Optimum Nanoporous TiO2 Film and Its Application to Dye—sensitized Solar Cells

Properties of TiO2 nanoporous films, which are one of the crucial technologies in dye-sensitized solar cell, are investigated. The nanocrystalline TiO2 films were prepared with the sol-gel method at different pH in precursor and treatment temperature in autoclave for their application to dye-sensitized solar cells. The thickness of the TiO2 film is very important to the transfer of photoelectron as well as adsorption of dye, it is also known as one of the source to the dark current. The results show that the TiO2 films, such as different particle sizes of TiO2, different pH in precursor and treatment temperature in autoclave, have a strong influence on the photoelectrochemical properties of the dye-sensitized solar cells. We give the optimum TiO2 film thickness and morphology for the application to dye-sensitized solar cells.     

Effects of Different Dispersion Methods on the Microscopical Morphology of TiO2 Film

Nanocrystalline porous TiO2 films were prepared on conducting glass supports （ITO） by processed commercial TiO2 nanometre powder （P25）. Three methods of physical dispersing for TiO2 powder, i.e. grinding, magnetic stirring, sonicleaning, were used to disperse TiO2 nanometre powder. Surface morphologies of TiO2 films were observed by optic-microscope and SEM. It is found that the surface morphologies of TiO2 films are determined not only by the dispersing methods but also by the percentage of TiO2 powder in the dispersing system. Different film morphologies can be obtained under the same preparation condition but with different dispersing methods. A lot of cracks exist on the film surface for which the TiO2 slurry is dispersed by grinding. Magnetic stirring leads to some white points and micro-holes on the film surface. Only a few of micro-holes can be observed on the film surface, in which the TiO2 slurry is dispersed by sonicleaning. Different surface morphologies can also be found with different thicknesses of TiO2 films. Different film thicknesses are due to different percentages of TiO2 powder in the slurry. The related mechanism leading to different features of the surface morphologies for the TiO2 films is discussed.     

Study of colors of diamond-like carbon films

Reflective and transmissive film interference colors were calculated for DLC films on the Si and SiO 2 substrates.The calculated interference colors were compared with photographed colors of the prepared DLC samples.The observed film colors were found to match reasonably well with the corresponding calculated colors,indicating that DLC film colors come from interference instead of color center effects.Color charts for DLC films on the Si and SiO 2 substrates with various optical gaps were constructed,and the relationship between interference color and film properties such as optical gap,thickness and substrate were investigated.Usefulness of the calculated color charts in estimating optical gap or thickness of DLC films were demonstrated.     

Convenient and inexpensive determination of optical constants and film thickness of blended organic thin film

This work presents the study of optical constants and film thickness of blended organic thin films, emphasizing on the modeling procedure with modified genetic algorithm aided by absorption or transmittance spectra of both pure materials and the blends. Taking the blending of copper phthalocyanine(Cu Pc) and fullerene(C60) as an example, a simple, convenient and low-cost method for the determination of the optical constants and film thickness of blended organic thin films was demonstrated. New scheme for optical modeling of blended organic thin film was proposed by introducing peak energies of Cody-Lorentz oscillators of the pure materials, which were determined by fitting the film absorption of pure materials. These oscillators of pure materials could be recognized in the transmittance spectrum of their blends, and were further used as the initial searching ranges in the simulation of blended films. As a result, the constraint bounds of the unknown parameters were significantly reduced and modeling efficiency as well as fitting accuracy was improved. For instance, the fitting of the transmittance curves of blended films with different blending ratios reached reliable results in comparison with extinction coefficients obtained from experiment.     

Inverted organic solar cells with solvothermal synthesized vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films as efficient electron transport layer

We investigated the effects of using different thicknesses of pure and vanadium-doped thin films of TiO_2 as the electron transport layer in the inverted configuration of organic photovoltaic cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) P3HT:[6-6] phenyl-(6) butyric acid methyl ester(PCBM). 1% vanadium-doped TiO_2nanoparticles were synthesized via the solvothermal method. Crystalline structure, morphology, and optical properties of pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films were studied by different techniques such as x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmittance electron microscopy, and UV–visible transmission spectrum. The doctor blade method which is compatible with roll-2-roll printing was used for deposition of pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin films with thicknesses of 30 nm and 60 nm. The final results revealed that the best thickness of TiO_2 thin films for our fabricated cells was 30 nm. The cell with vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin film showed slightly higher power conversion efficiency and great J_(sc) of 10.7 mA/cm~2 compared with its pure counterpart. In the cells using 60 nm pure and vanadium-doped TiO_2 layers, the cell using the doped layer showed much higher efficiency. It is remarkable that the external quantum efficiency of vanadium-doped TiO_2 thin film was better in all wavelengths.     

Growth of Structured Non—crystalline Boron—Oxygen—Nitrogen Films and Measurement of Their Electrical Properties

The boron-oxygen-nitrogen(BON) films have been grown on Si wafer by the low-frequency rf-plasma-enhanced metal-organic chemical vapour deposition method.The homogeneous film structure of completely amorphous BON is first fabricated on a low-temperature-made buffer at 500℃ with N2 plasma and is observed with a highresolution-electron microscope by the transmission-electron diffraction.The results show that the interfaces among substrate/buffer/film are clear and straight in the structured film.A heterogeneous film containing nano-sized crystalline particles is also grown by a routine growth procedure as a referential structure,The C-V characteristic is measured on both the amprphous and crystal-containing films by using the metal-oxidesemiconductor structure,The dielectric constants of the films are,therefore,deduced to be 5.9 and 10.5 for the amorphous and crystal-containing films,respectively,The C-V results also indicate that more trapped charges exist in the amorphous film.The binding energy of the B,O.and N atoms in the amprphous film is higher than that in the crystal-containing one,and the N-content in the latter is found to be higher than that in the former by x-ray photo-electron spectroscopy.The different electrical Property of the films is thought to originate from the energy state of the covalent electrons.     

PINNING EFFECT OF LEAD LANTHANUM TITANATE THIN FILMS DEPOSITED ON DIFFERENT SUBSTRATES

Pinning effect of lead lanthanum titanate (PLT) ferroelectric thin films with excess PbO of 20 mol% has been studied for deposition on diffe rent substrates. Silicon, sapphire and quartz were used as substrates on which P t/Ti or LaNiO₃ thin films were deposited as bottom electrodes. Electron probe analysis results showed that there was still a certain amount of excess Pb in PLT films after annealing at 550 ℃ for 1 h, and the amount of it was dependent on the substrate used. The distribution of excess Pb in the films was investig ated by Auger electron spectroscopy depth profile. It was shown that the substrates and the bottom electrodes had significant effects on the content and distrib ution of excess Pb in PLT films. The excess Pb and its accumulation at the inter face between the film and bottom electrode may act as pinning centers and have a pinning effect on domains, which can be observed by abnormal P-E hysteresis loops and abnormal C-V curves. The excess Pb content in the films and the accumulation of Pb at the interface were high in PLT films deposited on Pt/Ti/S i, and considerable pinning effect was observed. As LaNiO₃ would absorb most part of the excess Pb in PLT films, the content of excess Pb in the films deposited on LaNiO₃/Si was very low and the pinning effect was hardly observed.     

Methane adsorption on graphite（0001） films： A first-principles study

Using first-principles methods, we have systematically investigated the electronic density of states, work function, and adsorption energy of the methane molecule adsorbed on graphite(0001) films. The surface energy and the interlayer relaxation of the clean graphite(0001) as a function of the thickness of the film were also studied. The results show that the interlayer relaxation is small due to the weak interaction between the neighboring layers. The one-fold top site is found most favourable on substrate for methane with the adsorption energy of 133 meV. For the adsorption with different adsorption heights above the graphite film with four layers, the methane is found to prefer to appear at about 3.21 A above the graphite. We also noted that the adsorption energy does not dependent much on the thickness of the graphite films. The work function is enhanced slightly by adsorption of methane due to the slight charge transfer from the graphite surface to the methane molecule.     

Impact of symmetrized and Burt—Foreman Hamiltonians on spurious solutions and energy levels of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

<正>We present a systematic investigation of calculating quantum dots(QDs) energy levels using the finite element method in the frame of the eight-band k·p method.Numerical results including piezoelectricity,electron and hole levels,as well as wave functions are achieved.In the calculation of energy levels,we do observe spurious solutions(SSs) no matter Burt-Foreman or symmetrized Hamiltonians are used.Different theories are used to analyse the SSs,we find that the ellipticity theory can give a better explanation for the origin of SSs and symmetrized Hamiltonian is easier to lead to SSs.The energy levels simulated with the two Hamiltonians are compared to each other after eliminating SSs,different Hamiltonians cause a larger difference on electron energy levels than that on hole energy levels and this difference decreases with the increase of QD size.     

Field Emission Characteristics of BN Films Treated with H2 and O2 Plasma

BN films were synthesized on the (100)-oriented surface of n-Si (0.008-0.02Ωm) by rf magnetron sputtering physical vapor deposition (PVD). A BN film was first treated with H2 plasma for 60 rain and then the H2 treated sample was treated with O2 plasma for 15rain. The films were characterizes by using Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The field emission characteristics of BN films were measured in an ultrahigh vacuum system. A turn-on electric field of 8 V/μm and a current of 400μA/cm^2 were obtained for the BN film treated with H2 plasma. The results show that the surface plasma treatment makes no apparent influence on the surface morphology of the BN films. The transformations of the sample emission characteristics have to do with the surface negative electron affinity (NEA) of the films possibly. The turn-on electric field of the BN film treated with H2 plasma is lower than that without treatment, which possibly attributes to the surface NEA effect. The surface NEA of the H2 treated BN film is lost after O2 plasma treatment.