Compositional and Structural Properties of TiO2-xNx Thin Films Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

TiO2-xNx thin films are deposited onto Si（100） and quartz substrates by arf magnetron sputtering method using a titanium metal disc as a target in Ar, N2, and 02 atmospheres. The substrate temperature is kept at 300℃. The O2 and Ar gas flow rates are kept to be constants and the N gas flow rate is varied. TiO2-xNx films with different N contents are characterized by x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the TiO2-xNx thin films can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film, and the films with mixed TiO2 and TiN crystal can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film. In terms of the results of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N ls of β-N （396 eV） is the main component in the TiO2-xNx thin films. Because the energy level of β-N is positioned above the valence-band maximum of TiO2, an effective optical-energy gap decreases from 2.8 eV （for pure TiO2 film deposited by the same rf sputtering system） to 2.3 eV, which is verified by the optical-absorption spectra.     

Research of Trap and Electron Density Distributions in the Interface of Polyimide/Al_2O_3 Nanocomposite Films Based on IDC and SAXS

The distributions of traps and electron density in the interfaces between polyimide(PI) matrix and Al_2O_3 nanoparticles are researched using the isothermal decay current and the small-angle x-ray scattering(SAXS) tests.According to the electron density distribution for quasi two-phase mixture doped by spherical nanoparticles, the electron densities in the interfaces of PI/Al_2O_3 nanocomposite films are evaluated. The trap level density and carrier mobility in the interface are studied. The experimental results show that the distribution and the change rate of the electron density in the three layers of interface are different, indicating different trap distributions in the interface layers. There is a maximum trap level density in the second layer, where the maximum trap level density for the nanocomposite film doped by 25 wt% is 1.054×10~(22) eV·m~(-3) at 1.324 eV, resulting in the carrier mobility reducing. In addition, both the thickness and the electron density of the nanocomposite film interface increase with the addition of the doped Al_2O_3 contents. Through the study on the trap level distribution in the interface, it is possible to further analyze the insulation mechanism and to improve the performance of nano-dielectric materials.     

Light scattering of nanocrystalline TiO2 film used in dye-sensitized solar cells

This paper studies the light scattering and adsorption of nanocrystalline TiO2 porous films used in dye-sensitized solar cells composed of anatase and/or rutile particles by using an optical four-flux radiative transfer model. These light properties are difficult to measure directly on the functioning solar cells and they can not be calculated easily from the first-principle computational or quantitative theoretical evaluations. These simulation results indicate that the light scattering of 1 25 nm TiO2 particles is negligible, but it is effective in the range of 80 and 180 nm. A suitable mixture of small particles （10 nm radius）, which are resulted in a large effective surface, and of larger particles （150 nm radius）, which are effective light scatterers, have the potential to enhance solar absorption significantly. The futile crystals have a larger refractive index and thus the light harvest of the mixtures of such larger rutile and relatively small anatase particles is improved in comparison with that of pure anatase films. The light absorption of the 10μm double-layered films is also examined. A maximal light absorption of double-layered film is gotten when the thickness of the first layer of 10 urn-sized anatase particles is comparable to that of the second larger rutile layer.     

Effects of Substrate Temperature and Nitrogen Pressure on Growth of AIN Films by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Highly oriented aluminium nitride （AIN） films are grown on p-Si （100） substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and their characteristics of structure and composition are studied by x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the deposited films exhibit good crystalline properties with a sharp x-ray diffraction peak at 2θ= 33.15 ° corresponding to AIN h （100） crystalline orientation. The influences of substrate temperature and ambient nitrogen （N2） pressure on the crystallinity of A1N films are remarkable. At room temperature, when the ambient N2 pressure arises from 5 × 10^-6 Pa to 5 Pa, the crystallinity of the film becomes better. When the substrate temperature is 600℃, the film has the best crystallinity at 0.05 Pa. Furthermore, the effects of substrate temperature and ambient N2 pressure on the combination of A1-N bonds and surface morphology of AIN films are also studied.     

Influence of Concentration of Vanadium in Zinc Oxide on Structural and Optical Properties with Lower Concentration

ZnO films doped with different vanadium concentrations are deposited onto glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering using a zinc target doped with vanadium. The vanadium concentrations are examined by energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS） and the charge state of vanadium in ZnO thin films is characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results of x-ray diffraction （XRD） show that all the films have a wurtzite structure and grow mainly in the c-axis orientation. The grain size and residual stress in the deposited films are estimated by fitting the XRD results. The optical properties of the films are studied by measuring the transmittance. The optical constants （refractive index and extinction coefficient） and the film thickness are obtained by fitting the transmittance. All the results are discussed in relation with the doping of the vanadium.     

Fabrication and Characterization of Ni Thin Films Using Direct-Current Magnetron Sputtering

Ni films are deposited by using ultra high vacuum dc magnetron sputtering onto silicon substrates at room temperature, and the high-quality and high-density films are prepared. The parameters, such as thickness, density and surface roughness, are obtained by using small-angle x-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses with the Marquardt gradient-expansion algorithm. The deposition rate is calculated and the Ni single layer can be fabricated precisely. Based on the fitting results, we can find that the surface roughness of the Ni films is about 0.7nm, the densities of Ni films are around 97% and the deposition rate is 0.26nm/s. The roughness of the surface is also characterized by using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The changing trend of the surface roughness in the simulation of XRD is in good agreement with the AFM measurement.     

Microstructure and Wear Behaviour of WC Film Prepared by Pulsed High Energy Density Plasma

A super hard and wear resistant WC film is in-situ prepared on a 0.45%C steel substrate by pulsed high energy density plasma technique at ambient temperature. The microstructure and composition of the film are analysed by x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The hardness profile and tribological behaviour of the film are determined with nano-indenter and wear tester, respectively. The results show that the microstructure of the film was dense and uniform and mainly composed of WC and a small amount of W2 C. A wide mixing interface exists between the film and the 0.45%C steel substrate. The thickness of the film is about 2μm. The hardness and Yang＇s modulus of the film are very high. The film has excellent wear resistance and low friction coefficient under dry sliding wear test conditions.     

Electrical Property of Infrared-Sensitive InAs Solar Cells

InAs infrared-sensitive solar cells are fabricated by using the films grown by the liquid phase epitaxy technique. The film microstructures are characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy. The current-voltage characteristics of the solar cells in the dark and under AM1.5 illumination at 300 K and 77 K are discussed. The conversion efficiency of p-InAs/n-sub InAs cells decreases when the thickness of the p-type film changes from 1.7 μm to 3.5 μm, which is caused by the reduced effective photons near p？n junction. The p-InAs/n-InAs/n-sub InAs solar cell with the conversion efficiency of 7.43% in 1-2.5 μm under AM1.5 at 77 K is obtained. The short circuit current density increases dramatically with decreasing temperature due to the weakened effect of phonon scattering.     

Microscopic degradation mechanism of polyimide film caused by surface discharge under bipolar continuous square impulse voltage

Polyimide （PI） film is an important type of insulating material used in inverter-fed motors. Partial discharge （PD） under a sequence of high-frequency square impulses is one of the key factors that lead to premature failures in insulation systems of inverter-fed motors. In order to explore the damage mechanism of PI film caused by discharge, an aging system of surface discharge under bipolar continuous square impulse voltage （BCSIV） is designed based on the ASTM 2275 01 standard and the electrical aging tests of PI film samples are performed above the partial discharge inception voltage （PDIV）. The chemical bonds of PI polymer chains are analyzed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） and the dielectric properties of unaged and aged PI samples are investigated by LCR testers HIOKI 3532-50. Finally, the micro-morphology and micro-structure changes of PI film samples are observed through scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The results show that the physical and chemical effects of discharge cut off the chemical bonds of PI polymer chains. The fractures of ether bond （C-O-C） and imide ring （C-N-C） on the backbone of a PI polymer chain leads to the decrease of molecular weight, which results in the degradation of PI polymers and the generation of new chemical groups and materials, like carboxylic acid, ketone, aldehydes, etc. The variation of microscopic structure of PI polymers can change the orientation ability of polarizable units when the samples are under an AC electric field, which would cause the dielectric constant e to increase and dielectric loss tan ~ to decrease. The SEM images show that the degradation path of PI film is initiated from the surface and then gradually extends to the interior with continuous aging. The injection charge could result in the PI macromolecular chain degradation and increase the trap density in the PI oolvmer bulk.     

Microstructure of Epitaxial Er2O3 Thin Film on Oxidized Si （111） Substrate

Er2O3 thin films are grown on oxidized Si （111） substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The sample grown under optimized condition is characterized in its microstructure, surface morphology and thickness using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction （GIXRD）, atomic force morphology and x-ray reflectivity. GIXRD measurements reveal that the Er2O3 thin film is a mosaic of single-crystal domains. The interplanar spacing d in-plane residual strain tensor ell and the strain relaxation degree ε are calculated. The Poisson ratio μ obtained by conventional x-ray diffraction is in good agreement with that of the bulk Er2O3. In-plane strains in three sets of planes, i.e. （440）, （404）, and （044）, are isotropic.