Physical investigations on pulsed laser deposited nanocrystalline ZnO thin films

The nanocrystalline ZnO thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition on quartz and i-Si (100) substrates at different substrate temperatures (473 K–873 K) and at different mixed partial pressures (0.05, 0.01, and 0.5 mbar) of Ar+O₂. The structural studies from XRD spectra reveals that the films deposited at 0.05 mbar and at lower substrate temperatures were c-axis oriented with predominant (002) crystallographic orientation. At 873 K along with (002) orientation, additional crystallographic orientations were also observed in case of films deposited at 0.01 and 0.5 mbar pressures. The composition of Zinc and Oxygen in ZnO films from EDAX reveals that the films deposited at lower partial pressures were have high at.% of O₂ whereas higher partial pressures and substrate temperatures had high at.% Zn. The surface microstructure of the films show that the films deposited at lower partial pressures (0.05 mbar ) and at lower substrate temperatures (473 K) were found to have nanoparticles of size 15 nm where as films deposited at 873 K have nanorods. The length of these nanorods increases with increasing Ar+O₂ partial pressure to 0.5 mbar. The optical energy gap of the film deposited at lower partial pressure and substrate temperature was 3.3 eV and decrease with the increase of substrate temperatures. The films deposited at 0.5 mbar and at 873 K emitted an intense luminescence at a wavelength of 390 nm. The measured thickness of deposited films by spectroscopic ellipsometry is around 456 nm.     

Lead-free ferroelectric thin films obtained by pulsed laser deposition

Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃-BaTiO₃ (NBT-BT) thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition have been investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and dielectric spectroscopy in order to clarify the role of substrate temperature on crystalline structure, grain morphology, and dielectric properties. We have shown that the structural and dielectric properties of NBT-BT thin films with composition at morphotropic phase boundary (6% BT) critically depend on the substrate temperature: small variations of this parameter induce structural changes, shifting the morphotropic phase boundary toward tetragonal or rhombohedral side. Higher deposition temperature (1000 K) favor the formation of rhombohedral phase, films deposited at 923 K and 973 K have tetragonal symmetry at room temperature. Grains morphology depends also on the deposition temperature. Atomic force micrographs show grains with square or rectangular shape in a compact structure for films grown at lower temperatures, while grains with triangular shape in a porous structure are observed for films grown at 1000 K. Dielectric spectroscopy measurements evidenced the phase transition between ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phase at 370 K. Films grown at 1000 K shown low electrical resistivity due to their porous structure. High dielectric constant values (about 800 at room temperature and 2700 at 570 K) have been obtained for films grown at temperatures up to 973 K.     

Effect of deposition temperature on key optoelectronic properties of electrodeposited cuprous oxide thin films

The cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) thin films were electrodeposited with different reaction temperatures. The structural, morphological, optical, photoluminescence and photo response properties of the deposited films were analyzed. XRD analysis reveals cubic crystal structure for the deposited films with polycrystalline nature. The film deposited at room temperature possess high crystallite size of 37 nm. The surface morphology shows that by increasing the deposition temperature pyramid shaped morphology changes. Laser Raman study confirms the peaks 109, 148, 219, 415 and 635 cm^?1 conforms the Cu₂O phase formation. The band gap of the films are 2.02, 2.10 and 2.27 eV for the RT, 40 and 50 °C, respectively. The photoluminescence spectral analysis contains an emission peak at 618 nm confirm the formation of Cu₂O. The photo response study confirms the ohmic nature of the films. The film electrodeposited at room temperature showed good I–V curve at the illumination of 300 W cm^?2.     

Microstructural, optical and spectroscopic studies of laser ablated nanostructured tantalum oxide thin films

Thin films of tantalum oxide (Ta₂O₅) have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique at different substrate temperatures (300-973 K) under vacuum and under oxygen background (pO₂ = 2 × 10⁻³ mbar) conditions. The films are annealed at a temperature of 1173 K. The as-deposited films are amorphous irrespective of the substrate temperature. XRD patterns show that on annealing, the films get crystallized in orthorhombic phase of tantalum pentoxide (β-Ta₂O₅). The annealed films deposited at substrate temperatures 300 K and 673 K have a preferred orientation along (0 0 1) plane, whereas the films deposited at substrate temperatures above 673 K show a preferred orientation along (2 0 0) crystal plane. The deposited films are characterized using techniques such as grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), micro-Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. FTIR and micro-Raman measurements confirm the presence of Ta-O, Ta-O-Ta and O-Ta-O bands in the films. Grain size calculations from X-ray diffraction and AFM show a decrease with increase in substrate temperature. The variation of transmittance and band gap with film growth parameters are also discussed.     

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.     

Giant temperature coefficient of resistance in Co-doped ZnO thin films

A novel high-performance thermistor material based on Co-doped ZnO thin films is presented. The films were deposited by the pulsed laser deposition technique on Si (111) single-crystal substrates. The structural and electronic transport properties were correlated as a function of parameters such as substrate temperature and Co-doped content for Zn_1?x Co _x O (x=0.005,0.05,0.10 and 0.15) to prepare these films. The Zn_1?x Co _x O films were deposited at various substrate temperatures between 20 and 280 °C. A value of 20 %/K for the negative temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) with a wide range near room temperature was obtained. It was found that both TCR vs. temperature behavior and TCR value were strongly affected by cobalt doping level and substrate temperature. In addition, a maximal TCR value of over 20 %?K^?1 having a resistivity value of 3.6 Ω?cm was observed in a Zn_0.9Co_0.1O film near 260 °C, which was deposited at 120 °C and shown to be amorphous by X-ray diffraction. The result proved that the optimal Co concentration could help us to achieve giant TCR in Co-doped ZnO films. Meanwhile, the resistivities of the films ranged from 0.4 to 270 Ω?cm. A Co-doped ZnO/Si film is a strong candidate of thermometric materials for non-cooling and high-performance bolometric applications.     

Effect of substrate temperature on the magnetic properties and internal stresses of CoPt/AlN multilayer deposited by dc magnetron sputtering

Magnetic properties and internal stresses of AlN(20 nm)/[CoPt(2 nm)/AlN(20 nm)]₅ multilayer structure deposited at different substrate temperatures by dc magnetron sputtering have been studied. It is found that with increasing the substrate temperature from room temperature to 400 °C, in-plane magnetic anisotropy field of the film becomes smaller, and the out-of-plane magnetization becomes stronger. Especially when the film is deposited at substrate temperature of 400 °C, the out-of-plane magnetization becomes as strong as the in-plane magnetization. On the other hand, the total in-plane residual stress of the film changes gradually from compressive to tensile. The compressive intrinsic stress is generated during deposition process and decreases with increasing the substrate temperature. After annealing at high temperatures, the films show strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. With increasing the annealing temperature, the in-plane thermal stress also increases and becomes dominant, which is considered to result in the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the films.     

Optical and Electrical Properties Evolution of Diamond-Like Carbon Thin Films with Deposition Temperature

Optical and electrical properties of diamond-like carbon （DLC） films deposited by pulsed laser ablation of graphite target at different substrate temperatures are reported. By varying the deposition temperature from 400 to 25℃, the film optical transparency and electrical resistivity increase severely. Most importantly, the transparency and resistivity properties of the DLC films can be tailored to approaching diamond by adjusting the deposition temperature, which is critical to many applications. DLC films deposited at low temperatures show excellent optical transmittance and high resistivity. Over the same temperature regime an increase of the spa bonded C content is observed using visible Raman spectroscopy, which is responsible for the enhanced transparency and resistivity properties.     

Electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films (200-400 nm in thickness) have been grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on glass substrates without a post-deposition anneal. The electrical and optical properties of these films have been investigated as a function of substrate temperature and oxygen partial pressure during deposition. Films were deposited at substrate temperatures ranging from room temperature to 300 °C in O₂ partial pressures ranging from 0.1 to 100 mTorr. For 300 nm thick ITO films grown at room temperature in oxygen pressure of 10 mTorr, the electrical conductivity was 2.6᎒^-3 Q^-1cm^-1 and the average optical transmittance was 83% in the visible range (400-700 nm). For 300 nm thick ITO films deposited at 300 °C in 10 mTorr of oxygen, the conductivity was 5.2᎒^-3 Q^-1cm^-1 and the average transmittance in the visible range was 87%. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements showed that the RMS surface roughness for the ITO films grown at room temperature was ~7 Å, which is the lowest reported value for the ITO films grown by any film growth technique at room temperature.     

Effect of substrate temperature on the structural, optical and electrical properties of dc magnetron sputtered tantalum oxide films

dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique was employed for deposition of tantalum oxide films on quartz and silicon substrates by sputtering of pure tantalum target in the presence of oxygen and argon gases under various substrate temperatures in the range 303-973 K. The variation of cathode potential with the oxygen partial pressure was systematically studied. The influence of substrate temperature on the chemical binding configuration, crystal structure and optical properties was investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies indicated that the films formed at oxygen partial pressures ≥1 × 10⁻⁴ mbar were stoichiometric. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies revealed that the films formed up to substrate temperatures <673 K showed a broad absorption band at 750-1000 cm⁻¹ and a sharp band at 630 cm⁻¹ indicated the presence of amorphous phase while at higher substrate temperatures the appearance of bands at about 810 and 510 cm⁻¹ revealed the polycrystalline nature. The effect of substrate temperature on the electrical characteristics of Al/Ta₂O₅/Si structure was investigated. The dielectric constant values were in the range 17-29 in the substrate temperature range of 303-973 K. The current-voltage characteristics showed modified Poole-Frenkel conduction mechanism with a tendency for reduction of the compensation level. The optical band gap of the films decreased from 4.44 to 4.25 eV and the refractive index increased from 1.89 to 2.25 with the increase of substrate temperature from 303 to 973 K.     

Structural and electrical properties of lithium manganese oxide thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

LiMn₂O₄ thin films were deposited by reactive pulsed laser deposition technique and studied the microstructural and electrical properties of the films. The LiMn₂O₄ thin films deposited in an oxygen partial pressure of 100 mTorr and at a substrate temperature of 573 K from a lithium rich target were found to be nearly stoichiometric. The films exhibited predominantly (111) orientation representing the cubic spinel structure with Fd3m symmetry. The intensity of (111) peak increased and a slight shift in the peak position was observed with the increase of substrate temperature. The lattice parameter increased from 8.117 to 8.2417 Å with the increase of substrate temperature from 573 to 873 K. The electrical conductivity of the films is observed to be a strong function of temperature. The evaluated activation energy for the films deposited at 873 K is 0.64 eV.     

Effects of gas temperature on optical and transport properties of a-Si:H films deposited by PECVD

Effects of silane temperature (T _g) before glow-discharge on the optical and transport properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films were investigated. The optical measurements show that the refractive index increases with increasing T _g. The transport characterizations show that when T _g increases, the dark conductivity increases. However, the temperature coefficient of resistance decreases. In addition, after holding at 130°C for 20 h, the resistance variation, ΔR/R, of the films deposited at T _g = room temperature (10.8%) is much larger than those deposited at silane temperatures of 80°C (3%) and 160°C (2%). This can be attributed to different rates of defect creation in a-Si:H films caused by various T _g.     

Polycrystalline GaSb films prepared by the coevaporation technique

Gallium antimonide (GaSb) films were deposited onto fused silica and n-Si (100) substrates by coevaporating Ga and Sb from appropriate evaporation sources. The films were polycrystalline in nature. The size and the shape of the grains varied with the change in the substrate temperature during deposition. The average surface roughness of the films was estimated to be 10 nm. Grain boundary trap states varied between 2×10¹² and 2.2×10¹² cm^?2 while barrier height at the grain boundaries varied between 0.09 eV and 0.10 eV for films deposited at higher temperatures. Stress in the films decreased for films deposited at higher temperatures. XPS studies indicated two strong peaks located at ～543 eV and ～1121 eV for Sb 3d_3/2 and Ga 2p_3/2 core-level spectra, respectively. The PL spectra measured at 300 K was dominated by a strong peak located ～0.55 eV followed by two low intensity peaks ～0.63 eV and 0.67 eV. A typical n-Si/GaSb photovoltaic cell fabricated here indicated V _oc～311 mV and J～29.45 mA/cm², the density of donors (N _d)～3.87×10¹⁵ cm^?3, built in potential (V _bi)～0.48 V and carrier life time (τ)～28.5 ms. Impedance spectroscopy measurements indicated a dielectric relaxation time ～100 μs.     

脉冲磁控溅射法制备单斜相氧化铒涂层

用中频脉冲反应磁控溅射法,在溅射功率为78 W,93 W和124 W以及衬底温度分别为室温,500 ℃及677 ℃下制备了氧化铒涂层.采用原子力显微镜、纳米压痕、X射线衍射和掠入射X射线衍射法研究了涂层的形貌、力学性能及物相结构.测量了涂层的电学性能.结果显示,脉冲磁控溅射沉积氧化铒涂层具有较高的沉积速率.实验制备得到了单斜相结构的氧化铒涂层.提高溅射功率时,沉积速率从28 nm/min增大至68 nm/min,涂层的结晶质量显著下降.提高衬底温度至500 ℃和677 ℃时,单斜相衍射峰强度下降.分析认为 关键词： 氧化铒 脉冲磁控溅射 单斜晶相     

Investigation of induced parallel magnetic anisotropy at low deposition temperature in Ba-hexaferrites thin films

In this paper we present the effect of low substrate temperature on structural, morphological, magnetic and optical properties of Ba-hexaferrite thin films. Films were deposited on single crystal Silicon (1 0 0) substrate employing the Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique. The structural, morphological, magnetic and optical properties are found to be strongly dependent on substrate temperature. The low substrate temperatures (room temperature to 200 °C) restrict the formation of larger grains. For the higher substrate temperature i.e., 400 °C, the grain size of the deposited thin film are much larger. The film grown at low substrate temperature do not show any anisotropy. As the substrate temperature is increased, the easy axis of the films alinged itself in the direction parallel to the film plane whereas the hard axis remained in the perpendicular direction. The higher substrate temperature caused the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, which is very important in magnetic recording devices. The saturation magnetization and optical band gap energy values of 62 emu/cc and 1.75 eV, respectively, were achieved for the film of thickness 500 nm deposited at 400 °C. Higher values of coercivity, squareness and films thickness are associated with the growth of larger grains at higher substrate temperature.     

Thermal and optical properties of Cd2SnO4 thin films using photoacoustic spectroscopy

Cadmium stannate (Cd₂SnO₄) thin films were prepared by the RF magnetron sputtering technique on glass substrates with substrate temperatures of room temperature (RT), 100°C, 200°C and 300°C. Photoacoustic analyses were made to obtain the thermal diffusivity and the optical bandgap values of the Cd₂SnO₄ thin films. The change in thermal diffusivity of the films with the substrate temperature was analyzed. The optical bandgap values obtained from the photoacoustic spectroscopy were compared with the values obtained from the optical transmittance spectra. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) studies confirm the formation of stoichiometric films. Surface morphological studies by atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed the crystalline nature of the films deposited at 100°C.     

衬底温度对HfO_2薄膜结构和光学性能的影响

采用直流磁控反应溅射法,分别在室温,200,300,400和500℃下制备了HfO2薄膜。利用X射线衍射(XRD)、椭圆偏振光谱(SE)和紫外可见光谱(UVvis)研究了衬底温度对HfO2薄膜的晶体结构和光学性能的影响。XRD研究结果显示:不同衬底温度下制备的HfO2薄膜均为单斜多晶结构;随衬底温度的升高,(-111)面择优生长更加明显,薄膜中晶粒尺寸增大。SE和UVvis研究结果表明:随衬底温度升高,薄膜折射率增加,光学带隙变小;制备的HfO2薄膜在250～850nm范围内有良好的透过性能,透过率在80%以上。     

The optoelectronic properties of silicon films deposited by inductively coupled plasma CVD

Hydrogenated amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films were deposited by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICP-CVD) at low substrate temperatures using H₂-diluted SiH₄ as a source gas. High-density plasma generated by inductively coupled excitation facilitates the crystallization of silicon films at low temperatures, and microcrystalline silicon films were obtained at the substrate temperature as low as 180 °C. The columnar structure of the films becomes more and more compact with an increase of their crystallinity. The reduction of hydrogen content in the films causes a narrowing of the optical bandgap and an enhancement of the absorption with increasing the substrate temperature. The microcrystalline silicon films show two electronic transport mechanisms: one is related to the density of state distribution in the temperature region near room temperature and the other is the variable range hopping between localized electronic states close to the Fermi level below 170 K. A reasonable explanation is presented for the dependence of the optoelectronic properties on the microstructure of the silicon films. The films prepared at a substrate temperature of 300 °C have highly crystalline and compact columnar structure, high optical absorption coefficient and electrical conductivity, and a low hydrogen content of 3.8%.     

Structural and luminescent characteristics of pulsed laser deposited Eu3+-doped Y2O3 thin films

Thin films of Eu-doped Y₂O₃ were deposited using the pulsed laser ablation technique on amorphous fused silica substrates. The effect of oxygen partial pressure (pO₂) and substrate temperature on the structural and optical characteristics of the deposited films were investigated. All the deposited films were crystalline, showing preferred orientation along the (111) plane, irrespective of oxygen partial pressure and substrate temperature. The film deposited at 0.005?mbar pO₂ exhibited better crystallinity with minimum FWHM at a substrate temperature of 600°C. All the films deposited at various substrate temperatures and different partial pressure (at 600°C) exhibited a red luminescence peak at 615?nm corresponding to the ⁵D₀–⁷F₁ transition in Eu³⁺. Photoluminescence excitation spectra exhibited two bands, one corresponding to band to band excitation (212?nm) of the host and the other to charge transfer band excitation (245?nm). A microstructure analysis revealed that surface roughness of the as-deposited films increases with increase in oxygen partial pressure.     

Electrical conductivity studies of mixed phthalocyanine thin films

Thin films of mixed of Copper Phthalocyanine (CuPc) and Nickel Phthalocyanine (NiPc) are deposited onto a pure glass substrate by a simultaneous thermal evaporation technique at room temperature. The material D.C. electrical conductivity of films at room temperature and also films annealed at 523 K has been investigated. The optical absorption and band gaps of the films are also measured. The results show that the electrical resistance is lower for the mixed films compared with the pure samples and also the optical band gap decreases for the mixed samples compared to the pure samples.