Optical properties of ZnO thin films on SiO_2 substrates deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

The optical properties of both the annealed and as-deposited ZnO thin films by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on SiO2 substrates were studied. In the annealed films, two pronounced well defined exciton absorption peaks for the A and B excitons were obtained in the absorption spectra, a strong free exciton emission without deep-level emissions was observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra at room temperature. It was found that annealing the films in oxygen dramatically improved the optical properties and the quality of the films.     

Electrical and optical properties of Sb-doped ZnO thin films synthesized by sol–gel method

Sb-doped ZnO thin films with different values of Sb content （from 0 to 1.1 at.%） are deposited by the sol-gel dip- coating method under different sol concentrations. The effects of Sb-doping content, sol concentration, and annealing ambient on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO films are investigated. The results of the X-ray diffraction and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy （UV-VIS） spectrophotometer indicate that each of all the films retains the wurtzite ZnO structure and possesses a preferred orientation along the c axis, with high transmittance （〉 90%） in the visible range. The Hall effect measurements show that the vacuum annealed thin films synthesized in the sol concentration of 0.75 mol/L each have an adjustable n-type electrical conductivity by varying Sb-doping density, and the photoluminescence （PL） spectra revealed that the defect emission （around 450 nm） is predominant. However, the thin films prepared by the sol with a concentration of 0.25 mol/L, despite their poor conductivity, have priority in ultraviolet emission, and the PL peak position shows first a blue-shift and then a red-shift with the increase of the Sb doping content.     

The effects of post-thermal annealing on the optical parameters of indium-doped ZnO thin films

Indium-doped ZnO thin films are deposited on quartz glass slides by RF magnetron sputtering at ambient temper- ature. The as-deposited films are annealed at different temperatures from 400 C to 800 C in air for 1 h. Transmittance spectra are used to determine the optical parameters and the thicknesses of the films before and after annealing using a nonlinear programming method, and the effects of the annealing temperatures on the optical parameters and the thickness are investigated. The optical band gap is determined from the absorption coefficient. The calculated results show that the film thickness and optical parameters both increase first and then decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C. The band gap of the as-deposited ZnO:In thin film is 3.28 eV, and it decreases to 3.17 eV after annealing at 400 C. Then the band gap increases from 3.17 eV to 3.23 eV with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C.     

Effects of annealing rate and morphology of sol–gel derived ZnO on the performance of inverted polymer solar cells

The effects of annealing rate and morphology of sol–gel derived zinc oxide(ZnO)thin films on the performance of inverted polymer solar cells(IPSCs)are investigated.ZnO films with different morphologies are prepared at different annealing rates and used as the electron transport layers in IPSCs.The undulating morphologies of ZnO films fabricated at annealing rates of 10 C/min and 3 C/min each possess a rougher surface than that of the ZnO film fabricated at a fast annealing rate of 50 C/min.The ZnO films are characterized by atomic force microscopy(AFM),optical transmittance measurements,and simulation.The results indicate that the ZnO film formed at 3 C/min possesses a good-quality contact area with the active layer.Combined with a moderate light-scattering,the resulting device shows a 16%improvement in power conversion efficiency compared with that of the rapidly annealed ZnO film device.     

Effects of Annealing Temperature on Structural and Optical Properties of ZnO Thin Films

The effects of annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO films grown on Si （100） substrates by sol-gel spin-coating are investigated. The structural and optical properties are characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectra. X-ray diffraction analysis shows the crystal quality of ZnO films becomes better after annealing at high temperature. The grain size increases with the temperature increasing. It is found that the tensile stress in the plane of ZnO films first increases and then decreases with the annealing temperature increasing, reaching the maximum value of 1.8 GPa at 700℃. PL spectra of ZnO films annealed at various temperatures consists of a near band edge emission around 380 nm and visible emissions due to the electronic defects, which are related to deep level emissions, such as oxide antisite （OZn）, interstitial oxygen （Oi）, interstitial zinc （Zni） and zinc vacancy （VZn^-）, which are generated during annealing process. The evolution of defects is analyzed by PL spectra based on the energy of the electronic transitions.     

Optical properties of hexagonal boron nitride thin films deposited by radio frequency bias magnetron sputtering

The optical properties of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) thin films were studied in this paper. The films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV--visible transmittance and reflection spectra. h-BN thin films with a wide optical band gap E_g (5.86 eV for the as-deposited film and 5.97 eV for the annealed film) approaching h-BN single crystal were successfully prepared by radio frequency (RF) bias magnetron sputtering and post-deposition annealing at 970~K. The optical absorption behaviour of h-BN films accords with the typical optical absorption characteristics of amorphous materials when fitting is made by the Urbach tail model. The annealed film shows satisfactory structure stability. However, high temperature still has a significant effect on the optical absorption properties, refractive index n, and optical conductivity σ of h-BN thin films. The blue-shift of the optical absorption edge and the increase of E_g probably result from stress relaxation in the film under high temperatures. In addition, it is found that the refractive index clearly exhibits different trends in the visible and ultraviolet regions. Previous calculational results of optical conductivity of h-BN films are confirmed in our experimental results.     

Structure distortion,optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb by sol-gel spin coating

ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb with different concentrations and a fixed molar ratio of AlCl 3 to SbCl 3 at 1:2, are prepared by a sol-gel spin-coating method on glass annealed at 550°C for 2 h in air. The x-ray diffraction results confirm that the ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb are of wurtzite hexagonal ZnO with a very small distortion, and the biaxial stresses are 1.03×10 8 , 3.26×10 8 , 5.23×10 8 , and 6.97×10 8 Pa, corresponding to those of the ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb in concentrations of 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0 at% respectively. The optical properties reveal that the ZnO thin films co-doped with Al and Sb have obviously enhanced transmittance in the visible region. The electrical properties show that ZnO thin film co-doped with Al and Sb in a concentration of 1.5 at% has a lowest resistivity of 2.5Ω·cm.     

A Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Study of TiO2 Thin Films Prepared by dc Reactive Magnetron Sputtering： Annealing Temperature Effect

TiO2 thin films are obtained by dc reactive magnetron sputtering. A target of titanium （99.995%） and a mixture of argon and oxygen gases are used to deposit TiO2 films on to silicon wafers （100）. The crystalline structure of deposited and annealed film are deduced by variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry （VASE） and supported by x-ray diffractometry. The optical properties of the films are examined by VASE. Measurements of ellipsometry are performed in the spectral range O. 72-3.55 e V at incident angle 75^o. Several SE models, categorized by physical and optical models, are proposed based on the ＇simpler better＇ rule and curve-fits, which are generated and compared to the experimental data using the regression analysis. It has been found that the triple-layer physical model together with the Cody-Lorentz dispersion model offer the most convincing result. The as-deposited films are found to be inhomogeneous and amorphous, whereas the annealed films present the phase transition to anatase and rutile structures. The refractive index of TiO2 thin films increases with annealing temperature. A more detailed analysis further reveals that thickness of the top sub-layer increases, whereas the region of the bottom amorphous sub-layer shrinks when the films are annealed at 300℃.     

Influence of Annealing Temperature on Structure, Optical Loss and Laser-Induced Damage Threshold of TiO2 Thin Films

TiO2 thin films are prepared on fused silica with conventional electron beam evaporation deposition. After annealed at different temperatures for 4h, the spectra and XRD patterns of the TiO2 thin film are obtained. Weak absorption of coatings is measured by the surface thermal lensing technique, and laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） is determined. It is found that with the increasing annealing temperature, the transmittance of TiO2 films decreases. Especially when coatings are annealed at high temperature over 1173K, the optical loss is very serious. Weak absorption detection indicates that the absorption of coatings decreases firstly and then increases, and the absorption and defects play major roles in the LIDT of TiO2 thin films.     

Optical Characterization of rf-Magnetron Sputtered Nanostructured SnO2 Thin Films

Tin oxide （Sn02 ） thin films are deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering and annealed at various temperatures in the range of 100-500 ℃ for 15 min. Raman spectra of the annealed films depict the formation of a small amount of SnO phase in the tetragonal Sn02 matrix, which is verified by x-ray diffraction. The average particle size is found to be about 20-30 nm, as calculated from x-ray peak broadening and SEM images. Various optical parameters such as optical band gap energy, refractive index, optical conductivity, carrier mobility, carrier concentration etc. are determined from the optical transmittance and reflectance data recorded in the wavelength range 250-2500 nm. The results are analyzed and compared with the data in the literature.