Effects of Annealing Temperature on Structural and Optical Properties of ZnO Thin Films

The effects of annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO films grown on Si （100） substrates by sol-gel spin-coating are investigated. The structural and optical properties are characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectra. X-ray diffraction analysis shows the crystal quality of ZnO films becomes better after annealing at high temperature. The grain size increases with the temperature increasing. It is found that the tensile stress in the plane of ZnO films first increases and then decreases with the annealing temperature increasing, reaching the maximum value of 1.8 GPa at 700℃. PL spectra of ZnO films annealed at various temperatures consists of a near band edge emission around 380 nm and visible emissions due to the electronic defects, which are related to deep level emissions, such as oxide antisite （OZn）, interstitial oxygen （Oi）, interstitial zinc （Zni） and zinc vacancy （VZn^-）, which are generated during annealing process. The evolution of defects is analyzed by PL spectra based on the energy of the electronic transitions.     

Multilayer Au/TiO2Composite Films with Ultrafast Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties

We report on the ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearity in multilayer Au/TiO2 composite films fabricated on quartz substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The linear optical properties of the films are determined and optical absorption peaks due to surface plasmon resonance of Au particles are observed at about 590hm. The third-order optical nonlinearities of the films are investigated by z-scan method using a femtosecond laser （50 fs） at the wavelength of 800 nm. The sample showed fast nonlinear optical responses with nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index being -3.66 × 10^-10 m/W and -2.95 × 10^-17 m^2/W, respectively. The results also show that the nonlinear optical effects increase with the increasing Au concentration in the composite films.     

Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Study on Surface Roughness and Optical Property of AZO Films Prepared by Direct-Current Magnetron Reactive Sputtering Method

All as-deposited AZO films by direct current magnetron reactive sputtering （DC-MS） exhibit ZnO characteristic （002） and （103） diffraction peaks. Especially, AZO films prepared at 200℃ show a strongest （002） c-axis pref- erential orientation due to the minimum stress along the （002） orientation. The results show that larger stress easily induces a rougher surface. The film real and imaginary parts of dielectric constants show a sharp changes near the optical absorption edge due to the interband direct transition. The film blue and red shifts of the optical absorption edge can be explained in terms of the change of Free-electron concentration in as-deposited AZO films.     

Optical properties of p-type ZnO doped by lithium and nitrogen

A lithium and nitrogen doped p-type ZnO (denoted as ZnO: (Li, N)) film was prepared by RF-magnetron sputtering and post annealing techniques with c-Al₂O₃ as substrate. Its transmittance was measured to be above 95%. Three dominant emission bands were observed at 3.311, 3.219 and 3.346 eV, respectively, in the 80 K photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the p-type ZnO:(Li, N), and are attributed to radiative electron transition from conduction band to a Li_Zn-N complex acceptor level (eFA), radiative recombination of a donor-acceptor pair and recombination of the Li_Zn-N complex acceptor bound exciton, respectively, based on temperature-dependent and excitation intensity-dependent PL measurement results. The Li_Zn-N complex acceptor level was estimated to be about 126 meV above the valence band by fitting the eFA data obtained in the temperature-dependent PL spectra.     

Influence of Annealing Temperature on Structure, Optical Loss and Laser-Induced Damage Threshold of TiO2 Thin Films

TiO2 thin films are prepared on fused silica with conventional electron beam evaporation deposition. After annealed at different temperatures for 4h, the spectra and XRD patterns of the TiO2 thin film are obtained. Weak absorption of coatings is measured by the surface thermal lensing technique, and laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） is determined. It is found that with the increasing annealing temperature, the transmittance of TiO2 films decreases. Especially when coatings are annealed at high temperature over 1173K, the optical loss is very serious. Weak absorption detection indicates that the absorption of coatings decreases firstly and then increases, and the absorption and defects play major roles in the LIDT of TiO2 thin films.     

Optical Characterization of rf-Magnetron Sputtered Nanostructured SnO2 Thin Films

Tin oxide （Sn02 ） thin films are deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering and annealed at various temperatures in the range of 100-500 ℃ for 15 min. Raman spectra of the annealed films depict the formation of a small amount of SnO phase in the tetragonal Sn02 matrix, which is verified by x-ray diffraction. The average particle size is found to be about 20-30 nm, as calculated from x-ray peak broadening and SEM images. Various optical parameters such as optical band gap energy, refractive index, optical conductivity, carrier mobility, carrier concentration etc. are determined from the optical transmittance and reflectance data recorded in the wavelength range 250-2500 nm. The results are analyzed and compared with the data in the literature.     

Graded Index 532HR/1064HT Filter by Glancing Angle Deposition

Glancing angle deposition is a novel method to prepare graded index coatings. By using this method and physical vapour deposition, ZrO2 is used to engineer graded index filter on BK7 glass substrate. Controlling the deposition rate and the periodic oscillation of oblique angle of deposited material, a 10-period graded index ZrO2 filter with high reflection near 532nm and high transmittance at wavelength 1064nm is fabricated. The causes of difference between the theoretical and experimental results are discussed in detail. The material properties and electron gun nonlinearity are possibly the main origins of the difference, which result in the variations in both thickness control and deposition rate of the film material.     

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.     

Microstructure and Optical Properties of AgxO Prepared by Direct-Current Magnetron-Sputtering Method

Two series of AgxO films are prepared on glass substrates by dc magnetron-sputtering method at room temperature and 90℃ under different oxygen to argon gas ratio （OAR） conditions. The mierostrueture is investigated by XRD and SEM in order to obtain the information on the component evolution of AgO＋Ag2O to Ag2O. Its optical properties are investigated by reflectance and absorption spectroscopy to extract the information on metallic and dielectric behaviour evolution of Ag2O, AgO and silver particles and the interband transition. The results indicate that the AgxO film prepared at room temperature is mainly made up of AgO and Ag2 O clusters while Ag2O is the primary component of AgxO prepared at 90℃. The AgxO film mainly consisting of the primary component shows indirect interband transition structure occurring at 2.89eV. Combination of increasing OAR and substrate temperature is an effective method to lower the threshold of thermal decomposition temperature of AgxO and to deal with the bottleneck of short-wavelength optical and magneto-optieM storage.     

Optical band gap of zinc nitride films prepared on quartz substrates from a zinc nitride target by reactive rf magnetron sputtering

Polycrystalline zinc nitride films have been synthesized onto quartz substrates from the zinc nitride target and the nitrogen working gas by reactive rf magnetron sputtering at room temperature. X-ray diffraction study indicates that polycrystalline zinc nitride films are of cubic structure with the lattice constant a = 0.979(1) nm and have preferred orientations with (3 2 1) and (4 4 2). Its absorption coefficients as well as the film thickness are calculated from the transmission spectra, which are measured with a double beam spectrophotometer. The optical band gap has been determined from the photon energy dependence of absorption coefficient, an indirect transition optical band gap of 2.12(3) eV has been obtained.     

Photoluminescence behavior of pulsed laser deposited ZnGa<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> thin-film phosphors grown on various substrates

ZnGa₂O₄ thin-film phosphors have been grown on Si(100), Al₂O₃(0001) and MgO(100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The structural characterization was carried out on a series of ZnGa₂O₄ films grown on various substrates under various substrate temperatures and oxygen pressures. The films grown on these substrates not only have different crystallinity and surface morphology, but also different Zn/Ga composition ratio. The crystallinity and photoluminescence (PL) of the ZnGa₂O₄ films are highly dependent on the deposition conditions, in particular the stoichiometry ratio of Zn/Ga and the kind of substrate. The variation of Zn/Ga in the films also depends on not only the oxygen pressure but also the substrate temperature during deposition. The PL properties of pulsed laser deposited ZnGa₂O₄ thin films have indicated that Al₂O₃(0001) and MgO(100) are promising substrates for the growth of high-quality ZnGa₂O₄ thin films and that the luminescence brightness depends on the substrate. The luminescence spectra show a broad band extending from 350 to 600 nm and peaking at 460 nm. Received: 11 July 2002 / Accepted: 31 July 2002 / Published online: 28 October 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +82-51-6206356, E-mail: jhjeong@pknu.ac.kr     

The refractivity of CO2 gas in the region of 10 μm

The refractivity of the CO₂ gas is measured with an experimental error of 2% in the 10-m region, using 10.4-m band CO₂ laser line. The frequency of the CO₂ laser is swept through the Doppler profile of the laser line. The experiment is achieved using a 0.63-m He–Ne/10.6-m CO₂-laser interferometer with a 2-m long vacuum cell. From the result, it is found that the Koch's formula also holds for the wavelengths in the 10-m region within an accuracy of 2%.     

Preparation and Characterization of Transparent Conductive Nb-Doped ZnO Films by Radio-Frequency Sputtering

Niobium-doped ZnO （NZO） transparent conductive films are deposited on glass substrates by rt sputtering at 300℃. Effects of sputtering power on the structural, morphologie, electrical, and optical properties of NZO films are investigated by x-ray diffraction （XRD）, field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM）, Hall measurement, and optical transmission spectroscopy. The obtained films are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially oriented in the （002） crystallographic direction. The minimum resistivity of 4.0×10^-4Ω·cm is obtained from the film grown at the sputtering power of 170W. The average optical transmittance of the films is over 90%.     

Band Gap Energies and Refractive Indices of Epitaxial Pb1-xSrxTe Thin Films

Pb1-x Srx Te thin films with different strontium （St） compositions axe grown on BaF2 （111） substrates by molecular beam epitaxy （MBE）. Using high resolution x-ray diffraction （HPLXRD）, we obtain Pb1-xSrxTe lattice constants, which vary in the range 6.462-6.492 A. According to the Vegard law and HRXRD data, Sr compositions in Pb1-xSrxTe thin films range from 0.0-8.0%. The Pb1-xSrxTe refractive index dispersions are attained from infrared transmission spectrum characterized by Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） transmission spectroscopy. It is found that refractive index decreases while Sr content increases in Pb1-xSrx Te. We also simulate the Pb1-xSrxTe transmission spectra theoretically to obtain the optical band gap energies which range between 0.320 e V and 0.449 e V. The simulated results are in good agreement with the FTIR data. Finally, we determine the relation between Pb1-xSrx Te band gap energies and Sr compositions （Eg = 0.320＋0.510x-0.930x^2 ＋184x^3 （eV））.     

Optical and structural parameters of the ZnO thin film grown by pulsed filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition

Transparent conductive ZnO film was deposited on glass substrate by pulsed filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition (PFCVAD). Optical parameters such as absorption coefficient α, the refractive index n, energy band gap E_g and dielectric constants have been determined using different methods. Kramers-Kronig and dispersion relations were employed to determine the complex refractive index and dielectric constants using reflection data in the ultraviolet-visible-near infrared regions. The spectra of the dielectric coefficient were used to calculate the energy band gap and the value was 3.24 eV. The experimental energy band gap was found to be 3.22 eV for 357 nm thick ZnO thin film. The envelope method was also used to calculate the refractive index and the data were consistent with K-K relation results. The structure of the film was analyzed with an x-ray diffractometer and the film was polycrystalline in nature with preferred (002) orientation.     

One-on-One and R-on-One Tests on KDP and DKDP Crystals with Different Orientations

By testing a substantial number of tripler and z-cut KDP and DKDP crystals, we have observed that at 355nm, the laser induced damage threshold in the R-on-one test is higher than that in the one-on-one test. It is proved that laser conditioning is an efficient way to improve the damage resistance. The efficiency of laser conditioning becomes increasingly good with smaller ramping fluence steps. We have also found that the damage resistance of the z-cut crystal is higher than the triplet cut, and the pinpoint number is definitely less in the z-cut crystal. The reason for these observations is discussed.     

Optical and structural properties of polycrystalline CdSe deposited on titanium substrates

We report studies of photoluminescence, Raman scattering and x-ray diffraction performed on CdSe polycrystalline films deposited on titanium substrates by two different methods: chemical deposition and electroplating. We discuss the changes observed in these films as they are subjected to heat treatments. The differences observed in the energy gap of both types of film and their evolution as a function of annealing temperature are tentatively explained in terms of quantum confinement produced by the small grain size of the films.     

First-Principles Calculation of Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of Sb-Doped ZnO

The geometric structure, electronic structure, optical properties and the formation energy of Sb-doped ZnO with the wurtzite structure are investigated using the first-principles ultra-soft pseudo-potential approach of plane wave based upon the density functional theory. The calculated results indicate that the volume of ZnO doped with Sb becomes larger, and the doping system yields the lowest formation energy of Sb on the interstitial site and the oxygen site. Furthermore, Sb dopant first occupies the octahedral oxygen sites of the wurtzite structure. It is found that Sb substituting on oxygen site behaves as a deep acceptor and shows the p-type degenerate semiconductor character. After doping, the electron density difference demonstrates the considerable electron charge density redistribution, which induces the effect of Sb-doped ZnO to increase the charge overlap between atoms. The density of states move towards lower energy and the optical band gap is broadened. Our culated results are in agreement with other experimental results and could make more precise monitoring and controlling possible during the growth of ZnO p-type materials.     

First applicability of ZnGa2O4 : Ge, Li, Mn phosphor for a plasma display panel

The green emission intensity of ZnGa₂O₄:Ge⁴⁺, Li⁺, Mn²⁺ excited by the vacuum ultraviolet line of 147 nm reaches 70% of commercial green Zn₂SiO₄:Mn²⁺. The vacuum ultraviolet excitation spectra consist of four peaks. In a plasma display test bed filled with Ar and Ne plasma discharged by a radio-frequency generator of 13.6 MHz, ZnGa₂O₄:Ge⁴⁺, Li⁺, Mn²⁺ and commercial Zn₂SiO₄:Mn²⁺ phosphor screens show a linear increase in luminance with increasing self bias voltages. Increasing gas pressures cause the luminance to increase. Also, on increasing the self bias voltages and the gas pressures, the current densities of ZnGa₂O₄:Ge⁴⁺, Li⁺, Mn²⁺ phosphor screens are increased; this is the same behavior as that of the commercial phosphor.