AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering for dye-sensitized solar cell application

Ag films were deposited on Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films and coated with AZO to fabricate AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films by DC magnetron sputtering on glass substrates without heating of glass substrates. The best multilayer films have low sheet resistance of 19.8 Ω/Sq and average transmittance values of 61% in visible region. It was found that the highest figure of merit (F_TC) is 6.9 × 10⁻⁴ Ω⁻¹. For the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) application, the multilayer films were used as transparent conductive electrode (multilayer films/ZnO + Eosin-Y/LiI + I₂/Pt/FTO). The best DSSC based on the multilayer films showed that open circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.47 V, short circuit current density (J_sc) of 2.24 mA/cm², fill factor (FF) of 0.58 and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (η) of 0.61%. It was shown that the AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer films have potential for application in DSSC.     

Characteristics of ZnO:In thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

In-doped ZnO (ZnO:In) transparent conductive thin films were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. The effect of substrate temperature on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the ZnO:In thin films was investigated. It was found that higher temperature improves the crystallinity of the films and promotes In substitution easily. ZnO:In thin films with the best crystal quality were fabricated at 300 °C, which exhibit a larger grain size of 29 nm and small tensile strain of 0.9%. The transmittance of all the films was revealed to be over 85% in the visible range independence of the substrate temperatures and the lowest resistivity of ZnO:In thin films is 2.4×10⁻³ Ω cm.     

Microstructure and characterization of Al-doped ZnO films prepared by RF power sputtering on Al and ZnO targets

Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) transparent conductive films were prepared on a glass substrate using a magnetron sputtering system with a pure zinc oxide (ZnO) target and a pure Al target sputtered using radio frequency (RF) power. The RF power was set at 100 W for the ZnO target and varied from 20 to 150 W for the Al target. The morphology of the thin films was examined by field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and their composition was analyzed by the equipped energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The cross section of the films determined through FE-SEM indicated that their thickness was around 650 nm. EDS analysis revealed that the Al-dopant concentration of the AZO films increased in the following order: 0.85 at.% (20 W) < 1.60 at.% (40 W) < 3.52 at.% (100 W) < 4.34 at.% (150 W). Analysis of the films using X-ray diffractometer (XRD) indicated that all films had a wurtzite structure with a texture of (0 0 2). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) revealed a number of defects in the films, such as stacking faults and dislocations. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) was used to estimate the optical energy gap (E_g) for the AZO thin films. The energy gap increases from 3.39 to 3.58 eV as the RF power applied to the Al target increase. The electrical resistivity of the films decreased from 3.43 × 10^?2 Ω cm to 3.29 × 10^?3 Ω cm as the RF power increased from 20 to 150 W when a four-point probe was used to investigate. Atomic force microscope (AFM) revealed that the surface roughness of the films increased with increasing RF power. The average optical transmittance of the films was determined by UV–visible spectrometer. The films are suitable for use as transparent conductive oxide films in the optoelectronic industry. A decrease in the electrical resistivity of the film with increasing Al-dopant concentration was ascribed to an increase in the carrier concentration and density of stacking faults in the films.     

Effect of GZO thickness and annealing temperature on the structural,electrical and optical properties of GZO/Ag/GZO sandwich films

The GZO/Ag/GZO sandwich films were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) and ion-beam sputtering of Ag at room temperature. The effect of GZO thickness and annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical properties of these sandwich films was investigated. The microstructures of the films were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the GZO layers in the sandwich films are polycrystalline with the ZnO hexagonal structure and have a preferred orientation with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrates. For the sandwich film with upper and under GZO thickness of 40 and 30 nm, respectively, it owns the maximum figure of merit of 5.3 × 10⁻² Ω⁻¹ with a resistivity of 5.6 × 10⁻⁵ Ω cm and an average transmittance of 90.7%. The electrical property of the sandwich films is improved by post annealing in vacuum. Comparing with the as-deposited sandwich film, the film annealed in vacuum has a remarkable 42.8% decrease in resistivity. The sandwich film annealed at the temperature of 350 °C in vacuum shows a sheet resistance of 5 Ω/sq and a transmittance of 92.7%, and the figure of merit achieved is 9.3 × 10⁻² Ω⁻¹.     

Vanadium oxide thin films produced by magnetron sputtering from a V2O5 target at room temperature

Vanadium oxide thin films were grown by RF magnetron sputtering from a V₂O₅ target at room temperature, an alternative route of production of vanadium oxide thin films for infrared detector applications. The films were deposited on glass substrates, in an argon–oxygen atmosphere with an oxygen partial pressure from nominal 0% to 20% of the total pressure.X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) analyses showed that the films were a mixture of several vanadium oxides (V₂O₅, VO₂, V₅O₉ and V₂O₃), which resulted in different colors, from yellow to black, depending on composition. The electrical resistivity varied from 1 mΩ cm to more than 500 Ω cm and the thermal coefficient of resistance (TCR), varied from −0.02 to −2.51% K⁻¹.Computational thermodynamics was used to simulate the phase diagram of the vanadium–oxygen system. Even if plasma processes are far from equilibrium, this diagram provides the range of oxygen pressures that lead to the growth of different vanadium oxide phases. These conditions were used in the present work.     

Structural,electrical and optical properties of sol–gel AZO thin films

Transparent conductive Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were prepared by a sol–gel method and their structural, electrical and optical properties were systematically investigated. A minimum resistivity of 4.2 × 10⁻³ Ω cm was obtained for the 650 °C-annealed films doped with 1.0 at.% Al. All films had the preferential c-axis oriented texture according to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results. Optical transmittance spectra of the films showed a high transmittance of over 85% in the visible region and the optical band gap of the AZO films broadened with increasing doping concentration.     

Observation of reversed hysteresis loops and negative coercivity in CoFeAlO magnetic thin films

The magnetic and magneto-optical properties of CoFeAlO thin films fabricated by the RF magnetron reactive sputtering technique have been studied via vibrating sample magnetometer and the magneto-optical Kerr effect. It is found that, along the hard magnetization direction, the magnetic hysteresis loop is reversed and the coercive force is negative. This phenomenon can qualitatively be interpreted within the framework of the proposed two-layers model. It was also found that when as-deposited CoFeAlO thin films were annealed in vacuum (2×10⁻⁷ Torr) at a temperature of 180 °C for 2 h, the negative coercivity disappeared. The relationship between the magnetic and microstructural behaviors of the thin films is discussed.     

Low reflectance sputtered vanadium oxide thin films on silicon

Vanadium oxide thin films on silicon (Si) substrate are grown by pulsed radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique at RF power in the range of 100–700 W at room temperature. Deposited thin films are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques to investigate microstructural, phase, electronic structure and oxide state characteristics. The reflectance and transmittance spectra of the films and the Si substrate are recorded at the solar region (200–2300 nm) of the spectral window. Substantial reduction in reflectance and increase in transmittance is observed for the films grown beyond 200 W. Further, optical constants viz. absorption coefficient, refractive index and extinction coefficient of the deposited vanadium oxide films are evaluated.     

Influence of heat treatment on field emission characteristics of boron nitride thin films

Boron nitride (BN) nanometer thin films are synthesized on Si (1 0 0) substrates by RF reactive magnetron sputtering. Then the film surfaces are treated in the case of the base pressure below 5 × 10⁻⁴ Pa and the temperature of 800 and 1000 °C, respectively. And the films are studied by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), atomic force microscopic (AFM) and field emission characteristics at different annealing temperature. The results show that the surface heat 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 threshold electric fields are lower for BN samples without heat-treating than the treated films, which possibly ascribed to the surface negative electron affinity effect. A threshold field of 8 V/μm and the emission current of 80 μA are obtained. The surface NEA is still presence at the heat treatment temperature of 800 °C and disappeared at temperature of 1000 °C.     

Effect of annealing on the electrochemical properties of the Li–Mn–O thin films,prepared by high frequency RF magnetron sputtering

Li–Mn–O films are deposited by RF magnetron sputtering using 27.12 MHz as the excitation frequency. The sputtering rate of deposition is found to be higher than the one with conventional sputtering frequency. The rate of deposition as high as 42 Å/min has been achieved using this frequency. The X-ray diffraction patterns of films annealed in air show a gradual increase in crystallinity with the increase in annealing temperature. The electrochemical studies reveal that the films annealed at 700 °C show the best results in terms of crystallinity as well as discharge capacity. It is evident from this investigation that the higher excitation frequency magnetron discharge enhances the nucleation, and there by the rate of sputtering. This can be due to the reduced dc voltage appearing at the target surface at higher excitation frequency, which reduces the unnecessary ion bombardment of the growing film.     

Room temperature photoluminescence property of Mo-doped In2O3 thin films

Mo-doped In₂O₃ thin films have been prepared on glass substrates using an activated reactive evaporation method and systematically studied the effect of oxygen partial pressure on the structural, optical, electrical and photoluminescence properties of the films. The obtained films are highly transparent and conductive. The films exhibited the lowest electrical resistivity of 5.2 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, with an average optical transmittance of 90% in the visible region. An intensive photoluminescence emission peaks were observed at 415 and 440 nm.     

Temperature coefficient of resistance and thermal conductivity of Vanadium oxide ‘Big Mac’ sandwich structure

In this paper, we synthesize and characterize a thin film thermometer structure for infrared microbolometers. The structure is composed of alternating multilayers of Vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅), 25 nm, and Vanadium (V), 5 nm, thin films deposited by rf magnetron and dc magnetron sputtering respectively and annealed for 20, 30 and 40 min at 300 °C in Nitrogen (N₂) atmosphere. The best achieved temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) was found to be −2.57%/K for 40 min annealed samples. Moreover, we apply, for the first time, the photo-thermal deflection (PTD) technique for measuring the thermal conductivity of the synthesized thin films. The thermal conductivity of the developed thin films reveals an increase in thermal conductivity from 2 W/m K to 5.8 W/m K for as grown and 40 min annealed samples respectively.     

High quality nitrogen-doped zinc oxide thin films grown on ITO by sol–gel method

Highly transparent N-doped ZnO thin films were deposited on ITO coated corning glass substrate by sol–gel method. Ammonium nitrate was used as a dopant source of N with varying the doping concentration 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 at%. The DSC analysis of prepared NZO sols is observed a phase transition at 150 °C. X-ray diffraction pattern showed the preferred (002) peak of ZnO, which was deteriorated with increased N concentrations. The transmittance of NZO thin films was observed to be ~88%. The bandgap of NZO thin films increased from 3.28 to 3.70 eV with increased N concentration from 0 to 3 at%. The maximum carrier concentration 8.36×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ and minimum resistivity 1.64 Ω cm was observed for 3 at% N doped ZnO thin films deposited on glass substrate. These highly transparent ZnO thin films can be used as a window layer in solar cells and optoelectronic devices.     

Effect of oxygen partial pressure on the structure and properties of Cu–Al–O thin films

We have studied the electrical and optical properties of Cu–Al–O films deposited on silicon and quartz substrates by using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method under varied oxygen partial pressure P_O. The results indicate that P_O plays a critical role in the final phase constitution and microstructure of the films, and thus affects the electrical resistivity and optical transmittance significantly. The electrical resistivity increases with the increase of P_O from 2.4 × 10^?4 mbar to 7.5 × 10^?4 mbar and afterwards it decreases with further increasing P_O up to 1.7 × 10^?3 mbar. The optical transmittance in visible region increases with the increase of P_O and obtains the maximum of 65% when P_O is 1.7 × 10^?3 mbar. The corresponding direct band gap is 3.45 eV.     

Nb doping effect on TiO2−x films for bolometer applications

Nb-doped TiO_2−x thin films were deposited using a 1 at% niobium doped titanium target by RF reactive magnetron sputtering at various oxygen partial pressures (pO₂). The films appeared amorphous in the pO₂ range of 4.4–4.7% with resistivity ranging from 0.39 Ω cm to 2.48 Ω cm. Compared to pure TiO_2−x films, the resistivity of the Nb-doped TiO_2−x films did not change sensitively with the oxygen partial pressure, indicating that the resistivity of the films can be accurately controlled. 1/f noise parameter of Nb-doped TiO_2−x films were found to decrease largely while the measured temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the films was still high. The obtained results indicate that Nb-doped TiO_2−x films have great potential as an alternative bolometric material.     

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in N+-implanted ZnO:Mn thin films

Mn–N co-doped ZnO films with wurtzite structure were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering together with the ion-implantation technique. Then a post-annealing at 650 °C for 10 min in a N₂ atmosphere was performed to activate the implanted N⁺ ions and recover the crystal quality, and a p-type ZnO:Mn–N film with a hole concentration of about 2.1×10¹⁶ cm^?3 was obtained. It is found that the Mn mono-doped ZnO film only exhibits paramagnetic behavior, while after N⁺-implantation, it shows ferromagnetism at 300 K, and the magnetization of the ZnO:Mn–N films can be further enhanced by thermal annealing due to the activation of the N acceptors. Our experimental results confirm that the codoping N acceptors are favorable for ferromagnetic ordering of Mn²⁺ ions in ZnO, which is consistent with the recent theoretical calculations.     

Preparation and characterization of highly conducting and transparent Al doped CdO thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Highly conducting and transparent aluminum doped CdO thin films were deposited using pulsed laser deposition technique. The effect of growth temperature on structural, electrical, and optical properties was studied. It is observed that the film orientation changes from preferred (1 1 1) plane to (2 0 0) plane with increase in growth temperature. The electrical resistivity of the films was found to increase with increase in growth temperature. The low resistivity of 4.3 × 10⁻⁵ Ω cm and high transparency (∼85%) was obtained for the film grown at 150 °C. The band gap of the films varies from 2.74 eV to 2.84 eV.     

Microstructures and soft magnetic properties of as-deposited Fe–Sm–O thin films

The influences of O₂ partial pressure on saturation magnetization, coercivity and effective permeability of the as-deposited Fe–Sm–O thin films, which were fabricated by RF magnetron reactive sputtering method, were investigated. The nanocrystalline Fe_83.4Sm_3.4O_13.2 thin film fabricated at O₂ partial pressure of 5% exhibited the best magnetic softness with a saturation magnetization of 1.43 MA/m, coercivity of 65.2 A/m and effective permeability of about 2600 in the frequency range from 0.5 to 100 MHz. The electrical resistivity of Fe_83.4Sm_3.4O_13.2 was 130 μΩ cm. The microstructures and electrical resistivity were investigated in this work.     

Structural and electrical properties of fluorine-doped zinc tin oxide thin films prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

Transparent and conductive thin films of fluorine doped zinc tin oxide (FZTO) were deposited on glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering using a 30 wt% ZnO with 70 wt% SnO₂ ceramic targets. The F-doping was carried out by introducing a mixed gas of pure Ar, CF₄, and O₂ forming gas into the sputtering chamber while sputtering ZTO target. The effect of annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical performances of FZTO thin films has been studied. FZTO thin film annealed at 600 °C shows the decrease in resistivity 5.47 × 10⁻³ Ω cm, carrier concentration ∼10¹⁹ cm⁻³, mobility ∼20 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and an increase in optical band gap from 3.41 to 3.60 eV with increasing the annealing temperatures which is well explained by Burstein–Moss effect. The optical transmittance of FZTO films was higher than 80% in all specimens. Work function (ϕ) of the FZTO films increase from 3.80 eV to 4.10 eV through annealing and are largely dependent on the amounts of incorporated F. FZTO is a possible potential transparent conducting oxide (TCO) alternative for application in optoelectronics.     

Room-temperature deposition of transparent conducting Al-doped ZnO films by RF magnetron sputtering method

Transparent conductive Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films with highly (0 0 2)-preferred orientation were deposited on quartz substrates at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering. Optimization of deposition parameters was based on RF power, Ar pressure in the vacuum chamber, and distance between the target and substrate. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the AZO thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Hall measurement, and optical transmission spectroscopy. The 250 nm thickness AZO films with an electrical resistivity as low as 4.62 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and an average optical transmission of 93.7% in the visible range were obtained at RF power of 300 W, Ar flow rate of 30 sccm, and target distance of 7 cm. The optical bandgap depends on the deposition condition, and was in the range of 3.75-3.86 eV. These results make the possibility for light emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar cells with AZO films as transparent electrodes, especially using lift-off process to achieve the transparent electrode pattern transfer.