Optimization of the optical and electrical properties of electron beam evaporated aluminum-doped zinc oxide films for opto-electronic applications

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been deposited by electron beam evaporation technique on glass substrates. The structural, electrical and optical properties of AZO films have been investigated as a function of annealing temperature. It was observed that the optical properties such as transmittance, reflectance, optical band gap and refractive index of AZO films were strongly affected by annealing temperature. The transmittance values of 84% in the visible region and 97% in the NIR region were obtained for AZO film annealed at 475 °C. The room temperature electrical resistivity of 4.6×10⁻³ Ω cm has been obtained at the same temperature of annealing. It was found that the calculated refractive index has been affected by the packing density of the thin films, whereas, the high annealing temperature gave rise to improve the homogeneity of the films. The single-oscillator model was used to analyze the optical parameters such as the oscillator and dispersion energies.     

Effect of the oxygen pressure on the microstructure and optical properties of ZnO films prepared by laser molecular beam epitaxy

A series of ZnO films were prepared on the Si (1 0 0) or glass substrate at 773 K under various oxygen pressures by using a laser molecular beam epitaxy system. The microstructure and optical properties were investigated through the X-ray diffraction, Raman spectrometer, scanning electron microscope, ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer and spectrofluorophotometer. The results showed that ZnO thin film prepared at 1 Pa oxygen pressure displayed the best crystalinity and all ZnO films formed a columnar structure. Meanwhile, all ZnO films exhibited an abrupt absorption edge near the wavelength of 380 nm in transmission spectra. With increasing the oxygen pressure, the transmission intensity changed non-monotonically and reached a maximum of above 80% at 1 Pa oxygen pressure, based on which the band gaps of all ZnO films were calculated to be about 3.259–3.315 eV. Photoluminescence spectra indicated that there occurred no emission peak at a low oxygen pressure of 10⁻⁵ Pa. With the increment of the oxygen pressure, there occurred a UV emission peak of 378 nm, a weak violet emission peak of 405 nm and a wide green emission band centered at 520 nm. As the oxygen pressure increased further, the position of UV emission peak remained and its intensity changed non-monotonically and reached a maximum at 1 Pa. Meanwhile the intensity of green emission band increased monotonically with increasing the oxygen pressure. In addition, it was also found that the intensity of UV emission peak decreased as the measuring temperature shifted from 80 to 300 K. The analyses indicated that the UV emission peak originated from the combination of free excitons and the green emission band originated from the energy level jump from conduction band to O_Zn defect.     

Optical properties of zinc peroxide and zinc oxide multilayer nanohybrid films

Zinc peroxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared and self-assembled hybrid nanolayers were built up using layer-by-layer (LbL) technique on the surface of glass substrate using the layer silicate hectorite and an anionic polyelectrolyte, sodium polystyrene sulfonate (PSS). Light absorption, interference and morphological properties of the hybrid films were studied to determine their thickness and refractive index. The influence of layer silicates and polymers on the self-organizing properties of ZnO₂ and ZnO nanoparticles was examined. X-ray diffraction revealed that ZnO₂ powders decomposed to ZnO (zincite phase) at relatively low temperatures (less than 200 °C). The optical thickness of the films ranged from 190 to 750 nm and increased linearly with the number of layers. Band gap energies of the ZnO₂/hectorite films were independent from the layer thickness and were larger than that of pure ZnO₂ nanodispersion. Decomposition of ZnO₂ to ZnO and O₂ at 400 °C resulted in the decrease of the band gap energy from 3.75 to 3.3 eV. Concomitantly, the refractive index increased in correlation with the formation of the zincite ZnO phase. In contrast, the band gap energies of the ZnO₂/PSS hybrid films decreased with the thickness of the nanohybrid layers. We ascribe this phenomenon to the steric stabilization of primary ZnO₂ particles present in the confined space between adjacent layers of hectorite sheets.     

Determination of optical properties of SnO2 films

Summary The optical properties of conductive transparent thin films of undoped SnO₂, prepared by using magnetron supttering, were studied by measuring the transmittance and the reflectance between λ=0.25 μm and λ=3μm. The extracted optical constants are interpreted to give values of a direct band gap of the order of 4 eV and of an indirect band gap of the order of 3 eV. Typical SnO₂ films transmit ≈85% of visible light, have sheet resistanceR _∂ (100÷800) Ω_∂ and resistivities of (2.4·10⁻³÷1.8·10⁻²) Ω cm.

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Riassunto Mediante la misura dei valori di transmittanza e di riflettanza per lunghezze d'onda comprese fra 0.25 μm e 3 μm, sono state studiate le proprietà ottiche di film sottili (trasparenti e conduttivi) di SnO₂ non drogato, preparati mediante sputtering. Dai valori così ottenuti sono stati ricavati valori del gap diretto dell'ordine di 4 eV e di quello indiretto dell'ordine di 3 eV. Un film di SnO₂ presenta tipicamente valori della transmittanza intorno all'85%, per luce visibile,R _∂ intorno ai (100÷800) Ω_∂ e resistività fra 2.4·10⁻³ e 1.8·10⁻² Ω cm.

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Резюме Пзмеряя величины пропускания и отражения в области длин волн между λ=0.25 мкм и λ=3 мкм, исследуются оптические свойства проводящих прозрачных тонких пленок нелегированного SnO₂, приготовленных с помощью напыления. Из полученных оптических постоянных извлекаются значения прямой щели, порядка 4 эВ, и непрямой щели, порядка 3 эВ. Типичные пленки SnO₂ пропускают ∼85% видимого света, имеют сопротивлениеR _∂ (100÷800) Ω_∂ и удельные сопротивления в области (2.4·10⁻³÷1.8·10⁻²) Ом·см.

     

Effect of some preparative parameters on optical properties of spray deposited iridium oxide thin films

Optical properties of iridium oxide films fabricated by the spray pyrolysis technique (SPT) have been investigated. The transmission and reflection spectra of the sprayed films were measured by using a double-beam spectrophotometer in the wavelength range from 200 to 2500 nm. Influences of the preparative parameters; namely, substrate temperature (350-500 °C) and solution molarity (0.005-0.03 M), on the optical characteristics were examined. The solution molarity of the iridium chloride solution was varied so as to prepare iridium oxide thin films with thicknesses ranging from 160 to 325 nm. Some important characteristics of optical absorption, such as optical dispersion energies, the dielectric constant, the ratio of the number of charge carriers to the effective mass, the single oscillator wavelength, and the average value of the oscillator strength, were evaluated. The value of the refractive index was found to depend on the chemical composition as well as the degree of stoichiometry of IrO₂. The values obtained for the high frequency dielectric constant through two procedures are in the range of 2.8-3.9 and 3.3-4.6 over the relevant ranges of the substrate temperature and solution molarity, respectively. Analysis of the energy dispersion curve of the absorption coefficient indicated a direct optical transition with the bandgap energy ranging between 2.61 and 2.51 eV when the substrate temperature increases from 350 to 500 °C.     

Substrate-dependent structure, microstructure, composition and properties of nanostructured TiN films

Titanium nitride films of a thickness of ∼1.5 μm were deposited on amorphous and crystalline substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature with 100% nitrogen in the sputter gas. The growth of nanostructured, i.e. crystalline nano-grain sized, films at ambient temperature is demonstrated. The microstructure of the films grown on crystalline substrates reveals a larger grain size/crystallite size than that of the films deposited on amorphous substrates. Specular reflectance measurements on films deposited on different substrates indicate that the position of the Ti-N 2s band at 2.33 eV is substrate-dependent, indicating substrate-mediated stoichiometry. This clearly demonstrates that not only structure and microstructure, but also chemical composition of the films is substrate-influenced. The films deposited on amorphous substrates display lower hardness and modulus values than the films deposited on crystalline substrates, with the highest value of hardness being 19 GPa on a lanthanum aluminate substrate.     

Structure and optical properties of chemically synthesized titanium oxide deposited by evaporation technique

Titanium oxide inorganic ion exchange material was synthesized by hydrolysis with water and ammonia solution. Structural feature of the synthesized titanium oxide was analyzed using X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and infrared spectrometer technique. Tentative formula of titanium oxide was determined and written as TiO₂·0.58H₂O. Titanium oxide films were deposited on glass substrates by means of an electron beam evaporation technique at room temperature from bulk sample. The films were annealed at 250, 350, 450, and 550 °C temperatures. Transmittance, reflectance, optical energy gap, refractive index and extinction coefficient were investigated. The transmittance values of 85% in the visible region and 88% in the near infrared region have been obtained for titanium oxide film annealed at 550 °C. Kubelka-Munk function was used to evaluate the absorption coefficient which was used to determine the optical band gap. It was found that the optical band gap increases with increasing annealing temperature whereas the refractive index and extinction coefficient decreases.     

Laser energy density, structure and properties of pulsed-laser deposited zinc oxide films

Zinc oxide thin films were deposited on soda lime glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition in an oxygen-reactive atmosphere at 20 Pa and a constant substrate temperature at 300 °C. A pulsed KrF excimer laser, operated at 248 nm with pulse duration 10 ns, was used to ablate the ceramic zinc oxide target. The structure, the optical and electrical properties of the as-deposited films were studied in dependence of the laser energy density in the 1.2-2.8 J/cm² range, with the aid of X-ray Diffraction, Atomic Force Microscope, Transmission Spectroscopy techniques, and the Van der Pauw method, respectively. The results indicated that the structural and optical properties of the zinc oxide films were improved by increasing the laser energy density of the ablating laser. The surface roughness of the zinc oxide film increased with the decrease of laser energy density and both the optical bang gap and the electrical resistivity of the film were significantly affected by the laser energy density.     

Spray pyrolysis deposition of ZnO thin films on FTO coated substrates from zinc acetate and zinc chloride precursor solution at different growth temperatures

ZnO thin films were fabricated using zinc chloride and zinc acetate precursors by the spray pyrolysis technique on FTO coated glass substrates. The ZnO films were grown in different deposition temperature ranges varying from 400 to 550 °C. Influences of substrate temperature and zinc precursors on crystal structure, morphology and optical property of the ZnO thin films were investigated. XRD patterns of the films deposited using chloride precursor indicate that (1 0 1) is dominant at low temperatures, while those deposited using acetate precursor show that (1 0 1) is dominant at high temperatures. SEM images show that deposition temperature and type of precursor have a strong effect on the surface morphology. Optical measurements show that ZnO films are obviously influenced by the substrate temperatures and different types of precursor solutions. It is observed that as temperature increases, transmittance decreases for ZnO films obtained using zinc chloride precursor, but the optical transmittance of ZnO films obtained using zinc acetate precursor increases as temperature increases.     

A study of the optical properties of titanium oxide films prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering

TiO₂ thin films were deposited on the glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique at different sputtering pressures (2 × 10⁻³ to 2 × 10⁻² mbar). The films prepared at low pressures have an anatase phase, and the films prepared at high pressures have an amorphous phase. The optical properties were studied by measuring the transmittance and the ellipsometric spectra. The optical constants of the films in the visible range were obtained by fitting the transmittance combined with the ellipsometry measurements using the classical model with one oscillator. The refractive index of the films decreases from 2.5 until 2.1 as the sputtering pressure increases from 2 × 10⁻³ to 2 × 10⁻² mbar. The films prepared at the pressure higher than 6 × 10⁻³ mbar show a volume inhomogeneity. This volume inhomogeneity has been calculated by fitting the transmittance and the ellipsometric spectra. The volume inhomogeneity of the film prepared at the highest sputtering pressure is about 10%. Although the films prepared at high pressures show a large volume inhomogeneity, they have low extinction coefficients. It is suggested that the anatase phase results in more light scattering than amorphous phase does, and then a high extinction coefficient.     

Comparative study on structural and optical properties of CdS films fabricated by three different low-cost techniques

Highly crystalline and transparent cadmium sulphide films were fabricated at relatively low temperature by employing an inexpensive, simplified spray technique using perfume atomizer (generally used for cosmetics). The structural, surface morphological and optical properties of the films were studied and compared with that prepared by conventional spray pyrolysis using air as carrier gas and chemical bath deposition. The films deposited by the simplified spray have preferred orientation along (1 0 1) plane. The lattice parameters were calculated as a = 4.138 Å and c = 6.718 Å which are well agreed with that obtained from the other two techniques and also with the standard data. The optical transmittance in the visible range and the optical band gap were found as 85% and 2.43 eV, respectively. The structural and optical properties of the films fabricated by the simplified spray are found to be desirable for opto-electronic applications.     

Effect of doping concentration on the structural and optical properties of pure and tin doped zinc oxide thin films by nebulizer spray pyrolysis (NSP) technique

Pure and tin doped zinc oxide (Sn:ZnO) thin films were prepared for the first time by NSP technique using aqueous solutions of zinc acetate dehydrate, tin (IV) chloride fendahydrate and methanol. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm that the films are polycrystalline in nature exhibiting hexagonal wurtzite type, with (0 0 2) as preferred orientation. The structural parameters such as lattice constant (‘a’ and ‘c’), crystallite size, dislocation density, micro strain, stress and texture coefficient were calculated from X-ray diffraction studies. Surface morphology was found to be modified with increasing Sn doping concentration. The ZnO films have high transmittance 85% in the visible region, and the transmittance is found to be decreased with the increase of Sn doping concentration. The corresponding optical band gap decreases from 3.25 to 3.08 eV. Room temperature photoluminescence reveals the sharp emission of strong UV peak at 400 nm (3.10 eV) and a strong sharp green luminescence at 528 nm (2.34 eV) in the Sn doped ZnO films. The electrical resistivity is found to be 10⁶ Ω-cm at higher temperature and 10⁵ Ω-cm at lower temperature.     

Structural and optical characterization of DC magnetron sputtered molybdenum oxide films

Thin films of molybdenum trioxide were deposited on glass substrates employing direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering by sputtering of molybdenum at different oxygen partial pressures in the range 8 × 10⁻⁵–1 × 10⁻³ mbar and at a substrate temperature of 473 K. The glow discharge characteristics of magnetron cathode target of molybdenum were studied. The influence of oxygen partial pressure on the structural and optical properties of molybdenum trioxide films was investigated. The films formed at an optimum oxygen partial pressure of 2 × 10⁻⁴ mbar were polycrystalline in nature with orthorhombic α- phase and an optical band gap of 3.16 eV. The refractive index of the films formed at an oxygen partial pressure of 2 × 10⁻⁴ mbar decreased from 2.08 to 1.89 with increase of wavelength from 450 to 1,000 nm, respectively. Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Ionic Devices (ICID 2006), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India, Dec. 7–9, 2006.     

Ni掺杂ZnO薄膜的结构与光学特性研究

使用射频磁控溅射法成功制备了不同掺杂浓度（0—7at.%）的ZnO:Ni薄膜.X射线衍射的θ-2θ和摇摆曲线扫描结果表明,5at.%Ni掺杂ZnO薄膜具有沿c轴方向最佳的择优取向生长特性,（002）衍射峰向大角度方向移动揭示了Ni杂质被掺入ZnO晶格中占据Zn位.ZnO:Ni薄膜具有较好的可见光透明特性,拟合发现薄膜的光学带隙随Ni掺杂量的增加由3.272 eV线性降低到3.253 eV.未掺杂薄膜在550 nm处呈现出一个绿色发光峰,掺入Ni杂质后薄膜主要表现了以430 nm为中心的蓝色发光,分析认为它们分别源于薄膜中O空位和Zn填隙缺陷发光. 关键词： ZnO:Ni薄膜 结构特性 光学带隙 光致发光     

Structural, optical and electrochromic properties of nickel oxide thin films grown from electrodeposited nickel sulphide

Nickel oxide thin films were grown onto FTO-coated glass substrates by a two-step process: electrodeposition of nickel sulphide and their thermal oxidation at 425, 475 and 525 °C. The influence of thermal oxidation temperature on structural, optical, morphological and electrochromic properties was studied. The structural properties undoubtedly revealed NiO formation. The electrochromic properties were studied by means of cyclic voltammetry. The films exhibited anodic electrochromism, changing from a transparent state to a coloured state at +0.75 V versus SCE, i.e. by simultaneous ion and electron ejection. The transmittance in the coloured and bleached states was recorded to access electrochromic quality of the films. Colouration efficiency and electrochromic reversibility were found to be maximum (21 mC/cm² and 89%, respectively) for the films oxidized at 425 °C. The optical band gap energy of nickel oxide slightly varies with increase in annealing temperature.     

Effect of annealing temperature on the optical constants of zinc oxide films

In this paper, the effect of annealing temperature on optical constants was studied. The ZnO films were deposited on microscopic glass substrates using the sol-gel method for various annealing temperatures. The deposited zinc oxide (ZnO) films were characterized by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), a spectrophotometer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The transmittance spectra recorded through the spectrophotometer exhibits 90% transmittance. The XRD spectra showed polycrystalline nature of ZnO film. Optical constants were determined through transmittance spectra using an envelope method. It was found that there was a significant effect of annealing temperature on the refractive index and extinction coefficient of deposited ZnO films. In this experiment, the optimum refractive index value of 1.97 was obtained at 350 °C annealing temperature at visible (vis) wavelength. The optical energy gap was found to be of ∼3.2 eV for all the samples. The top view of SEM showed the ZnO grain growth on the glass substrates.     

Structural and optical properties of electrodeposited molybdenum oxide thin films

Electrosynthesis of Mo(IV) oxide thin films on F-doped SnO₂ conducting glass (10-20/Ω/□) substrates were carried from aqueous alkaline solution of ammonium molybdate at room temperature. The physical characterization of as-deposited films carried by thermogravimetric/differential thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTA), infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed the formation of hydrous and amorphous MoO₂. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a smooth but cracked surface with multi-layered growth. Annealing of these films in dry argon at 450 °C for 1 h resulted into polycrystalline MoO₂ with crystallites aligned perpendicular to the substrate. Optical absorption study indicated a direct band gap of 2.83 eV. The band gap variation consistent with Moss rule and band gap narrowing upon crystallization was observed.Structure tailoring of as-deposited thin films by thermal oxidation in ambient air to obtain electrochromic Mo(VI) oxide thin films was exploited for the first time by this novel route. The results of this study will be reported elsewhere.     

Effect of cationic/anionic organic surfactants on evaporation induced self assembled tin oxide nanostructured films

Tin oxide nanostructures with well defined morphologies have been obtained through an evaporation induced self assembly process. The technique has been employed using an ultrasonic nebulizer for production of aersol and its subsequent deposition onto a heated glass substrate. The precursor used for aersol production was modified by introducing cationic and anionic surfactants namely cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide and sodium dodecyl sulphate respectively. The effect of surfactants on the structural, electrical and optical properties of self assembled tin oxide nanostructures were investigated by using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electroscope microscopy, two probe technique and photoluminiscence studies. The results reveal that high concentration of surfactants in the precursor solution leads to reduction in crystallite size with significant changes in the morphology of tin oxide nanostructures. Photoluminiscence studies of the nanostructures show emissions in the visible region which exhibit marked changes in the intensities upon variation of surfactants in the precursor solutions.     

Structural, optical and electrical properties of cadmium zinc oxide films for light emitting devices

Structural, optical and electrical properties of Cd_yZn_1-yO (y=0–0.1) ternary alloy thin films have been investigated for the films prepared using the spin coating method on the glass substrate. XRD pattern confirmed the nano-size polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure for all the samples. The size of nano-crystals was found to be varied in between 21 and 30 nm. Optical band gap calculated from the absorption coefficient signifies the shift in direct band gap from 3.2 to 2.97 eV with cadmium composition. Through EDAX spectrum, it was confirmed that Cadmium was successfully incorporated into ZnO. SEM studies make clear that even after Cadmium incorporation, the surface morphology of the films remained smooth. The current–voltage characteristics obtained from semiconductor characterization system reveals that resistance of the films was found to be decreased with the increase in cadmium composition. Our investigations lead to the applicability of CdZnO as an active layer in CdZnO/ZnO heterostructure for light emitting devices.     

Optical and electrical properties of aluminum zinc oxide (AZO) nanostructured thin film deposited on polycarbonate substrate

Transparent polymer materials, due to their unique properties, such as light weight, optical transparency, and electrical and mechanical properties, have become very attractive as a replacement for inorganic glass substrates in a wide range of optoelectronic applications. In this research, aluminum zinc oxide nanostructured thin film was deposited on polycarbonate polymer substrates using a magnetron sputtering technique. The structure, morphology, and surface composition of the thin film were investigated by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The optical and electrical properties of the thin film were investigated by UV–VIS-NIR spectrophotometer, ellipsometer, and four point probe method. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the aluminum zinc oxide thin film had a polycrystalline structure. The optical and electrical results indicated that the refractive index, band gap, and sheet resistance of the aluminum zinc oxide thin film were 1.8, 3.2 eV, and 265 Ω/sq, respectively.