Thin Film Growth of Germanium Selenides from PECVD of GeCl<Subscript>4</Subscript> and Dimethyl Selenide

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of germanium selenide thin films from germanium tetrachloride and dimethyl selenide was studied to determine the viability of these reagents for thin film deposition. Germanium tetrachloride and alkylselenides were selected as candidates for these reactions due to their lower toxicities and higher availabilities compared to the more typical substitutes: germane and hydrogen selenide in the formation of germanium selenides. Dimethyl selenide was used successfully for the deposition of germanium selenides. Variation in film stoichiometry was observed by the modification of reactant gas flow ratios. Relative mass flow rates were varied in order to determine their effect on germanium chalcogenide deposition, and the effect of these flow rate modifications on the film thickness, structural properties, and composition are reported.     

Infrared spectroscopy of solid hydrogen sulfide and deuterium sulfide

The infrared spectra of solid hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and deuterium sulfide (D2S) were collected at very low temperatures. Vapor deposition of thin films at the lowest temperature of 10 K produced amorphous solids while deposition at 70 K yielded the crystalline phase III. Infrared interference fringe patterns produced by the films during deposition were used to determine the film thickness. Careful measurement of the integrated absorbance peaks, along with the film thickness, allowed determination of the integrated band intensities. This report represents the first complete presentation of the infrared spectra of the amorphous solids. Observations of peaks near 3.915 and 1.982 microm (ca. 2554 and 5045 cm(-1), respectively) may be helpful in the conclusive identification of solid hydrogen sulfide on the surface of Io, a moon of Jupiter.     

Considering the polynuclear complexes in the ionic equilibria of the Pb2+-H2O system

Analysis of conditions of the lead hydroxide and sulfide formation in the Pb²⁺-H₂O system was carried out with accounting for the formation of polynuclear hydroxo-complexes. This allows predicting a possibility of the lead hydroxide formation in the solution before the beginning of the synthesis of lead sulfide. The domains of the stable formation of Pb(OH)₂ and PbS were calculated for the systems containing lead citrate complexes and hydroxo-complexes. The proposed calculation method can be used for the quantitative determination of the reaction mixture composition and development of the chemical deposition technology of lead chalcogenides in different morphological forms: nanocrystalline powders (hydrophobic sol), quantum dots, heterostructures of the core@shell type or films. The proposed calculation method is applicable to other chalcogenide systems containing metal ions forming mononuclear and polynuclear hydroxo-complexes.     

Solid-State Thin-Film Sensors Based on Chalcogenide Materials Obtained by Planar Technology and Pulsed Laser Deposition

Methods of silicon planar technology and pulsed laser deposition were applied to fabricate fully solid-state chemical sensors for determining ions of copper, lead, cadmium, thallium, and also sulfide and chloride ions on the basis of thin chalcogenide films as ion-sensitive membranes.     

N4H9Cu7S4: a hydrazinium-based salt with a layered Cu7S4- framework

Crystals of a hydrazinium-based copper(I) sulfide salt, N4H9Cu7S4 (1), have been isolated by an ambient temperature solution-based process. In contrast to previously reported hydrazinium salts of main-group metal chalcogenides, which consist of isolated metal chalcogenide anions, and ACu7S4 (A = NH4+, Rb+, Tl+, K+), which contains a more three-dimensional Cu7S4- framework with partial Cu-site occupancy, the structure of 1 [P21, a = 6.8621(4) A, b = 7.9851(4) A, c = 10.0983(5) A, beta = 99.360(1) degrees , Z = 2] is composed of extended two-dimensional Cu7S4- slabs with full Cu-site occupancy. The Cu7S4- slabs are separated by a mixture of hydrazinium and hydrazine moieties. Thermal decomposition of 1 into copper(I) sulfide proceeds at a significantly lower temperature than that observed for analogous hydrazinium salts of previously considered metal chalcogenides, completing the transition at temperatures as low as 120 degrees C. Solutions of 1 may be used in the solution deposition of a range of Cu-containing chalcogenide films.     

ATR-SEIRAS study of the adsorption of acetate anions at chemically deposited silver thin film electrodes

The adsorption of acetate anions at silver thin film electrodes has been studied by in-situ infrared spectroscopy experiments with a Kretschmann internal reflection configuration. Stable silver thin films were chemically deposited on germanium substrates. Ex-situ STM images show mean grain sizes ranging from ca. 20 to 90 nm for deposition times between 2 and 20 min, respectively. The thickness of the silver film, measured by AFM, is typically around 10 nm for a deposition time of 10 min and increases up to 50 nm for a deposition time of 20 min. Roughness factors around 2.3 have been obtained for the silver films from the charge involved in lead underpotential deposition (UPD). A noticeable enhancement of the infrared absorption of adsorbed species (SEIRA effect) is observed when the silver films are used as electrodes under internal total reflection conditions. Maximum intensities of the adsorbate bands were observed for a deposition time of 10 min and an angle of incidence around 65 degrees . The potential-dependent infrared spectra of acetate and interfacial water are consistent with previously proposed models involving the existence of weakly hydrogen-bonded water molecules at potentials below the potential of zero charge and the reorientation of water molecules at potentials above the potential of zero charge. Results reported in this work suggest a weak interaction between acetate and water molecules adsorbed at the silver thin film electrodes.     

Ultra thin films of nanocrystalline Ge studied by AFM and interference enhanced Raman scattering

Initial growth stages of the ultra thin films of germanium (Ge) prepared by ion beam sputter deposition have been studied using atomic force microscope (AFM) and interference enhanced Raman scattering. The growth of the films follows Volmer-Weber growth mechanism. Analysis of the AFM images shows that Ostwald ripening of the grains occurs as the thickness of the film increases. Raman spectra of the Ge films reveal phonon confinement along the growth direction and show that the misfit strain is relieved for film thickness greater than 4 nm. Dedicated to Professor C N R Rao on his 70th birthday     

Physicochemical processes involved in synthesis of thin films based on double oxides of the ZrO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-GeO<Subscript>2</Subscript> system

The major physicochemical processes underlying the preparation of thin films of the ZrO-GeO₂ system from film-forming solutions based on zirconium oxochloride (ZrOCl₂ · 8H₂O), germanium tetrachloride (GeCl₄), and ethanol were studied. The phase composition, structure, and physicochemical properties of the films were determined.     

Chemical and physical modification and electret properties of polytetrafluoroethylene films

Composites with titanium oxide structures on the surface of a polymer matrix were prepared by preliminary plasma activation of polytetrafluoroethylene films, followed by chemical treatment with vapors of titanium tetrachloride and water. The chemical composition and structure of the modified film surface were studied by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The stability of the formed surface charge increases in going from the initial film to the plasma-activated film, then to the film successively treated with vapors of titanium tetrachloride and water, and finally to the plasma-activated film treated subsequently with vapors of titanium tetrachloride and water. The modified polytetrafluoroethylene films are of interest as electrets with enhanced operation characteristics.     

Preparation and properties of SiO2-TiO2 thin films from silicic acid and titanium tetrachloride

The preparation of SiO₂-TiO₂ thin films by the sol-gel method using silicic acid and titanium tetrachloride as starting materials was studied. The homogeneous sols were obtained by the condensation reaction of silicic acid with titanium tetrachloride in methanol-tetrahydrofuran. The dipcoating of slide glasses and silicon wafers followed by heat treatment gave oxide thin films of 88–93% transmittance, 3000–4500 Å thickness, and 1.45–1.80 refractive index, depending on heat-treatment temperature and TiO₂ content. FT-IR measurement showed that the Si-O-Ti bond is formed even in the sol and films. The variations of film thickness and refractive index on transformation from the gels into the oxides were found to be quite low.     

自组装成膜技术制备TiO2薄膜的XPS研究

采用自组装成膜技术制备里TiO2薄膜,应用X射线光电子能谱研究自组装膜及其氧化膜和淀积的TiO2薄膜，结果表明，硅烷偶联剂成功地组装在玻璃基片上，足够长时间的氧化对使端基（-SH）完全氧化为磺酸基，淀积在基片上的TiO2膜牢固性好，平均膜厚在10nm．淀积膜中的钛可能有几种不同的氧化态，不同的酸度影响TiO2的淀积效果     

掺硼p型非晶硅薄膜的制备及光学性能的表征

以高氢稀释的硅烷(SiH₄ )为反应气体,硼烷(B₂H₆)为掺杂气体,利用RF-PECVD方法,在玻璃衬底上制备出掺硼的氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H)薄膜,研究了硼掺杂量对氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H)薄膜的光学性能的影响.利用NKD-7000 W光学薄膜分析系统测试薄膜的透射谱和反射谱,并利用该系统的软件拟合得出薄膜的折射率、消光系数、吸收系数等光学性能参数,利用Tauc法计算掺硼的非晶硅薄膜的光学带隙.实验结果表明,随着硼掺杂量的增加,掺杂非晶硅薄膜样品在同一波长处的折射率先增大后减小,而且每一样品均随着入射光波长的增加而减小,在波长500 nm处的折射率均达到4.3以上;薄膜的消光系数和吸收系数随着硼掺杂量的增大而增大,在500 nm处的吸收系数可高达1.5×10⁵cm^-1.在实验的硼掺杂范围内,光学带隙从1.81 eV变化到1.71 eV.     

沉积电位对电沉积ZnS薄膜的影响

采用电沉积方法,在不同沉积电位条件下,在氧化锡铟(ITO)导电玻璃上沉积制备了ZnS薄膜,利用XRD、SEM和UV-VIS测试技术对在不同沉积电位所制备薄膜的晶相结构、表面微观形貌和光学性能进行了表征.研究结果表明:沉积电位在1.5 V—1.7 V范围内制备的ZnS薄膜呈非晶态,其可见光透过率从60 %降低到20 %,薄膜的光学带隙约为3.97 eV.在沉积电位为2.0 V条件下所沉积薄膜为ZnS结晶相和金属Zn混合相,薄膜透过率显著降低.     

Study of the first nucleation steps of thin films by XPS inelastic peak shape analysis

The initial steps in the formation of thin films have been investigated by analysis of the peak shape (both inelastic background and elastic contributions) of X‐ray photoelectron spectra. Surface coverage and averaged height of the deposited particles have been estimated for several overlayers (nanometre range) after successive deposition cycles. This study has permitted the assessment of the type of nucleation and growth mechanisms of the films. The experiments have been carried out in situ in the preparation chamber of an XPS spectrometer. To check the performance of the method, several materials (i.e. cerium oxide, vanadium oxide and cadmium sulfide) have been deposited on different substrates using a variety of preparation procedures (i.e. thermal evaporation, ion beam assisted deposition and plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition). It is shown that the first deposited nuclei of the films are usually formed by three‐dimensional particles whose heights and degree of surface coverage depend on the chemical characteristics of the growing thin film and substrate materials, as well as the deposition procedure. It is concluded that XPS peak shape analysis can be satisfactorily used as a general method to characterize morphologically the first nanometric moieties that nucleate a thin film. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

聚合物辅助设计生长高质量多功能薄膜

随着薄膜材料的日益发展和新型薄膜材料的不断涌现,开发薄膜生长技术对于半导体和光电等科技领域的作用日益突出。本文主要介绍最近发展的聚合物辅助沉积从分子层面上控制生长高质量的薄膜材料。聚合物辅助沉积是一种生长高质量薄膜的化学水性溶液方法,将金属离子与聚合物通过络合、氢键或静电等方式形成一种均匀稳定的前驱体溶液,再经过超滤、成膜和热处理形成高质量的金属氧化物、金属碳化物、金属氮化物、金属单质、金属硫/硒化物等薄膜以及纳米粒子等化合物或复合功能材料。该方法中水溶性的聚合物能通过络合作用抑制金属离子的水解使得溶液稳定,并能精确控制薄膜的组分从而形成高质量的薄膜。该化学溶液方法的提出为科学技术领域提供了一种低成本和大面积制备薄膜的技术路线。本文最后总结和展望了聚合物辅助沉积法未来的挑战和发展方向。     

Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Discharge for Polysiloxane Thin Films Deposition and Comparison with Low Pressure Process

An atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier plasma discharge has been used to study a thin film deposition process. The DBD device is enclosed in a vacuum chamber and one of the electrodes is a rotating cylinder. Thus, this device is able to simulate continuous processing in arbitrary deposition condition of pressure and atmosphere composition. A deposition process of thin organosilicon films has been studied reproducing a nitrogen atmosphere with small admixtures of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) vapours. The plasma discharge has been characterized with optical emission spectroscopy and voltage-current measurements. Thin films chemical composition and morphology have been characterized with FTIR spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurements. A strong dependency of deposit character from the HMDSO concentration has been found and then compared with the same dependency of a typical low pressure plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition process.     

Preparation of Silicon Thin Films of Different Phase Composition from Monochlorosilane as a Precursor by RF Capacitive Plasma Discharge

Monochlorosilane/argon/hydrogen (SiH₃Cl-Ar-H₂) mixture of different ratios was investigated from the point of PECVD application. RF capacitive plasma discharge of 40.68 MHz frequency was used. The process of deposition was studied by optical emission spectroscopy. The silicon thin films of different phase composition were obtained. The thin films were characterized by Raman-spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The exhaust gas mixture was analyzed by IR-spectroscopy in outlet of the reactor during PECVD process. The chemical mechanism for the deposition process was also proposed.     

Plasma enhanced aerosol–gel method: a new way of preparing ceramic coatings

The sol–gel process is widely used for the production of powders, coatings and bulk materials. However, being a wet-chemical technique, it has certain limitations related to properties of aqueous colloidal solution, especially when applied as a coating. The most frequently used methods, such as dip- and spin-coating, are difficult to apply onto more complex substrates. In these cases, the aerosol–gel deposition method can be regarded as the solution of this problem. In the present article, a novel plasma enhanced aerosol–gel method of coatings production is presented. A novelty of this method is based on an integration of the aerosol–gel deposition of thin films and their low temperature plasma treatment. Owing to the above, all stages of the coatings production process—substrate preparation, film deposition, and its plasma treatment, can be carried out in a single reactor. The design and operational scheme of such device is presented in this work. Using this device, thin coatings were first deposited on substrates and then plasma treated. The effect of deposition and plasma discharge conditions on morphology and chemical structure of the films has been studied. It was found that plasma treatment had a substantial influence on all the examined properties of the aerosol–gel deposited coatings.     

Precise Control of Metal Oxide Thin Films Deposition in Magnetron Sputtering Plasmas for High Performance Sensing Devices Fabrication

Magnetron sputtering deposition is a widely used technique to deposit thin film precisely at nanoscale level. During the deposition of metal oxide thin films, reactive oxygen gas is introduced into the deposition chamber. Pure metal and metal oxide materials can be used as sputter target, although the simplest way is by using a pure metal target. In such reactive process, the effect of target poisoning significantly influence the deposition process and the growth mechanisms of metal oxide thin films became very complex. In general, external parameters such as discharge power, working pressure, reactive gases ratio and substrate temperature are used to optimize the properties of deposited thin films. Then, ex-situ analyses such as scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction analysis are performed to obtain the optimized parameter. Sample depositions and ex-situ analyses consume time to achieve the goal through try and error. In this article, in-situ plasma diagnostics are reviewed focusing on an optical emission spectroscopy to precisely control and investigate the sputter target poisoning effect during the deposition of metal oxide thin films. The emission of atomic lines from several metal and oxygen atoms were used to discuss the deposition mechanisms and their correlation with the deposited thin films was observed. Finally, the deposited metal oxide thin films were proposed and tested for several applications such as gas sensor and frequency selective surface glass.     

Plasma polymerization. VI. An ESCA investigation of the RF plasma polymerization of perfluoro-2-butyl tetrahydrofuran

Perfluoro-2-butyl tetrahydrofuran was polymerized by an RF glow discharge technique and detailed ESCA studies were made of the resultant films. The rate of film deposition was sensitively dependent on the W/FM parameter and the site of deposition. The ESCA data show that the molecular rearrangement accompanying plasma polymerization and the oxygen functionality is at a significantly lower level than the starting material. Under appropriate conditions plasma polymerization produces material with a C:F stoichiometry of 1:2, although the ESCA data show that the polymer is drastically different from PTFE. ESCA studies are also reported on thin films of the monomer studied at low temperature.