Dynamical resolidification behavior of silicon thin films during frontside and backside excimer laser annealing

Excimer laser annealing (ELA) is frequently employed to fabricate low-temperature polycrystalline silicon films on glass substrate. The grain size and crystallinity of polycrystalline silicon films are significantly affected by the resolidification behavior during ELA. A real-time in situ time-resolved optical measurement system is developed to record the rapid phase transformation process during ELA. The average solidification velocity of liquid-Si is calculated from these optical spectra using MATLAB and Excel softwares. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images reveal maximum grain size of poly-Si films with a diameter of 1 μm, which is obtained in the complete melting regime of both frontside ELA and backside ELA. Recrystallization mechanisms of complete melting of Si thin films in frontside ELA and backside ELA are demonstrated. Resolidification scenarios of partial melting, near-complete melting and complete melting in frontside ELA and backside ELA are proposed.     

Rapid determination of surface roughness of polycrystalline silicon following frontside and backside excimer laser irradiation

Excimer-laser crystallization (ELC) is the most commonly employed technology for fabricating low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS). Investigations on the surface roughness of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films have become an important issue because the surface roughness of poly-Si thin films is widely believed to be related to its electrical characteristics. In this study, we develop a simple optical measurement system for rapid surface roughness measurements of poly-Si thin films fabricated by frontside ELC and backside ELC. We find that the incident angle of 20° is a good candidate for measuring the surface roughness of poly-Si thin films. The surface roughness of polycrystalline silicon thin films can be determined rapidly from the reflected peak power density measured by the optical system developed using the prediction equation. The maximum measurement error rate of the optical measurement system developed is less than 9.71%. The savings in measurement time of the surface roughness of poly-Si thin films is up to 83%. The method of backside ELC is suggested for batch production of low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors due to the lower surface roughness of poly-Si films and higher laser-beam utilization efficiency.     

Evaluation of probe lasers employed in optical diagnostics for phase transformation of thin films during excimer laser crystallization

The stability and reliability of probe laser is an important factor affecting the inspection of the phase transformation process of Si thin films during excimer laser crystallization using in-situ time-resolved optical measurements. The changes in 2D intensity profile, peak power density, and beam wander of the commonly used helium–neon (He–Ne) and diode laser are investigated experimentally. It is found that the peak power density of He–Ne laser is higher than that of diode laser, while the total power of He–Ne laser is lower than that of diode laser. Although the instability in the peak power density of He–Ne laser will increase with increasing the operation time, the beam stability of He–Ne laser is better than that of diode laser. For long-time operation (>24 h) of optical measurements, the diode laser is a good candidate of probe laser. Conversely, the diode laser is suitable for the short-time operation (<24 h) of optical measurements because the beam-wander is higher than that of He–Ne laser.     

In situ time-resolved optical measurements of a-Si thin films during excimer laser crystallization

An in situ time-resolved optical reflection and transmission (TRORT) monitoring system combining two He-Ne probe lasers, a digital oscilloscope and three fast photodetectors is developed to investigate the crystallization processes of Si thin films during excimer laser crystallization (ELC). The physical meaning of optical spectra obtained by TRORT measurements has been interpreted in detail. The melt duration and transient phase transformation dynamics of Si thin films can be determined and interpreted immediately. A high efficiency and non-destructive evaluation approach is proposed for determining the grain size of polycrystalline Si after ELC directly and immediacy under appropriate experimental conditions.     

Morphological and optical properties of silicon thin films by PLD

Silicon thin films have been prepared on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The films were deposited in vacuum from a silicon target at a base pressure of 10⁻⁶ mbar in the temperature range from 400 to 800 °C. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm, 5 ns duration, 10 Hz) at a constant energy density of 2 J × cm⁻² has been used. The influence of the substrate temperature on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the Si thin films was investigated.Spectral ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to study the thickness and the surface roughness of the deposited films. Surface roughness values measured by AFM and ellipsometry show the same tendency of increasing roughness with increased deposition temperature.     

Crystallisation of TiO2 thin films induced by excimer laser irradiation

Titanium dioxide thin films have been deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering on glass substrate and subsequently irradiated by UV radiation using a KrF excimer laser. In this work, we have study the influence of the laser fluence (F) ranging between 0.05 and 0.40 mJ/cm² on the constitution and microstructure of the deposited films. Irradiated thin films are characterized by profilometry, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. As deposited films are amorphous, while irradiated films present an anatase structure. The crystallinity of the films strongly varies as a function of F with maximum for F = 0.125 J/cm². In addition to the modification of their constitution, the irradiated areas present a strongly modified microstructure with appearance of nanoscale features. The physico-chemical mechanisms of these structural modifications are discussed based on the theory of nucleation.     

Enhanced electrical and optical properties of room temperature deposited Aluminium doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) thin films by excimer laser annealing

High quality transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) often require a high thermal budget fabrication process. In this study, Excimer Laser Annealing (ELA) at a wavelength of 248 nm has been explored as a processing mechanism to facilitate low thermal budget fabrication of high quality aluminium doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films. 180 nm thick AZO films were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature on fused silica substrates. The effects of the applied RF power and the sputtering pressure on the outcome of ELA at different laser energy densities and number of pulses have been investigated. AZO films deposited with no intentional heating at 180 W, and at 2 mTorr of 0.2% oxygen in argon were selected as the optimum as-deposited films in this work, with a resistivity of 1×10⁻³ Ω.cm, and an average visible transmission of 85%. ELA was found to result in noticeably reduced resistivity of 5×10⁻⁴ Ω.cm, and enhancing the average visible transmission to 90% when AZO is processed with 5 pulses at 125 mJ/cm². Therefore, the combination of RF magnetron sputtering and ELA, both low thermal budget and scalable techniques, can provide a viable fabrication route of high quality AZO films for use as transparent electrodes.     

Effect of excimer laser annealing on the properties of ZnO thin film prepared by sol-gel method

Pristine ZnO thin films have been deposited with zinc acetate [Zn(CH₃COO)₂], mono-ethanolamine (stabilizer), and isopropanol solutions by sol-gel method. After deposition, pristine ZnO thin films have been irradiated by excimer laser (λ = 248, KrF) source with energy density of 50 mJ/cm² for 30 sec. The effect of excimer laser annealing on the optical and structural properties of ZnO thin films are investigated by photoluminescence and field emission scanning electron microscope. As-grown ZnO thin films show a huge peak of visible region and a wide full width at half maximum (FWHM) of UV region due to low quality with amorphous ZnO thin films. After KrF excimer laser annealing, ZnO thin films show intense near-band-edge (NBE) emission and weak deep-level emission. The optically improved pristine ZnO thin films have demonstrated that excimer laser annealing is novel treatment process at room temperature.     

A non-destructive optical diagnostic technique for measuring grain size of polycrystalline silicon produced by excimer laser crystallization

This work demonstrates a non-destructive optical diagnostic technique for determining grain size of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and presents the result of melt-mediated phase transformation after excimer laser crystallization. The relationship between the average grain size of poly-Si films and transmissivity is investigated experimentally, which is found to coincide with the observation by field-emission scanning electron microscopy. This methodology can be used in association with a variety of non-destructive monitoring schemes.     

Synthesis and optical characterization of nanocrystalline CdTe thin films

From several years the study of binary compounds has been intensified in order to find new materials for solar photocells. The development of thin film solar cells is an active area of research at this time. Much attention has been paid to the development of low cost, high efficiency thin film solar cells. CdTe is one of the suitable candidates for the production of thin film solar cells due to its ideal band gap, high absorption coefficient. The present work deals with thickness dependent study of CdTe thin films. Nanocrystalline CdTe bulk powder was synthesized by wet chemical route at pH≈11.2 using cadmium chloride and potassium telluride as starting materials. The product sample was characterized by transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The structural characteristics studied by X-ray diffraction showed that the films are polycrystalline in nature. CdTe thin films with thickness 40, 60, 80 and 100 nm were prepared on glass substrates by using thermal evaporation onto glass substrate under a vacuum of 10⁻⁶ Torr. The optical constants (absorption coefficient, optical band gap, refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary part of dielectric constant) of CdTe thin films was studied as a function of photon energy in the wavelength region 400–2000 nm. Analysis of the optical absorption data shows that the rule of direct transitions predominates. It has been found that the absorption coefficient, refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) decreases while the values of optical band gap increase with an increase in thickness from 40 to 100 nm, which can be explained qualitatively by a thickness dependence of the grain size through decrease in grain boundary barrier height with grain size.     

Growth of oxide thin films for optical gas sensor applications

Tungsten trioxide and titanium dioxide thin films were synthesised by pulsed laser deposition. We used for irradiations of oxide targets an UV KrF* (λ = 248 nm, τ_FWHM ≅ 20 ns, ν = 2 Hz) excimer laser source, at 2 J/cm² incident fluence value. The experiments were performed in low oxygen pressure. The (0 0 1) SiO₂ substrates were heated during the thin film deposition process at temperature values within the 300-500 °C range. The structure and crystalline status of the obtained oxide thin films were investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Our analyses show that the films are composed by nanoparticles with average diameters from a few to a few tens of nm. Moreover, the films deposited at substrate temperatures higher than 300 °C are crystalline. The tungsten trioxide films consist of a mixture of triclinic and monoclinic phases, while the titanium dioxide films structure corresponds to the tetragonal anatase phase. The oxide films average transmittance in the visible-infrared spectral range is higher than 80%, which makes them suitable for sensor applications.     

Structural and optical properties of pulsed laser deposited SrBi2Nb2O9 thin films

SrBi₂Nb₂O₉ (SBN) thin films were prepared on fused quartz substrates at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition. The influence of deposition parameters such as target-to-substrate distance, oxygen pressure and annealing temperature on film crystallization behavior was investigated by X-ray diffraction. Results indicated that the films grown at the optimum processing conditions have polycrystalline structure with a single layered perovskite phase. The optical transmittance of the films prepared at various oxygen pressures was measured in the wavelength range 200–900 nm using UV–vis spectrophotometer. The results showed that there is a red shift in the optical absorption edge with a rise in the oxygen pressure. Refractive index as a function of wavelength and optical band gap of the films were determined from the optical transmittance spectra. The results indicated that the refractive index increases with increasing oxygen pressure at the same incident light wavelength, while the band gap reduces from 4.13 to 3.88 eV. It may be attributed to an increase in packing density and grain size, and decrease in oxygen defects.     

Structural and optical characteristics of spin-coated ZnO thin films

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were deposited onto glass substrates by spin-coating method, from a precursor solution containing zinc acetate, ethanol and ammonium hydroxide. After deposition, the films were heated at a temperature of 100 °C in order to remove unwanted materials. Finally, the films were annealed at 500 °C for complete oxidation. X-ray diffraction showed that ZnO films were polycrystalline and have a hexagonal (wurtzite) structure. The crystallites are preferentially oriented with (0 0 2) planes parallel to the substrate surface. The films have a high transparency (more than 75%) in the spectral range from 450 nm to 1300 nm. The analysis of absorption spectra shows the direct nature of band-to-band transitions. The optical bandgap energy ranges between 3.15 eV and 3.25 eV.Some correlations between the processing parameters (spinning speed, temperature of post deposition heat treatment) and structure and optical characteristics of the respective thin films were established.     

Effects of high hydrogen dilution ratio on optical properties of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films were prepared by plasma enhanced vapor deposition technique. In our experiment, hydrogen dilution ratio R_H was changed mainly, while the other parameters, such as the radio frequency power, the direct current bias value, the chamber pressure, the total gas flow and the substrate temperature were kept constant. The film's surface topography was gained by AFM. The chemical bond was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra. The optical properties were characterized by transmission spectra. To consider absorption peak of stretching vibration mode of SiH₃ at 2140 cm⁻¹ and to reduce the calculation error, a hydrogen content calculation method was proposed. Effects of hydrogen dilution ratio on the deposition rate v and hydrogen content C_H were investigated. The bonding mode and the force constants k of chemical bond, the structural factor f in films were changed by high hydrogen dilution ratio, which gave rise to the shift of absorption peak of infrared stretching mode and the decrease of optical band gap E_g.     

Quenching of surface traps in Mn doped ZnO thin films for enhanced optical transparency

The structural and photoluminescence analyses were performed on un-doped and Mn doped ZnO thin films grown on Si (1 0 0) substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and annealed at different post-deposition temperatures (500-800 °C). X-ray diffraction (XRD), employed to study the structural properties, showed an improved crystallinity at elevated temperatures with a consistent decrease in the lattice parameter ‘c’. The peak broadening in XRD spectra and the presence of Mn 2p3/2 peak at ∼640 eV in X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic (XPS) spectra of the doped thin films confirmed the successful incorporation of Mn in ZnO host matrix. Extended near band edge emission (NBE) spectra indicated the reduction in the concentration of the intrinsic surface traps in comparison to the doped ones resulting in improved optical transparency. Reduced deep level emission (DLE) spectra in doped thin films with declined PL ratio validated the quenching of the intrinsic surface traps thereby improving the optical transparency and the band gap, essential for optoelectronic and spintronic applications. Furthermore, the formation and uniform distribution of nano-sized grains with improved surface features of Mn-doped ZnO thin films were observed in Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) images.     

Ellipsometry investigation of the effects of annealing temperature on the optical properties of indium tin oxide thin films studied by Drude-Lorentz model

Float glass substrates covered by high quality ITO thin films (Balzers) were subjected for an hour to single thermal treatments at different temperature between 100 °C and 600 °C. In order to study the electric and optical properties of both annealed and not annealed ITO-covered float glasses, ellipsometry, spectrophotometry, impedance analysis, and X-ray measurements were performed. Moreover, variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry provides relevant information on the electronic and optical properties of the samples. ITO film is modeled as a dense lower layer and a surface roughness layer. The estimated optical density for ITO and the optical density of the surface roughness ITO layer increases with the annealing temperature. In the near-IR range, the extinction coefficient decreases while the maximum of the absorption in the near UV range shift towards low photon energy as the annealing temperature increases. Spectrophotometry was used to estimate the optical band-gap energy of the samples. The thermal annealing changes strongly the structural and optical properties of ITO thin films, because during the thermal processes, the ITO thin film absorbs oxygen from air. This oxygen absorption decreases the oxygen vacancies therefore the defect densities in the crystalline structure of the ITO thin films also decrease, as confirmed both by ellipsometry and X-ray measurements.     

The effects of post-thermal annealing on the optical parameters of indium-doped ZnO thin films

Indium-doped ZnO thin films are deposited on quartz glass slides by RF magnetron sputtering at ambient temper- ature. The as-deposited films are annealed at different temperatures from 400 C to 800 C in air for 1 h. Transmittance spectra are used to determine the optical parameters and the thicknesses of the films before and after annealing using a nonlinear programming method, and the effects of the annealing temperatures on the optical parameters and the thickness are investigated. The optical band gap is determined from the absorption coefficient. The calculated results show that the film thickness and optical parameters both increase first and then decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C. The band gap of the as-deposited ZnO:In thin film is 3.28 eV, and it decreases to 3.17 eV after annealing at 400 C. Then the band gap increases from 3.17 eV to 3.23 eV with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C.     

Physical properties of ZnSe thin films deposited on glass and silicon substrates

ZnSe thin films were deposited onto Corning glass and silicon substrates using thermal evaporation. The samples were prepared at different substrate temperatures. The thin films’ surface chemical composition was determined through Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). AES signals corresponding to Zn and Se were only detected in AES spectra. The samples’ crystallographic structure was studied through X-ray diffraction. The material crystallised in the cubic structure with preferential orientation (111). Optical properties of the ZnSe films were studied over two energy ranges via electron energy loss spectroscopy (10–90 eV) and spectral transmittance measurements (0.4–4 eV). In both cases, the spectral variation of the refractive index and the absorption coefficient were determined by fitting the experimental results with well-established theoretical models. Experimental values for the material’s gap were also found, and photoconductivity (PC) measurements were carried out. Transitions between bands, usually labelled Γ^V₈ → Γ^C₆ and Γ^V₇ → Γ^C₆, were found in the optical and PC responses. A wide spectral photoconductive response between 300 and 850 nm was found in the ZnSe/Si samples prepared at 250 °C substrate temperature.     

Research on temperature field characteristics of optical films under 1064 nm short-pulse laser radiation

The 3-D temperature field distribution (TFD) equation of optical films (OFs) was analyzed, based on the film temperature field distribution (FTFD) model irradiated by Gaussian short-pulse laser, and short-pulse laser-induced temperature field distribution of TiO₂/SiO₂ composite membranes on K9 glasses was obtained by means of numerical simulation. The results show that the thermal effect of optical films is very obvious under the Gaussian short-pulse laser. Temperature at the center of the spot rises faster than in other areas, and it decreases along the radius rapidly. It provides theoretical basis for progress analysis of short-pulse laser acting on optical films.