Photoluminescence studies on nanostructured cadmium sulfide thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition method and annealed at different temperatures

Nanostructured cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films have been prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method and after post deposition annealing of the thin films at different temperatures, photoluminescence (PL) property has been studied. The effects of various photoexcitation wavelengths on the PL behaviour of different annealed films of CdS were studied by recording the PL spectra. The intensity of PL, the profile of the PL spectra and the effects of photoexcitation wavelength depend drastically on the temperature of the post deposition annealing of the thin films. The XRD patterns of the films show the presence of both the hexagonal and cubic phases (mixed phases). The emission peak arises from the surface defects of the CdS nanocrystalline thin films. Significant modification in the surface morphology of the CdS films upon annealing has been observed from the FESEM images. The morphology of the thin films is expected to influence the PL behaviour of the CdS thin films. The quantum size effect and size dependant PL have been observed.     

CdS薄膜的化学沉积法制备及其特性的研究

用化学沉积方法在沉积温度为90 ℃下制备了CdS薄膜。研究了直接退火处理和涂敷CdCl₂甲醇饱和溶液后退火处理对CdS薄膜的影响。利用X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜对薄膜的晶体结构、表面形貌进行了研究,发现没有任何处理的CdS薄膜没有明显的晶型;直接退火处理促进了CdS立方相的结晶,晶粒没有增大且生长出许多细小的晶粒;涂敷CdCl₂甲醇饱和溶液后退火处理不仅极大地促进了CdS六角相的结晶,而且晶粒增粗增大,表面更加光滑。用吸收光谱研究了薄膜的光学特性,发现退火使薄膜的禁带宽度变窄,涂敷CdCl₂甲醇溶液后退火处理使吸收边变陡和带尾变小。表明涂敷CdCl₂甲醇溶液退火处理明显改善CdS薄膜的结晶质量和光学性质。     

High-energy heavy-ion induced physical and surface-chemical modifications in polycrystalline cadmium sulfide thin films

The effect of high electronic energy deposition on the structure, surface topography, optical properties, and electronic structure of cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films have been investigated by irradiating the films with 100 MeV Ag⁺⁷ ions at different ion fluences in the range of 10¹²–10¹³ ions/cm². The CdS films were deposited on glass substrate by thermal evaporation, and the films studied in the present work are polycrystalline with crystallites preferentially oriented along (002)-H direction. It is shown that swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation leads to grain agglomeration and hence an increase in the grain size at low ion fluences. The observed lattice compaction was related to irradiation induced polygonization. The optical band gap energy decreased after irradiation, possibly due to the combined effect of change in the grain size and in the creation of intermediate energy levels. Enhanced nonradiative recombination via additional deep levels, introduced by SHI irradiation was noticed from photoluminescence (PL) analysis. A shift in the core levels associated with the change in Fermi level position was realized from XPS analysis. The chemistry of CdS film surface was studied which showed profound chemisorption of oxygen on the surface of CdS.     

AgSbSe2 and AgSb(S,Se)2 thin films for photovoltaic applications

Silver antimony selenide (AgSbSe₂) thin films were prepared by heating sequentially deposited multilayers of antimony sulphide (Sb₂S₃), silver selenide (Ag₂Se), selenium (Se) and silver (Ag). Sb₂S₃ thin film was prepared from a chemical bath containing SbCl₃ and Na₂S₂O₃, Ag₂Se from a solution containing AgNO₃ and Na₂SeSO₃ and Se thin films from an acidified solution of Na₂SeSO₃, at room temperature on glass substrates. Ag thin film was deposited by thermal evaporation. The annealing temperature was 350 °C in vacuum (10⁻³ Torr) for 1 h. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the thin films formed were polycrystalline AgSbSe₂ or AgSb(S,Se)₂ depending on selenium content in the precursor films. Morphology and elemental analysis of these films were done using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Optical band gap was evaluated from the UV-visible absorption spectra of these films. Electrical characterizations were done using Hall effect and photocurrent measurements. A photovoltaic structure: glass/ITO/CdS/AgSbSe₂/Al was formed, in which CdS was deposited by chemical bath deposition. J-V characteristics of this structure showed V_oc = 435 mV and J_sc = 0.08 mA/cm² under illumination using a tungsten halogen lamp. Preparation of a photovoltaic structure using AgSbSe₂ as an absorber material by a non-toxic selenization process is achieved.     

Synthesis, characterization and photoelectrochemical properties of n-CdS thin films

Cadmium sulfide thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by simple and cost effective chemical bath deposition technique. Triethanolamine was used as a complexing agent. The preparative parameters like ion concentration, temperature, pH, speed of substrate rotation and deposition time have been optimized for good quality thin films. The ‘as-grown’ films are characterized for structural, electrical, optical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies reveal that the films are polycrystalline in nature. Energy-dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDAX) shows that films are cadmium rich. Uniform deposition of CdS thin films on glass substrate is observed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) micrographs. Optical studies reveal a high absorption coefficient (10⁴ cm⁻¹) with a direct type of transition. The band gap is estimated to be 2.47 eV. The film shows n-type conduction mechanism. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell with CdS thin film as a photoanode and sulfide/polysulfide (1 M) solution as an electrolyte have been constructed and investigated for various cell parameters. The solar to electrical conversion efficiency (η) and fill factor (ff) are found to be 0.049% and 0.36, respectively.     

缓冲层Ta对FePt薄膜L10有序相转变及矫顽力的影响

制备了Ta/FePt/C系列多层膜，研究了样品在不同温度退火后的磁特性和微结构.实验结果表明，不同厚度的Ta缓冲层具有不同的微结构特征，显著影响FePt层的L1₀有序相的形成及相应的矫顽力.当Ta缓冲层较薄，Ta层为非晶态，且较为粗糙，由此使FePt在界面处产生较多的缺陷并导致较高密度的晶界，在退火过程中，受束缚相对较弱的非晶态的Ta原子比较容易沿FePt的缺陷和晶界处向FePt层扩散，使FePt在相变过程中产生的应力比较容易释放，同时，Ta在扩散过程中产生的缺陷，降低了FePt有序 关键词： FePt薄膜 0相')" href="#">L1₀相 原子扩散     

Structure and morphology of chemical bath-deposited CdS films and clusters

Thin films of cadmium sulfide have been deposited on glass substrates and the structural properties of films have been investigated using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. The films consist of domains (groups of grains) and weakly bound grain clusters. The structural parameters of grains, domains and clusters and the effect of film thickness on these parameters are reported. From the measurement of lattice constants in CdS films and in free CdS clusters, it has become evident that the films on glass substrates have a tensile strain along their planes. The effect of thermal annealing on the partial relaxation of the strain is discussed. Received: 29 January 2001 / Accepted: 30 January 2001 / Published online: 3 May 2001     

The Effect of Temperature on the Particle Sizes and the Recrystallization of Silver Sulfide Nanopowders

The recrystallization of silver sulfide Ag₂S nanoparticles has been studied and the range of the thermal stability of the nanoparticle sizes has been determined. Nanopowders Ag₂S with particle sizes of 45–50 nm were obtained by chemical deposition from aqueous solutions. To study the thermal stability of the Ag₂S nanoparticle sizes, the nanocrystalline powders have been annealed in a vacuum of 0.01 Pa on heating from room temperature to 493 K and in argon at 623 K. Annealing up to a temperature of 453 K leads to insignificant nanoparticle growth and annealing of microstrains, which allows one to consider this temperature range as the region of thermal stability of the silver sulfide nanostate. The temperature range from 450 to 900 K, in which the particle size increases by a factor of 3–6, corresponds to the temperature of collective recrystallization of the silver sulfide nanopowder.     

A mathematical model to predict the grain size of nanocrystalline CdS thin films based on the deposition condition used in the sol–gel spin coating method

Design of experiment (DOE) based on central composite design (CCD) has been employed for the development of a mathematical model correlating the important process parameters like thiourea concentration (U), annealing temperature (A), rotational speed (S), and annealing time (T) of the spin coating process for the preparation of CdS thin films. The experiments were conducted as per the design matrix. Nanocrystalline CdS thin films have been prepared using cadmium nitrate and thiourea as precursors by sol gel spin coating method using the results of the mathematical model. The prepared CdS films have been characterized and the crystal structure and grain size of the samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction technique. The adequacy of the developed models was checked by analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique. The accuracy of prediction has been carried out by conducting confirmation test. Using this model, the main effect of process parameters on grain size of CdS films have been studied. These parameters were optimized to obtain minimum grain size using the Microsoft excel solver. The results have been verified by depositing CdS films using the optimized conditions. These films have been characterized using X-ray diffraction technique and the grain size is found to be 8.8 nm. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis showed the grain size of the prepared CdS film to be ∼7 nm. UV–vis spectroscopy analysis revealed that CdS films exhibited quantum confinement effect.     

Preparation and characterization of thermally evaporated titanium phthalocyanine dichloride thin films

Titanium phthalocyanine dichloride (TiPcCl₂) thin films are prepared on glass substrates by vacuum-sublimation technique. The optical constants of thin films are obtained by means of thin film spectrophotometry. Planar structures for the study of electrical properties are fabricated with TiPcCl₂ as active layer and silver as the contact electrodes. The effects of post-deposition annealing on the optical band gap have been studied. The optical transition is found to be direct allowed in nature. The invariance in the optical band gap shows the thermal stability of the material. The activation energies are determined using the Arrhenius plots between electrical conductivity and inverse temperature. The variation in activation energy with post-deposition annealing is investigated. The unit cell dimensions of TiPcCl₂ thin films are also determined by indexing the powder diffraction data. The variations of the surface morphology and grain size with annealing have also been studied.     

Formation of CdO films from chemically deposited Cd(OH)2 films as a precursor

Formation of cadmium hydroxide at room temperature onto glass substrates from an aqueous alkaline cadmium nitrate solution using a simple soft chemical method and its conversion to cadmium oxide (CdO) by thermal annealing treatment has been studied in this paper. The as-deposited film was given thermal annealing treatment in oxygen atmosphere at 450 °C for 2 h for conversion into cadmium oxide. The structural, surface morphological and optical studies were performed for as-deposited and the annealed films. The structural analyses revealed that as-deposited films consists of mixture of Cd(OH)₂ and CdO, while annealed films exhibited crystalline CdO. From surface morphological studies, conversion of clusters to grains after annealing was observed. The band gap energy was changed from 3.21 to 2.58 eV after annealing treatment. The determination of elementals on surface composition of the core-shell nanoparticles of annealed films was carried out using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

CdTe太阳电池前电极SnO2:F/SnO2复合薄膜性能分析

减薄CdS窗口层是提高CdS/CdTe太阳电池转换效率的有效途径之一,减薄窗口层会对器件造成不利的影响,因此在减薄了的窗口层与前电极之间引入过渡层非常必要.利用反应磁控溅射法在前电极SnO₂:F薄膜衬底上制备未掺杂的SnO₂薄膜形成过渡层,并将其在N₂/O₂=4 ∶1,550 ℃环境进行了30 min热处理,利用原子力显微镜、X射线衍射仪、紫外分光光度计对复合薄膜热处理前后的形貌、结构、光学性能进行了表征,同时分析了复     

Structural and morphological characterization of chemically deposited silver films

Silver thin films were deposited on glass slide substrates at room temperature by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique, using silver nitrate (AgNO₃) as Ag⁺¹ source and triethanolamine [(N(CH₂CH₂OH)₃)] as the complex reductor agent. We determined the conditions of the CBD process to obtain homogeneous, opaque silver films with good adhesion to the substrate and white coloration. The silver films were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The results show that the films are composed of several layers with different morphology depending on the deposition time. In all the cases, the crystalline structure of the films was the face cubic centered phase with a moderate [111] texture. Strains and stresses were calculated by the Vook-Witt grain interaction model.     

Growth, structural and optical transport properties of nanocrystal Zn1−xCdS thin films deposited by solution growth technique (SGT) for photosensor applications

Solution Growth Technique (SGT) has been used for deposition of Zn_1−xCdS nanocrystalline thin films. Various parameters such as solution pH (10.4), deposition time, concentration of ions, composition and deposition and annealing temperatures have been optimized for the development of device grade thin film. In order to achieve uniformity and adhesiveness of thin film on glass substrate, 5 ml triethanolamine (TEA) have been added in deposition solution. The as-deposited films have been annealed in Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) system at various temperature ranges from 100 to 500 °C in air. The changes in structural formation and optical transport phenomena have been studied with annealing temperatures and composition value (x). As-deposited films have two phases of ZnS and CdS, which were confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies; further the X-ray analysis of annealed (380 °C) films indicates that the films have nanocrystalline size (150 nm) and crystal structure depends on the films stoichiometry and annealing temperatures. The Zn_0.4CdS films annealed at 380 °C in air for 5 min have hexagonal structure where as films annealed at 500 °C have represented the oxide phase with hexagonal structure. Optical properties of the films were studied in the wavelength range 350-1000 nm. The optical band gap (E_g=2.94-2.30 eV) decreases with the composition (x) value. The effect of air rapid annealing on the photoresponse has also been observed on Zn_1−xCdS nanocrystal thin films. The Zn_1−xCdS thin film has higher photosensitivity at higher annealing temperatures (380-500 °C), and films also have mixed Zn_1−xCdS/Zn_1−xCdSO phase with larger grain size than the as-deposited and films annealed up to 380 °C. The present results are well agreed with the results of other studies.     

Optical and structural properties of CdS thin films grown by chemical bath deposition doped with Ag by ion exchange

In this work thin CdS films using glycine as a complexing agent were fabricated by chemical bath deposition and then doped with silver (Ag), by an ion exchange process with different concentrations of AgNO₃ solutions. The CdS films were immersed in silver solutions using different concentrations during 1 min for doping and after that the films were annealed at 200 °C during 20 min for dopant diffusion after the immersion on the AgNO₃ solutions. The aim of this research was to know the effects of different concentrations of Ag on the optical and structural properties of CdS thin films. The optical band gap of the doped films was determined by transmittance measurements, with the results of transmittance varying between 35% and 70% up to 450 nm in the electromagnetic spectra and the band gap varying between 2.31 and 2.51 eV depending of the silver content. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to study the influence of silver on the CdS:Ag films, as a function of the AgNO₃ solution concentration. The crystal structure of the thin CdS:Ag films was studied by the X-ray diffraction method and the film surface morphology was studied by atomic force microscopy. Using the ion exchange process, the CdS films’ structural, optical and electric characteristics were modified according to silver nitrate concentration used.     

Effects of annealing treatment on the formation of CO2 in ZnO thin films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Post-growth annealing was carried out on ZnO thin films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The grain size of ZnO thin film increases monotonically with annealing temperature. The ZnO thin films were preferential to c-axis oriented after annealing as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Fourier transformation infrared transmission measurements showed that ZnO films grown at low temperature contains CO₂ molecules after post-growth annealing. A two-step reaction process has been proposed to explain the formation mechanism of CO₂, which indicates the possible chemical reaction processes during the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition of ZnO films.     

The comparison between CdS thin films grown on Si(111) substrate and quartz substrate by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition

Two kinds of cadmium sulfate (CdS) thin films have been grown at 600 °C onto Si(111) and quartz substrates using femtosecond pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The influence of substrates on the structural and optical properties of the CdS thin films grown by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition have been studied. The CdS thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. Although CdS thin films deposited both on Si(111) and quartz substrates were polycrystalline and hexagonal as shown by the XRD , SEM and AFM results, the crystalline quality and optical properties were found to be different. The size of the grains for the CdS thin film grown on Si(111) substrate were observed to be larger than that of the CdS thin film grown on quartz substrate, and there is more microcrystalline perpendicularity of c-axis for the film deposited on the quartz substrate than that for the films deposited on the Si substrate. In addition, in the PL spectra, the excitonic peak is more intense and resolved for CdS film deposited on quartz than that for the CdS film deposited on Si(111) substrate. The LO and TO Raman peaks in the CdS films grown on Si(111) substrate and quartz substrate are different, which is due to higher stress and bigger grain size in the CdS film grown on Si(111) substrate, than that of the CdS film grown on the amorphous quartz substrate. All this suggests that the substrates have a significant effect on the structural and optical properties of thin CdS films. PACS 81.15.Fg; 81.05.Ea; 78.20.-e; 78.67.-n; 42.62.-b     

Local leakage current behaviours of BiFeO3 films

The leakage current behaviours of polycrystalline BiFeO₃ thin films are investigated by using both conductive atomic force microscopy and current-voltage characteristic measurements. The local charge transport pathways are found to be located mainly at the grain boundaries of the films. The leakage current density can be tuned by changing the post-annealing temperature, the annealing time, the bias voltage and the light illumination, which can be used to improve the performances of the ferroelectric devices based on the BiFeO₃ films. A possible leakage mechanism is proposed to interpret the charge transports in the polycrystalline BiFeO₃ films.     

Surface assisted electric transport in Ag2S thin films

Electric transport measurements of thickness-dependent electronic and ionic conductivity of epitaxial Ag₂S films are used to split both kinds of conductivity into bulk and surface components. The established considerable electronic and ionic surface conductances demonstrate unambiguously the co-existance of electronic and ionic space charge regions in the vicinity of silver sulfide free surface oriented along the zone axes []. The parameters of both space charge layers - surface potential, thickness of the space charge region and concentration of the surface compensating charges, are calculated. It is estimated that for intrinsic silver sulfide, the effective surface potential of () Ag₂S surface is negative, its value being about −610 mV at 400 K.     

Structural and dielectric properties of Bi4Ti3O12 thin films prepared by metalorganic solution deposition

Ferroelectric Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ thin films with single phase and nanosized microstructure were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si(111) substrate by metalorganic solution deposition using titanium butoxide and bismuth nitrate at relatively low annealing temperatures. The internal strain in Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ thin films was calculated from the peak shifts and broadening of XRD patterns. With increase in annealing temperature, the uniform strain decreased from positive to zero and then to negative, and the non-uniform strain decreased and was negative. The total strain was negative and in the range of -0.2%–-1.0%, from which the stress of the films was calculated to be about -1.4×10⁹ N/m². The mode values of strain decreased with increase in annealing temperature and increased with increase in film thickness. The dielectric constant increased with increase in annealing temperature and film thickness. The dielectric properties were interpreted by considering the influence of strain, grain size, and grain boundaries. The strain lowered the polarization and increased the dielectric constant. The larger the grain size and the thinner the grain boundary, the greater the dielectric constant. The influence of grain size and grain boundary was stronger than that of the strain. Received: 23 September 1998 / Accepted: 6 January 1999 / Published online: 24 March 1999