The preparation and electrical properties of thin chalcogenide semiconductor films

Thin chalcogenide films from the GeTeAsSi system have been prepared using electron beam evaporation and R.F. sputtering techniques. The techniques are described in some details as it is believed that the deposition procedure has a significant on subsequent electrical switching behaviour.     

Low temperature effects on electrical and optical properties of TTBNc thin films

Electrical and optical properties of thermally evaporated air annealed Tetra-Tert-Butyl 2,3 Naphthalocyanine (TTBNc) thin films are studied. From the Arrhenius plot, the thermal activation energy is calculated for intrinsic and extrinsic region. Different hopping conduction parameters are tabulated using the Variable Range Hopping (VRH) model in the low temperature region. The studies on the optical absorption spectra lead to the determination of optical band gap energy and Urbach’s energy of TTBNc thin films. Also the temperature dependence of steepness parameter is explained.     

Effect of lead additive on photoconductive properties of Se–Te chalcogenide films

Steady state and transient characteristics of photoconductivity have been studied in amorphous thin films of Se₈₅Te_15−xPb_x (x = 0, 2, 4 and 6). The studies of temperature dependence of photoconductivity show that photoconduction is a thermally activated process. The value of activation energy of photoconduction is, however, smaller as compared to activation energy in dark. The results of intensity dependence of steady state photoconductivity indicate that bimolecular recombination is predominant in these materials. The Se₈₅Te_15−xPb_x is found highly composition dependent as lead impurity drastically changes the conduction parameters. The incorporation of Pb impurity is found to affect the transient photoconductivity properties drastically. A spike is observed in the rise curve of photocurrent in undoped a-Se₈₅Te₁₅, which disappears in Pb doped samples. The lead incorporation is found to delay the onset time of recombination in the rise and decay of photocurrent which is attributed to the trapping of charge carriers in deep localized states produced by lead impurity. The photocurrent rise and decay is explained by the trap-controlled recombination model proposed by Iovu et al. and the dispersion parameter α of localized state energy distribution is determined from the experimental results.     

Effects of pressure on the electrical conductivity of chalcogenide glasses

The effects of hydrostatic pressure (to ～2.4 GPa) on the electrical conductivity of AsTe, AsTeI and AsTeGe bulk semiconducting glasses have been determined. The electrical conductivity σ increases nearly exponentially with increasing pressure P. The Δ 1n σ/ΔP values are dependent upon composition and pressure, and vary from about 2 to 6 GPa^?1. This is a narrow range of values considering that the initial conductivies vary over five orders of magnitude for the compositions studied. Many of the glasses exhibited time-dependent conductivity changes both at high pressure and after cycling to high pressure. At high pressure the conductivity drifted to higher values over a period of several hours, initially following a logarithmic time dependence. Generally, the drifts were observed for P ? 0.8 GPa and for $\text{σ ? 10}{}^{\mathrm{t-1}}\text{(Ω-}\text{m}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$. Following the high-pressure experiment, the conductivity (and also the density) of some glasses were above that for the as-prepared material. These same samples had a slightly different conductivity temperature dependence. The conductivity slowly relaxed (over many months) toward the original conductivity state, again initially following a logarithmic time dependence. Much of our data can be interpreted consistently if we assumed that the conductivity changes depend primarily on “expected” volume changes. The kinds of behavior reported here are similar to those observed for a wide variety of glass systems. Any models developed for describing electrical transport under pressure must account for time-dependent as well as pressure-dependent effects.     

Formation of surface structures on amorphous chalcogenide films

The high spatial resolution of the localized structural transformations induced by different irradiations in amorphous chalcogenides, as well as the possibility of inducing volume expansion, promotes applications of these inorganic resists for optical recording, data storage and makes them attractive for nanolithography. This paper focuses on the fabrication of surface reliefs at submicrometer length scales in a direct, one-step process of recording by light or ion beam on Se layers or Se/As₂S₃ nanolayered films due to induced volume expansion.     

Seebeck coefficient in amorphous chalcogenide films

The Seebeck coefficient determined for a number of amorphous chalcogenide films is linear in 1/T. Slopes were typically 0.1 to 0.2 eV less than the conductivity activation energies. A parameter A in the expression for thermopower appears to be a measure of the disorder, being large for highly disordered materials and small for annealed stoichiometric materials.     

Structure and electrical resistance of thin scandium films (III). Study on electrical properties

The specific resistance-thickness of ScH_x (vacuum 10⁻⁵ to 5 · 10⁻⁶ Torr) and Sc films (vacuum 1 · 10⁻⁸ to 3 · 10⁻⁸ Torr) relationships have been obtained by keeping a record of a film resistance directly in the course of condensation. The results are discussed according to the theory FUCHS -SONDHEIMER (ScH_x, Sc) and MAYADAS -SHATZKES (Sc) assuming a diffuse scattering of the carriers (P = 0) on the external surface of the films. A mean free path of the current carriers is 188 to 355 Å (T ⋍ 300 K) for ScH_x and 400 Å with grain-boundary scattering parameter from 0.1 to 0.3 for Sc. The temperature dependence of specific resistivity of Sc films was obtained in the interval from 300 to 650 K during the annealing in vacuum 5 · 10⁻⁹ Torr.     

Optical properties of chalcogenide glasses

Over the past two decades chalcogenide glasses have been researched in order to assess their suitability as passive bulk optical component materials for 3–5μm and 8–12μm infrared applications. This research has led to a greater understanding of the physical properties of these materials, and the present paper concentrates on the optical properties and applications of these bulk chalcogenide glasses. The various factors influencing the intrinsic and extrinsic optical loss mechanisms in materials are discussed, numerical data on the basic optical properties of chalcogenide glasses is presented and applications are discussed.     

Structural and electrical properties of CuGaSe2 thin films on GaAs substrates

CuGaSe₂ thin films with thicknesses in the range of 0.1 μm were deposited onto semiinsulating (111) A-oriented GaAs substrates by flash evaporation under controlled growth conditions. Epitaxial growth begins at a substrate temperature of T_sub = 835 K. Besides the chalcopyrite phase a hexagonal modification was observed in the range T_sub = 835 to 855 K. At T_sub ≧ 860 K the films have sphalerite structure. All epitaxial films were p-type conducting. Two acceptor levels with ionization energies of about 150 meV and 550 meV, respectively, were obtained from an analysis of electrical and photoluminescence measurements.     

Holographic recording in amorphous chalcogenide thin films

Holographic recording by He–Ne laser (line 632.8 nm) light in amorphous As_0.55Se_0.45 thin films for different film thickness and grating period was studied. A strong dependence of the diffraction efficiency of the gratings on the readout light wavelength (650 nm, 805 nm and 1150 nm) was observed. A decrease in diffraction efficiency for longer wavelengths is explained by a decrease in the photoinduced changes of refractive index. It is shown that high efficiency gratings can be recorded in As_0.55Se_0.45 films with a thickness of ∼1 μm.     

Local order and microstructure of germanium chalcogenide films

Amorphous films of nominal composition GeTe₂ have been observed by energy filtered electron diffraction and by electron microscopy. The diffracted intensity curves may vary from region to region within a film and changes may be brought about by electron beam heating, giving rise to observable changes in the radial distribution functions. Gross features are not apparent in the electron micrographs and glassy phase separation if it exists in these films must be restricted to a very fine scale (20 Å or less). Similar effects have been observed in a variety of other telluride and also selenide films.     

Dielectric and electrical properties of vacuum-deposited Didymium oxide thin films

Dielectric and electrical properties of sandwich structures of didymium oxide thin films of several thicknesses have been investigated. The variation of capacitance and dielectric dissipation factor (Tan δ) with frequency in these films have been studied. These studies have shown that at room temperature, the capacitance increases with decrease of frequency and the variation is more pronounced at low frequencies. With increase of frequency, the dissipation factor decreases. The increase of capacitance with decrease in frequency has been attributed to the space-charge polarisation and blocking of charge carriers at the electrodes. The effect of thickness on capacitance and Tan δ in these films have been studied. Current-Voltage characteristics (I—V) of sandwiched Al-didymium oxide-Al structures have been studied at room temperature. These characteristics showed that the breakdown voltage increases and the dielectric strength decreases with increase of oxide film thickness. Conductivity (σ) at room temperature have been calculated to understand the mechanism involved in the conduction process. These results indicated that the conduction in these films is due to Schottky barriers. Breakdown patterns obtained in these structures by the application of de voltage applied across the sandwich structures have been observed with the help of Carl-Zeiss, Jena, optical microscope. The photomicrographs of these breakdown patterns indicate that the type of breakdown in these structures may be single-hole breakdown and is proceeded by propagating breakdown.     

Effect of annealing temperature on the optical and electrical properties of aluminum doped ZnO films

Aluminum doped ZnO thin films were successfully deposited on the silicon substrates by spin coating method. The effects of an annealing temperature on electrical and optical properties were investigated for 1.5 at.% of aluminum. Refractive index profile has been obtained for the film annealed at 350 °C using ellipsometry and it has shown minimum refractive index of 1.95 and maximum value of 2.1. Thickness profile shows quite good uniformity of the film having minimum thickness value of 30.1 nm and maximum value of 34.5 nm. Maximum conductivity value obtained was 4.63 Ω^?1-cm^?1 for the film annealed at 350 °C. Maximum carrier density of 2.20 × 10¹⁷ cm^?3 was deduced from the Hall measurement and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy clearly reveals major peak at 407 cm^?1 in the spectra associated with the ZnO bond.     

Growth and electrical properties of epitaxial CuInS2 thin films on GaAs substrates

CuInS₂ thin films with thicknesses in the range of 500 Å were deposited onto semi-insulating (111) A-oriented GaAs substrates by flash evaporation in the substrate temperature range T_sub = 570 … 870 K. Epitaxial growth begins at T_sub = 645 K. The films had always the chalcopyrite structure. Indications to a transition from the chalcopyrite phase to the sphalerite phase were observed at T_sub = 870 K. Films grown at T_sub ≦ 800 K showed n-type conductivity whereas at growth temperatures T_sub ≧ 850 K the films were always p-type conducting. A donor level and an acceptor level with ionization energies of 0.24 eV and 0.22 eV, respectively, were found from an analysis of the electrical measurements.     

Optical properties of chalcogenide multilayer deposited on Au layer

The chalcogenide multilayers were prepared as dielectric mirrors having the first order stop bands in the near infrared region 1.55 μm. The 7.5 layer pairs of the alternating amorphous Sb–Se and As–S layers were deposited on glass substrates using a conventional thermal evaporation method. To center the stop bands of the 15-layer dielectric mirrors at 1.55 μm, the layer thicknesses 117 nm for Sb–Se and 169 nm for As–S single layers were calculated from the quarter wave stack condition. The optical reflection and transmission spectra of the prepared mirrors were measured using a UV/VIS/NIR and FT-IR spectroscopy at the ambient and elevated temperatures. The optical reflection of the annealed 15-layer chalcogenide mirror was found higher than 99% in the range of 1440–1600 nm. As the 200 nm thick gold layer was added between the substrate and the chalcogenide mirror, the stop band of the annealed Au/multilayer system broadened to 1360–1740 nm simultaneously with an appearance of the 15% transmission peak at 1.55 μm. A preparation of similar metal/multilayer systems is one of the possible ways how to design the dielectric filters for near infrared region exploiting the good optical quality of the chalcogenide films and their simple deposition.     

Surface biofunctionalization of nanostructured GeSbSe chalcogenide glass thin films

Thin nanostructured chalcogenide films were grown using the oblique angle deposition (OAD) technique and subsequently polymerized with thin poly(amino-p-xylylene) (PPX) films. Our objective was twofold, i.e., to use deposited polymeric thin films to allow the attachment of biomolecules to chalcogenide glass thin films, and at the same time, to increase surface area by OAD to enhance surface functionality. The effectiveness of this approach was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), together with a combination of fluorescent protein immobilization and confocal microscopy characterization. It is shown that the presence of amine groups on the surface of the polymer coated chalcogenide thin films yield a notable increment of surface coverage with proteins at large evaporation oblique angles which is expected to enhance detection performance of the film in biosensor applications.     

Growth and electrical properties of flash evaporated AgGaTe2 thin films

Thin films have been prepared by flash evaporation technique of a stoichiometric bulk of AgGaTe₂ compound in vacuum and analysed using X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, selected area diffraction and energy dispersive analysis of X‐rays. The effect of substrate temperature on the structural properties – grain size, film orientation, composition, and stoichiometry of the films have been studied. It was found that the polycrystalline, stoichiometric films of AgGaTe₂ can be grown in the substrate temperature range of 473K < Ts < 573K. The influence of substrate temperature (Ts) on the electrical characteristics‐ Resistivity, Hall Mobility, Carrier concentration of AgGaTe₂ thin films were studied. The electrical resistivity was found to decrease with increase in substrate temperature up to 573K and then increases. The variation of activation energy of AgGaTe₂ thin films were also investigated. The implications are discussed. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Femtosecond optical Kerr effect study of amorphous chalcogenide films

The non-resonant third-order non-linear optical properties of some amorphous chalcogenide films were studied experimentally by the method of the femtosecond optical heterodyne detection of the optical Kerr effect. The real and imaginary parts of the complex third-order optical non-linearity could be effectively separated and their values and signs could be also determined. Amorphous chalcogenide films showed a very fast response in the range of 200 fs under ultrafast excitation. The ultrafast response and large third-order non-linearity are attributed to the ultrafast distortion of the electron orbitals surrounding the average positions of the nucleus of chalcogen atoms. The high third-order susceptibility and a fast response time of amorphous chalcogenide films make them promising materials for application in advanced techniques especially in optical switching.     

Silica films on silicon carbide: a review of electrical properties and device applications

This paper reviews the present knowledge on silica films (SiO₂) on silicon carbide (SiC). First, kinetic of thermal oxidation of SiC is described, and the effects of a great number of parameters (various SiC polytypes, substrate type, substrate orientation…) are discussed. Mainly, thermal oxides grown on SiC are close to stoichiometric silica and the oxidation rate depends on the terminal face of the SiC monocrystal. The next four sections discuss the electrical properties of the oxide, and of the oxide/SiC interface, and especially the effects of materials and technological process on the interface state density and the effective oxide charge (Section 5), and the origin of the interface states are discussed in detail ( Section 6). Oxides grown on n-type SiC have electrical properties (in terms of dielectric strength, leakage currents, interface trap, and oxide charges) measured by means of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures, similar to oxides grown on silicon. Until recently, p-type SiC MOS structures have had a large equivalent oxide charge and larger interface state densities in spite of many efforts, compared to silicon MOS structures. It seems nevertheless that recent studies have improved the SiO₂/SiC interfacial quality. Aluminum, carbon and alkali species are the main suspected contaminants. Finally, Section 7 presents the applications of oxide films in SiC-based devices: MOS capacitors and MOS field effect transistors (MOSFETs) for microelectronics, MOSFETs for power electronics, and some applications using silica layers as a passivation layer. In spite of a smaller than required carrier mobility in the inversion layer, MOS field effect transistors (MOSFETs) have been demonstrated to operate up to 650°C and integrated circuits based on NMOS and PMOS technologies have been successfully operated up to 300°C. Vertical power MOSFETs are also of importance but their performances are still limited by a specific on-resistance larger than device requirements. The effect of charges present in the oxide on the electrical properties of high voltage diodes is also briefly discussed.