Defect-free growth of epitaxial silicon at low temperatures (500–800 °C) by atmospheric pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition

Epitaxial Si growth at low temperatures (500–800 °C) by atmospheric pressure plasma chemical vapor deposition has been investigated. Silicon films are deposited on (001) Si wafers using gas mixtures containing He, H₂, and SiH₄. The effects of deposition parameters (composition of reactive gases, very high frequency (VHF) power, and substrate temperature) on film properties are investigated by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and plasma emission spectroscopy. It is found that epitaxial temperature can be reduced by increasing VHF power, and that an optimum range of VHF power exists for Si epitaxy, depending on the substrate temperature and the composition of the reactive gases. The result of the H₂ concentration dependence of H_α emission intensity, shows that hydrogen atoms generated in the atmospheric pressure plasma play an important role in Si epitaxial growth. Under the optimized growth conditions, defect-free epitaxial Si films (as observed by transmission electron microscopy) with excellent surface flatness are grown at 500 °C with an average growth rate of approximately 0.25 μm/min. PACS 81.05.Cy; 81.15.Gh; 68.55.Jk     

Fabrication of Gd0.5Sr0.5CoO3 film for SOFC cathode by pulsed laser deposition

Gd_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ (GSCO) film has been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) to be used as the cathode of the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The GSCO thin film obtained has a columnar crystalline structure so that it will have a high permeation property. The PLD technique has been found suitable for growing a film of complex composition because of its good control of stoichiometry and thus for fabricating a GSCO film used as the cathode of the SOFC. The GSCO film has been studied for porosity electrical conductivity and power density. The GSCO film grown at a substrate temperature of 1100 K and oxygen gas pressure of 100 Pa has high electrical conductivity which is 820 S cm^− 1 at 973 K with post annealing at a rather low temperature (1000 K). This value is higher than that of the GSCO film prepared by RF-sputtering with post annealing at a higher temperature (1273 K).     

Reactive sputter deposition and metal–semiconductor transition of FeS films

FeS polycrystalline films were prepared on float glass by radio-frequency reactive sputtering. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy were used to characterize the films. The effects of the deposition parameters, such as sputter power and substrate temperature, on the morphological structure and on the metal–semiconductor phase transition of FeS films were investigated. It has been found that the films show a substrate temperature dependent preferential orientation and phase-transition temperature. PACS 81.15.Cd; 68.55.Jk     

Composition of tantalum nitride thin films grown by low-energy nitrogen implantation: a factor analysis study of the Ta 4 f XPS core level

Tantalum nitride thin films have been grown by in situ nitrogen implantation of metallic tantalum at room temperature over the energy range of 0.5–5 keV. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and factor analysis (FA) have been used to characterize the chemical composition of the films. The number of the different Ta–N phases formed during nitrogen implantation, as well as their spectral shapes and concentrations, have been obtained using principal component analysis and iterative target transformation factor analysis, without any prior assumptions. According to FA results, the composition of the tantalum nitride films depends on both the ion dose and the ion energy, and is mainly formed by a mixture of metallic tantalum, β-TaN_0.05 , γ-Ta₂N and cubic/hexagonal TaN phases. The kinetics of tantalum nitridation is characterized by two stages. In the first stage, the formation of β-TaN_0.05 species leads to a strong attenuation of the metallic tantalum signal. During the second stage, β-TaN_0.05 transforms into γ-Ta₂N and cubic/hexagonal TaN species. For intermediate ion doses, the concentration of γ-Ta₂N reaches a maximum, subsequently decreasing because of its transformation into cubic/hexagonal TaN phases with increasing ion dose up to saturation. At saturation, the films are mainly composed of a mixture of γ-Ta₂N and cubic/hexagonal TaN phases, but small Ta⁰ and β-TaN_0.05 signals are also observed. They should be attributed to preferential sputtering of nitrogen and/or to the limited thickness of the film. Comparison of the experimental nitrogen concentration with that obtained using TRIDYN simulations suggests that, in addition to nitrogen implantation and atomic mixing, other mechanisms, like ion beam enhanced diffusion or the chemical reactivity of the tantalum substrate towards nitrogen, should also be taken into account at higher ion-beam energies. PACS 68.49.Uv; 68.55.Nq; 81.05.Je; 81.70.Jb     

Fabrication of anode supported thick film ceria electrolytes for IT-SOFCs

Anode supported thick film ceria electrolyte unit cells were fabricated using a colloidal dip coating method for IT-SOFCs. Pre-sintering temperature of the anode substrate and the final sintering temperature were found to be the primary parameters determining the density of the film. With Ni-Ce_0.89Gd_0.11 O_2–δ cermet anode, La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O₃ cathode and 15 μm Ce_0.89Gd_0.11 O_2–δ electrolyte, the cells were tested in a fuel cell configuration with air at the cathode and moist H₂ at the anode. At 650 °C, the cell indicated a maximum power density of ∼0.27 W/cm² at a current density of 0.62 A/cm². Cell performance was compared with oxygen at the cathode and the cell indicated a maximum power density of ∼0.50 W/cm² at 1.14 A/cm², 650 °C. Activation energy for the area specific resistance (ASR) of the cell suggests that with air at cathode, the cell performance was limited by gaseous diffusion at cathode and with oxygen at cathode, by oxygen ion transport across the electrolyte.     

Diamond-like carbon films prepared by pulsed-laser evaporation

Diamond-like carbon thin films were prepared by pulsed-laser evaporation. In this method a carbon target was irradiated by a XeCl laser with a power density of 3×10⁸ W/cm² and carbon atoms, together with a small number of ions, were produced. Deposition rates and film properties changed sensitively with substrate temperature. The films deposited at 50°C were diamond-like, having reasonable hardness, high refractive index (2.1–2.2 at 633 nm), optical transparency in the infrared, electrical resistivity of 10⁸ cm and chemical inertness (no dissolution in a HFHNO₃ solution). The band gap measured from optical absorption was 1.4 eV. Raman spectrum and infrared absorption, whose features varied with the substrate temperature, were also measured. The films were amorphous and no crystallinity was observed, as confirmed by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Hydrogen atoms were incorporated in the films with a typical H/C ratio of 0.3. The application of a negative bias to the substrate modified the deposition due to the presence of ions.     

Modeling of In2O3-10 wt% ZnO thin film properties for transparent conductive oxide using neural networks

Effects of deposition process parameters on the deposition rate and the electrical properties of In₂O₃–10 wt% ZnO (IZO) thin films were modeled and analyzed by using the error back-propagation neural networks (BPNN). Output models were represented by response surface plots and the fitness of models was estimated by calculating the root mean square error (RMSE). The deposition rate of IZO thin films is affected by the RF power and the substrate temperature. The electrical properties of the IZO thin films are mainly controlled by O₂ ratio and the substrate temperature. The predicted output characteristics by BPNN can sufficiently explain the mechanism of IZO deposition process. Thus, neural network models can provide the reliable explanation of IZO film deposition.     

Amorphous to crystalline transition in Dy-Fe thin films

The crystallization of vacuum-deposited amorphous Dy-Fe thin films was studied by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. The effect of thickness, deposition rate and substrate temperature on the crystallization process have been investigated. The results show that the crystallization thicknessd _c decreases with increasing deposition rate and substrate temperature. The number density of Dy-Fe islands were found to be almost constant at (4–5)×10¹¹ cm^–2 in the thickness range 20 Å<d <50 Å. The number density decreases with increase ind _c .     

Substrate temperature dependence of properties of ZnO thin films deposited by LP-MOCVD

ZnO films were prepared on (0002) sapphire by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) with fixed Zn and O gas flow rates. The film properties displayed complex dependencies on temperature over the range 330–460 °C. All films were preferentially oriented along the (0002) direction and the integrated intensity of the (0002) peak increased with increasing substrate temperature, indicative of an increasing deposition rate. Furthermore, high substrate temperatures promoted the growth of columnar grains, and improved the crystallinity, as the decreasing FWHM of the (0002) ZnO peak suggests. However, it was not the highest temperature sample, but the sample deposited at 390 °C that had the best UV band emission characteristics, with no defect-related luminescence in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, as well as the highest transmission and sharpest absorption edge in the transmittance spectra. PACS 81.15.Gh; 78.55.Et; 68.55.Jk; 61.10.Kw     

Development of a novel high speed (electron-mobility) epi-n-ZnO thin films by L-MBE for III–V opto-electronic devices

Intrinsic epitaxial zinc oxide (epi-ZnO) thin films were grown by laser-molecular beam epitaxy (L-MBE), i.e., pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique using Johnson Matthey “specpure”-grade ZnO pellets. The effects of substrate temperatures on ZnO thin film growth, electrical conductivity (σ), mobility (μ) and carrier concentration (n) were studied. As well as the feasibility of developing high quality conducting oxide thin films was also studied simultaneously. The highest conductivity was found for optimized epi-ZnO thin films is σ=0.06×10³ ohm⁻¹ cm⁻¹ (n-type) (which is almost at the edge of semiconductivity range), carrier density n=0.316×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and mobility μ=98 cm²/V s. The electrical studies further confirmed the semiconductor characteristics of epi-n-ZnO thin films. The relationship between the optical and electrical properties were also graphically enumerated. The electrical parameter values for the films were calculated, graphically enumerated and tabulated. As a novelty point of view, we have concluded that without doping and annealing, we have obtained optimum electrical conductivity with high optical transparency (95%) for as deposited ZnO thin films using PLD. Also, this is the first time that we have applied PLD made ZnO thin films to iso-, hetero-semiconductor–insulator–semiconductor (SIS) type solar cells as transparent conducting oxide (TCO) window layer. We hope that surely these data be helpful either as a scientific or technical basis in the semiconductor processing.     

Barium ferrite (BaFe12O19) thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition on MgO buffered Si substrates

Barium ferrite (BaFe₁₂O₁₉) thin films have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on Si substrates with MgO underlayers. The films were deposited in oxygen atmosphere by excimer laser (=248 nm, pulse duration=23 ns) in the temperature range 750–900 °C. The experiments showed that the substrate temperature has remarkable effect on the films magnetic and structural properties. The BaFe₁₂O₁₉ films deposited at 900 °C in 200 mTorr oxygen showed some perpendicular orientation, with a perpendicular squareness of 0.5 and an in-plane squareness of 0.3. Such thin BaFe₁₂O₁₉ films have platelet grains with a size of about 300 nm. The perpendicular saturation magnetization and coercivity are 185 emu/cm³ and 1.4 kOe, respectively. PACS 81.15.Fg.; 75.70.Ak; 75.50.Pp; 68.55.j     

Power factor of very thin thermoelectric layers of different thickness prepared by laser ablation

Room temperature conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient of thin layers prepared by laser ablation from Bi₂Te₃ target were explored. The power factor was calculated for samples prepared at substrate temperature of 360°C with the density of the laser beam 5 J cm⁻² and at substrate temperature of 410°C with the density of the laser beam 2 J cm⁻² during the deposition. Oscillations of the conductivity and the power factor with the layer thickness were observed at room temperature. The oscillations of conductivity were also verified at the temperature of 77 K. The period of oscillations depends on the preparation conditions. This behavior has been theoretically explained by the quantum size effect in the layers containing different phases and in addition, it was demonstrated by the X-ray Diffraction measurement. The behavior of the power factor of the layers is compared to the behavior of the figure of merit of the layers published earlier.     

Nano/micro structure synthesis on semiconducting substrate and their characterization

In this paper electrical and field emission properties of the randomly distributed copper, iron and nickel nanowires on GaAs substrate are presented. Semiconducting (GaAs) wafers, spin coated with thin polymeric films were irradiated with 50 MeV Li (+3) ions at a fluence of 8 × 10⁷ ions/cm², followed by UV irradiation and chemically etching in aqueous NaOH (6N, at room temperature). The wires have been deposited potentiostatically into the pores of the track-etch polycarbonate membrane spin coated onto the GaAs substrate. The size, shape and morphology of the deposits are strongly dependent of the preparation conditions such as deposition potential, current density, electrolyte and etching conditions. Later, morphological, electrical and field emission properties of the so deposited nano-/micro-structures were studied.     

Pulsed laser deposition of PrFe4Sb12 thin films

Results from a growth and characterization study of PrFe₄Sb₁₂ thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) are reported. Films were grown under a variety of conditions where substrate temperature, annealing schedule, and laser power were optimized to produce single phase material. Various substrates were used for film growth. X-ray diffraction data indicate that the films are primarily single phase with very small amounts of antimony inclusions. The high quality of the films is reflected in electrical resistivity vs temperature data which are consistent with previous results for bulk polycrystalline and single crystal specimens. PACS 71.27.+a; 73.50.-h; 81.15.Fg; 68.55.JK     

SrTiO3(110) thin films grown directly on different oriented silicon substrates

We have grown (110)-oriented SrTiO₃ (STO) thin films on silicon without any buffer layer, by means of pulsed laser deposition technique. The crystal structures of the grown films were examined by X-ray diffraction analysis including θ–2θ scan and rocking curve as well as Laue diffraction methods. STO films with single (110) out-of-plane orientation were formed on all (100), (110) and (111)-oriented Si substrates. The in-plane alignments for the epitaxial STO films grown directly on Si (100) were found as STO[001]//Si[001] and STO[11̄0]//Si[010]. The results should be of interest for better understanding of the growth of perovskite oxide thin films on silicon wafers. PACS 77.55.+f; 68.55.JK; 81.15Fg     

An intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell utilizing superior oxide ion conducting electrolyte, doubly doped LaGaO3 perovskite

LaGaO₃-based perovskite oxide doped with Sr and Mg exhibits high ionic conduction over a wide oxygen partial pressure. In this study, the stability of the LaGaO₃ based oxide was investigated. It became clear that LaGaO₃ based oxide is very stable for reduction and oxidation. SOFCs utilizing LaGaO₃-based perovskite type oxide for electrolyte were further studied for the decreased temperature solid oxide fuel cells. The power generation characteristics of cells were strongly affected by the electrode, both anode and cathode. It became clear that Ni and LnCoO₃ (Ln: rare earth) are suitable for anode and cathode, respectively. Rare earth cations in the Ln-site of Co-based perovskite cathode also have a great effect on the power generation characteristics. In particular, high power density could be attained in the temperature range from 973 to 1273 K by using doped SmCoO₃ for the cathode. The electrical conductivity of SmCoO₃ increases with increasing Sr amount doped for the Sm site and attained the maximum at Sm_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃. The cathodic overpotential and the internal cell resistance exhibit almost opposite dependence on the amount of doped Sr. Consequently, the power density of the cell reaches a maximum when Sm_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ is used for cathode. On this cell, the maximum power density is as high as 0.58 W/cm² at 1073 K, although a 0.5 mm thick electrolyte is used. Therefore, this study reveals that the LaGaO₃ based oxide for electrolyte and the SmCoO₃ based oxide for cathode are promising for solid oxide fuel cells at intermediate temperature. Paper presented at the 97th Xiangshan Science Conference on New Solid State Fuel Cells, Xiangshan, Beijing, China, June, 14–17, 1998.     

Role of columnar grain size in magnetization of La0.8MnO3 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

La_0.8MnO₃ thin films have been deposited on (100) SrTiO₃ substrates at different substrate temperatures by a pulsed laser deposition method. Electronic transport measurements show that a higher substrate temperature results in lower resistivity and higher insulator–metal transition temperature. Transmission electron microscope studies reveal that all the films exhibit a feature of columnar structure with the grain size decreasing with substrate temperature. We argue that the columnar grain size strongly affects the ferromagnetic transition temperature and, in turn, dominates the resistivity behavior. Based on this point, other effects, such as of annealing and film thickness, on the electronic properties are also discussed. PACS 68.55.Jk; 71.30.+h; 75.70.Ak; 75.70.Pa     

Preparation and characterization of indium tin oxide films formed by oxygen ion beam assisted deposition

Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were produced by low-energy oxygen ion beam assisted electron-beam evaporation. The dependence of surface morphology, electrical and optical properties on evaporation rate, oxygen ion beam energy and density, as well as substrate temperatures was characterized by atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Hall-effect and optical transmittance measurements. The results show that high-quality ITO films (resistivity of 7.0×10⁻⁴ Ω cm, optical transmittance above 85% at wavelength 550 nm, surface roughness of 0.6 nm in root mean square) can be obtained at room temperature.     

Characteristics of SrBi2Ta2O9 ferroelectric films on Si using LaAlO3 thin film as an insulator

Metal–ferroelectric–insulator–semiconductor structures using LaAlO₃ (LAO) layers as an insulating barrier have been investigated. LAO films were deposited on n-Si substrates by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ (SBT) films were prepared as ferroelectric layers at a low processing temperature of 650 °C by a metalorganic decomposition method. The MOCVD-derived LAO buffer layer shows an amorphous structure, relatively high dielectric constant, and good electrical properties. Au/SBT/LAO/n-Si exhibits a larger counterclockwise C–V memory window of 3.7 V and a lower leakage-current density of 2.5×10^-8 A/cm² at an applied voltage of 10 V. It has been confirmed that the hysteresis loop is caused by ferroelectricity. The Auger electron spectrometry depth profile indicates that the introduction of the LAO buffer layer prevents the interfacial diffusion between SBT and the Si substrate effectively and improves the interface quality. PACS 77.84.Dy; 81.15.Fg     

An investigation of distribution parameters for fluorine ion implantation in indium-tin-oxide films

Implanted-fluorine profiles in ITO films have been accurately measured using the ¹⁹F(p,αγ)¹⁶O resonance nuclear reaction at E_R=872.1 keV, with width Γ=4.2 keV. A proper deconvolution calculation method was used to extract the true distribution of fluorine from the experimental excitation yield curves. The experimental range distribution parameters, R_p and ΔR_p, were compared with those obtained from Monte Carlo simulation codes. PACS 61.72.Ww; 68.55.Ln