material and substrate. Room temperature resistivity of Pt films is dependant on both the T_s and T_a of the films. Observed decrease in the film resistivity with T_a is discussed in terms of annihilation of film defects and grain-boundary. Scanning electron microscopic study reveals that as the annealing temperature increases film densification improves. But at an annealing temperature of ∼600 °C, pinholes appear on the film surface and the size of pinhole increases with further increase in the annealing temperature. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis, existence of a thin layer of chemisorbed atomic oxygen is detected on the surfaces of the as deposited Pt films. Upon annealing, coverage of this surface oxygen increases.     

Role of growth temperature and oxygen partial pressure on the structural and electrical properties of pulsed laser deposited La1−xSrxnO3−δ thin films

The paper presents the fabrication and characterization of La_0.65Sr_0.35MnO_3−δ (LSMO) polycrystalline thin films deposited directly on Si (1 0 0) substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. Various deposition parameters like substrate temperature and oxygen partial pressure have been varied systematically to obtain stoichiometric, crack-free films with smooth surface morphology having nearly monodisperse grain size distribution. The substrate temperature variation from 600 to 800 °C had profound effects on the microstructure and topography of the deposited film, with optimum result being obtained at 700 °C. The variation of partial pressure of oxygen controls the deposition kinetics as well as the stoichiometry of the film in terms of oxygen vacancy, which influences the magnetic and electrical transport properties of the manganate films. The microstructure and crystallinity of the deposited films have been studied using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. A correlation between the oxygen stoichiometry and micro-structural and transport properties of the deposited films has been obtained.     

Effect of substrate temperature on the growth of ITO thin films

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto glass substrates by rf magnetron sputtering of ITO target and the influence of substrate temperature on the properties of the films were investigated. The structural characteristics showed a dependence on the oxygen partial pressure during sputtering. Oxygen deficient films showed (4 0 0) plane texturing while oxygen-incorporated films were preferentially oriented in the [1 1 1] direction. ITO films with low resistivity of 2.05 × 10⁻³ Ω cm were deposited at relatively low substrate temperature (150 °C) which shows highest figure of merit of 2.84 × 10⁻³ square/Ω⋅     

Ultra smooth NiO thin films on flexible plastic (PET) substrate at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering and effect of oxygen partial pressure on their properties

Transparent p-type nickel oxide thin films were grown on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technique in argon + oxygen atmosphere with different oxygen partial pressures at room temperature. The morphology of the NiO thin films grown on PET and glass substrates was studied by atomic force microscope. The rms surface roughnesses of the films were in the range 0.63-0.65 nm. These ultra smooth nanocrystalline NiO thin films are useful for many applications. High resolution transmission electron microscopic studies revealed that the grains of NiO films on the highly flexible PET substrate were purely crystalline and spherical in shape with diameters 8-10 nm. XRD analysis also supported these results. NiO films grown on the PET substrates were found to have better crystalline quality with fewer defects than those on the glass substrates. The sheet resistances of the NiO films deposited on PET and glass substrates were not much different; having values 5.1 and 5.3 kΩ/□ and decreased to 3.05, 3.1 kΩ/□ respectively with increasing oxygen partial pressure. The thicknesses of the films on both substrates were ∼700 nm. It was also noted that further increase in oxygen partial pressure caused increase in resistivity due to formation of defects in NiO.     

The effects of solvent nature on spray-deposited ZnO thin film prepared from Zn (CH3COO)2, 2H2O

Transparent conducting zinc oxide was deposited on glass substrate by ultrasonic spray method. The ZnO samples with concentration of 0.1 M were deposited at 300, 350 and 400 °C with 2 min of deposition time. The effects of substrate temperature, ethanol and methanol solution on the structural, electrical and optical properties were examined. The DRX analyses indicated that ZnO films have polycrystalline nature and hexagonal wurtzite structure with (1 0 0) and (0 0 2) preferential orientation corresponding to ZnO films resulting from methanol and ethanol, respectively. The crystallinity of the thin films improved with ethanol solution. All films exhibit an average optical transparency about 80%, in the visible range. The band gap energy of ZnO films obtained with methanol solution higher than of ethanol solution for all the films. The electrical resistivity decrease with ZnO obtained from ethanol indicated; due to the maximum crystallite size retched at this point.     

Study of microstructure and nanomechanical properties of Zr films prepared by pulsed magnetron sputtering

The present work studies the effect of substrate temperature on the growth characteristics of zirconium films prepared by pulsed magnetron sputtering. Formation of α-phase of zirconium was observed in the temperature range 300-873 K. X-ray diffraction of Zr films revealed predominantly [0 0 1] texture. It is noticed that crystallite size increases with increasing substrate temperature. Hexagonal shaped crystallites seem to grow along the surface normal of the substrate for the films deposited at 773 K. Nanoindentation measurements showed that the hardness of the films is in the range 6-10 GPa. The scratch test indicated that the films deposited at higher substrate temperatures had excellent bonding with the substrate and no significant critical failure was noticed up to an applied load of 20 N.     

Internal stresses and stability of the tetragonal phase in zirconia thin layers deposited by OMCVD

Zirconia thin films were deposited by OMCVD (organo-metallic chemical vapour deposition) at various temperatures and oxygen partial pressures on a AISI 301 stainless steel substrate with Zr(thd)₄ as precursor. The as deposited 250 nm thin zirconia films presented a structure consisting of two phases: the expected monoclinic one and also an unexpected tetragonal phase. According to the literature, the stabilization of the tetragonal phase (metastable in massive zirconia) can be related to the crystallite size and/or to the generated internal compressive stresses.To analyze the effect of internal and external stresses on the thin film behaviour, in-situ tensile experiments were performed at room temperature and at high temperature (500 °C).Depending on the process parameters, phase transformations and damage evolution of the films were observed. Our results, associated to XRD (X-ray diffraction) analyses, used to determine phase ratios and residual stresses within the films, before and after the mechanical experiments, are discussed with respect to their microstructural changes.     

Influence of annealing temperature on structural and optical properties of ZnO: In thin films prepared by ultrasonic spray technique

Transparent conducting indium doped zinc oxide was deposited on glass substrate by ultrasonic spray method. The In doped ZnO samples with indium concentration of 3 wt.% were deposited at 300, 350 and 400 °C with 2 min of deposition time. The effects of substrate temperature and annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical properties were examined. The DRX analyses indicated that In doped ZnO films have polycrystalline nature and hexagonal wurtzite structure with (0 0 2) preferential orientation and the maximum average crystallite size of ZnO: In before and annealed at 500 °C were 45.78 and 55.47 nm at a substrate temperature of 350 °C. The crystallinity of the thin films increased by increasing the substrate temperature up 350 °C, the crystallinity improved after annealing temperature at 500 °C. The film annealed at 500 °C and deposited at 350 °C show lower absorption within the visible wavelength region. The band gap energy increased from E_g = 3.25 to 3.36 eV for without annealing and annealed films at 500 °C, respectively, indicating that the increase in the transition tail width. This is due to the increase in the electrical conductivity of the films after annealing temperature.     

Influence of substrate temperature and Cobalt concentration on structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films prepared by Ultrasonic spray technique

Pure and Cobalt doped zinc oxide were deposited on glass substrate by Ultrasonic spray method. Zinc acetate dehydrate, Cobalt chloride, 4-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine were used as a starting materials, dopant source, solvent and stabilizer, respectively. The ZnO samples and ZnO:Co with Cobalt concentration of 2 wt.% were deposited at 300, 350 and 400 °C. The effects of substrate temperature and presence of Co as doping element on the structural, electrical and optical properties were examined. Both pure and Co doped ZnO samples are (0 0 2) preferentially oriented. The X-ray diffraction results indicate that the samples have polycrystalline nature and hexagonal wurtzite structure with the maximum average crystallite size of ZnO and ZnO:Co were 33.28 and 55.46 nm. An increase in the substrate temperature and presence doping the crystallinity of the thin films increased. The optical transmittance spectra showed transmittance higher than 80% within the visible wavelength region. The band gap energy of the thin films increased after doping from 3.25 to 3.36 eV at 350 °C.     

The preparation and refractive index of BST thin films

Radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique is used to deposit Ba_0.65Sr_0.35TiO₃ (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 (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). More intense characteristic diffraction peaks and better crystallization can be observed in BST thin films deposited at 600 °C and subsequently annealed at 700 °C. 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 2.197 with pressure increase. However, when the pressure increases up to 3.9 Pa, the refractive index reduces to 1.86. 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 increase in the ratio of oxygen to argon. The refractive index of BST thin films is strongly dependent on the annealing temperature, which also increases as the annealing temperature ascends. In a word, the refractive index of BST thin films is finally affected by the films’ microstructure and texture.     

Influence of substrate temperature on electrical and optical properties of p-type semitransparent conductive nickel oxide thin films deposited by radio frequency sputtering

Nickel oxide thin films were deposited on fused silica and Si(1 0 0) substrates at different substrate temperatures ranging from room temperature to 400 °C using radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering from a Ni metal target in a mixture of O₂ and Ar. With the increase of substrate temperature, nickel oxide films deposited on the Si substrates exhibit transition from amorphous to poly-crystalline structures with different preferred orientations of NiO(2 0 0) and (1 1 1). The films deposited at higher temperature exhibit higher Ni²⁺/Ni³⁺ ratio. With substrate temperature increasing from room temperature to 400 °C, the electrical resistivities of nickel oxide films increase from (2.8 ± 0.1) × 10⁻² to (8.7 ± 0.1) Ω cm, and the optical band-gap energies increase from 3.65 to 3.88 eV. A p-nickel oxide/n-zinc oxide heterojunction was fabricated to confirm the p-type conduction of nickel oxide thin film, which exhibited a steadily rectifying behavior.     

Highly conducting and transparent Ti-doped CdO films by pulsed laser deposition

Titanium-doped cadmium oxide thin films were deposited on quartz substrate by pulsed laser deposition technique. The effect of substrate temperature on structural, optical and electrical properties was studied. The films grown at high temperature show (2 0 0) preferred orientation, while films grown at low temperature have both (1 1 1) and (2 0 0) orientation. These films are highly transparent (63-79%) in visible region, and transmittance of the films depends on growth temperature. The band gap of the films varies from 2.70 eV to 2.84 eV for various temperatures. It is observed that resistivity increases with growth temperature after attaining minimum at 150 °C, while carrier concentration continuously decreases with temperature. The low resistivity, high transmittance and wide band gap titanium-doped CdO films could be an excellent candidate for future optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications.     

Influence of target substrate distance on the properties of transparent conductive Si doped ZnO thin films

Si doped zinc oxide (SZO, Si3%) thin films are grown at room temperature on glass substrates under argon atmosphere, using direct current magnetron sputtering. The influence of the target substrate distances on structure, morphology, optical and electrical properties of SZO thin films is investigated. Experimental results show that the target substrate distances have a significance impact on the growth rate, crystal quality and electrical properties of the films, and have little impact on the optical properties of the films. SZO thin film samples grown on glasses are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and have a preferred orientation along the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. When the target substrate distance decreases from 76 to 60 mm, the degree of crystallization of the films increased, the grain size increases, and the resistivity of films decreases. However, when the distance continuously decreases from 60 to 44 mm, the degree of crystallization of the films decreased, the grain size decreases, and the resistivity of the films increases. SZO(3%) thin films deposited at a target substrate distance of 60 mm show the lowest resistivity of 5.53 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, a high average transmission of 94.47% in the visible range, and maximum band gap of 3.45 eV under 5 Pa of argon at sputtering power of 75 W for sputtering time of 20 min.     

Optical and electrical properties of nanocrystal zinc oxide films prepared by dc magnetron sputtering at different sputtering pressures

The nanocrystal thin films of zinc oxide doped by Al (ZnO:Al) were deposited by dc reactive magnetron sputtering on the glass substrates, in the pressure range of 33-51 Pa. From the X-ray diffraction patterns, the nanocrystalline structure of ZnO:Al films and the grain size were determined. The optical transmission spectra depend from the sputtering pressure, but their average value was 90% in the range from 33 Pa to 47 Pa. Also, the sputtering pressure changes the optical band gap of ZnO:Al films, which is highest for films deposited at 37 Pa, 40 Pa and 47 Pa. The obtained films at room temperature have a sheet resistance of 190 Ω/cm² which increases with time, but the films annealed at temperature of 400 °C have constant resistance. The surface morphology of the films was studied by Scanning electron microscopy. XPS spectra showed that the peak of O1s of the as-deposited films is smaller than the peak of the annealed ZnO:Al films.     

Spray pyrolysis deposition of ZnO thin films on FTO coated substrates from zinc acetate and zinc chloride precursor solution at different growth temperatures

ZnO thin films were fabricated using zinc chloride and zinc acetate precursors by the spray pyrolysis technique on FTO coated glass substrates. The ZnO films were grown in different deposition temperature ranges varying from 400 to 550 °C. Influences of substrate temperature and zinc precursors on crystal structure, morphology and optical property of the ZnO thin films were investigated. XRD patterns of the films deposited using chloride precursor indicate that (1 0 1) is dominant at low temperatures, while those deposited using acetate precursor show that (1 0 1) is dominant at high temperatures. SEM images show that deposition temperature and type of precursor have a strong effect on the surface morphology. Optical measurements show that ZnO films are obviously influenced by the substrate temperatures and different types of precursor solutions. It is observed that as temperature increases, transmittance decreases for ZnO films obtained using zinc chloride precursor, but the optical transmittance of ZnO films obtained using zinc acetate precursor increases as temperature increases.     

Direct current magnetron sputter-deposited ZnO thin films

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a very promising electronic material for emerging transparent large-area electronic applications including thin-film sensors, transistors and solar cells. We fabricated ZnO thin films by employing direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering deposition technique. ZnO films with different thicknesses ranging from 150 nm to 750 nm were deposited on glass substrates. The deposition pressure and the substrate temperature were varied from 12 mTorr to 25 mTorr, and from room temperature to 450 °C, respectively. The influence of the film thickness, deposition pressure and the substrate temperature on structural and optical properties of the ZnO films was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer. The experimental results reveal that the film thickness, deposition pressure and the substrate temperature play significant role in the structural formation and the optical properties of the deposited ZnO thin films.     

Photosensitivity of nanocrystalline ZnO films grown by PLD

We have studied the properties of ZnO thin films grown by laser ablation of ZnO targets on (0 0 0 1) sapphire (Al₂O₃), under substrate temperatures around 400 °C. The films were characterized by different methods including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XPS analysis revealed that the films are oxygen deficient, and XRD analysis with θ-2θ scans and rocking curves indicate that the ZnO thin films are highly c-axis oriented. All the films are ultraviolet (UV) sensitive. Sensitivity is maximum for the films deposited at lower temperature. The films deposited at higher temperatures show crystallite sizes of typically 500 nm, a high dark current and minimum photoresponse. In all films we observe persistent photoconductivity decay. More densely packed crystallites and a faster decay in photocurrent is observed for films deposited at lower temperature.