MICROSTRUCTURE AND FRACTAL FORMATION OF ANNEALED Ge-Au FILM AND Ge-Au/Au BILAYER FILMS

The as-deposited and annealed Ge-Au film and Ge-Au/Au bilayer films have been observed by transmission electron microscopy. The bilayer with a composition of Ge-5at%Au film is amorphous, while the Ge-22at%Au film is polycrystalline. Higher concentration of Au raises the structural heterogeneity and instability. Fractals can be observed in the Ge-5at%Au/Au bilayer samples annealed at 60-100℃. The difference of the fractal patterns generated from Ge-Au/An and a-Ge/Au films call be attributed to the higher heterogeneity and instability in Ge-Au/An bilayers.     

Growth of Structured Non—crystalline Boron—Oxygen—Nitrogen Films and Measurement of Their Electrical Properties

The boron-oxygen-nitrogen(BON) films have been grown on Si wafer by the low-frequency rf-plasma-enhanced metal-organic chemical vapour deposition method.The homogeneous film structure of completely amorphous BON is first fabricated on a low-temperature-made buffer at 500℃ with N2 plasma and is observed with a highresolution-electron microscope by the transmission-electron diffraction.The results show that the interfaces among substrate/buffer/film are clear and straight in the structured film.A heterogeneous film containing nano-sized crystalline particles is also grown by a routine growth procedure as a referential structure,The C-V characteristic is measured on both the amprphous and crystal-containing films by using the metal-oxidesemiconductor structure,The dielectric constants of the films are,therefore,deduced to be 5.9 and 10.5 for the amorphous and crystal-containing films,respectively,The C-V results also indicate that more trapped charges exist in the amorphous film.The binding energy of the B,O.and N atoms in the amprphous film is higher than that in the crystal-containing one,and the N-content in the latter is found to be higher than that in the former by x-ray photo-electron spectroscopy.The different electrical Property of the films is thought to originate from the energy state of the covalent electrons.     

Multilayer Au/TiO2Composite Films with Ultrafast Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties

We report on the ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearity in multilayer Au/TiO2 composite films fabricated on quartz substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The linear optical properties of the films are determined and optical absorption peaks due to surface plasmon resonance of Au particles are observed at about 590hm. The third-order optical nonlinearities of the films are investigated by z-scan method using a femtosecond laser （50 fs） at the wavelength of 800 nm. The sample showed fast nonlinear optical responses with nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index being -3.66 × 10^-10 m/W and -2.95 × 10^-17 m^2/W, respectively. The results also show that the nonlinear optical effects increase with the increasing Au concentration in the composite films.     

Growth Feature of Cubic Boron Nitride on c-BN Crystal Substrates

Cubic boron nitride （c-BN） films were deposited on highly-oriented （111） bulk c-BN crystal by using the rf magnetron sputtering method. The growth films are characterized by micro-Raman spectroscopy （μ-RS） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, The results show that the high crystallization electron transparent c-BN films in thickness of about 10μm are obtained, Island and step growth models are clearly shown.     

Structural and electrical properties of laser-crystallized nanocrystalline Ge films and nanocrystalline Ge/SiN_x multilayers

Nanocrystalline Ge （nc-Ge） single layers and nc-Ge/SiNx multilayers are prepared by laser annealing amorphous Ge （a-Ge） films and a-Ge/SiNx multilayers. The microstructures as well as the electrical properties of laser-crystallized samples are systematically studied by using various techniques. It is found that the optical band gap of nc-Ge film is reduced compared with its amorphous counterpart. The formed nc-Ge film is of p-type, and the dark conductivity is enhanced by 6 orders for an nc-Ge single layer and 4 orders for a multilayer. It is suggested that the carrier transport mechanism is dominant by the thermally activation process via the nanocrystal, which is different from the thermally annealed nc-Ge sample at an intermediate temperature. The carrier mobility of nc-Ge film can reach as high as about 39.4 cm2.V ^-1 .s^-1, which indicates their potential applications in future nano-devices.     

TixSb2Te Thin Films for Phase Change Memory Applications

Sb2 Te films with different Ti contents （TixSb2 Te） are derived via the target-attachment method by using the magnetron sputtering technique. The effects of the Ti content on the phase change characteristics and the microstructures are investigated by x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atom force microcopy. Resistance-temperature measurements are carried out to reveal the enhanced crystallization temperature of TixSb2 Te films, indicating a better thermal stability in such films. Both the activation energy and the temperature for 10 y data retention increase with increasing the concentration of Ti. It indicates that the crystallization of the amorphous Sb2 Te film could be suppressed by the introduction of Ti. The improvement of crystallization temperature and the thermal stability of the amorphous Sb2 Te film results from the introduction of Ti in Sb- Te bond that decreases the binding energy of Sb 4d and Te 4d.     

Temperature—Induced Magnetization Reorientation in GdFeCo／TbFeCo Exchange—Coupled Double Layer Films

GdFeCo/TbFeCo exchange-coupled double-layer (ECDL) films used /or centre aperture type magnetically in-duced super resolution were investigated through experiments and theoretical calculation. The ECDL films were prepared by the magnetron sputtering method. Polar Kerr effect measurements showed that magnetization reorientation occurred in the GdFeCo layer with the temperature rising, which was subsequently analysed by the micromagnetic calculation based on the mean-field theory and a continuum model. Theoretical analysis is in agreement well with the experimental results.     

Enhancement of ferromagnetism in polycrystalline Si0.965Mn0.035:B films by boron plasma treatment

This paper reports that the polycrystalline Si0.965Mn0.035:B films have been prepared by cosputtering deposition followed by rapid thermal annealing for crystallization. The polycrystalline thin films consist of two ferromagnetic phases. The low temperature ferromagnetic phase with Curie temperature (Tc) of about 50 K is due to the Mn4Si7 phase in the films, while the high temperature one (Tc～250 K) is resulted from the incorporation of Mn into silicon. The films are treated by boron plasma excited with the approach of microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for 40 minutes. After plasma treatment, it is observed that no extra magnetic phases or magnetic complexes exist in the films, while both the high temperature saturation magnetization and the hole concentration in the films increase. The obvious correlation between the magnetic properties and the electrical properties of the polycrystalline Si0.965Mn0.035:B films suggests that the hole carriers play an important role in Si:Mn diluted magnetic semiconductors.     

Influences of Annealing on the Opto—electronic Properties of ZnO Films Grown by Plasma—Enhanced MOCVD

ZnO thin films have been grown on C-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-enhanced metal-organic chemical vapour deposition.The samples are then annealed at a higher temperature.The resistivity,concentration of electron,mobility and optically pumped threshold of both as-grown and annealed films are investigated.Furthermore,their structural and optical properties are also examined with x-ray diffraction,emission spectra and optical transmission spectra.The results indicate that the quality of ZnO thin films can be improved by annealing.     

Enhanced optical nonlinear absorption of graded Au--TiO2 composite films

This paper reports that single-layer and graded Au-TiO2 granular composite films with Au atom content 15%- 66% were prepared by using reactive co-sputtering technique. The third-order optical nonlinearity of single-layer and graded composite films was investigated by using s- and p-polarized Z-scans in femtosecond time scale. The nonlinear absorption coefficient βeff of single-layer Au-TiO2 films is measured to be -2.3×10^3-0.76×10^3 cm/GW with Au atom content 15%-66%. The βeff value of the 10-layer Au-TiO2 graded film is enhanced to be -2.1×10^4cm/GW calculated from p-polarized Z-scans, which is about ten times the maximum βeff of single-layer films. Broadened response in the wavelength region 730-860 nm of the enhanced optical nonlinearity of graded Au-TiO2 composite films was also investigated.     

UV–visible spectral characterization and density functional theory simulation analysis on laser-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

The effect of laser energy density on the crystallization of hydrogenated intrinsic amorphous silicon （a-Si：H） thin films was studied both theoretically and experimentally. The thin films were irritated by a frequency-doubled （λ= 532 nm） Nd：YAG pulsed nanosecond laser. An effective density functional theory model was built to reveal the variation of bandgap energy influenced by thermal stress after laser irradiation. Experimental results establish correlation between the thermal stress and the shift of transverse optical peak in Raman spectroscopy and suggest that the relatively greater shift of the transverse optical （TO） peak can produce higher stress. The highest crystalline fraction （84.5%） is obtained in the optimized laser energy density （1000 mJ/cm2） with a considerable stress release. The absorption edge energy measured by the UV- visible spectra is in fairly good agreement with the bandgap energy in the density functional theory （DFT） simulation.     

Effect of hydrogenation time on magnetic and electrical properties of polycrystalline Si0.956Mn0.044:B thin films

This paper reports that polycrystalline Si 0.956 Mn 0.044 :B films have been prepared by cosputtering deposition followed by rapid thermal annealing for crystallization. The polycrystalline thin films were treated by hydrogen plasma excited with approach of radio-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition for different time of 10 minutes, 15 minutes and 40 minutes. After hydrogenation, the structural properties of the films do not show any change, while both the saturation magnetization and the hole concentration in the films increase at first, then decrease with the increase of hydrogenation time. The obvious correlation between the magnetic properties and the transport properties of the polycrystalline Si 0.956 Mn 0.044 :B films suggests that a mechanism of hole-mediated ferromagnetism is believed to exist in Si-based diluted magnetic semiconductors.     

Ahnormal Crystallization of Silicon Thin Films Deposited by ICP-CVD

Silicon thin films are deposited by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapour deposition （ICP-CVD） at a low temperature of 350℃ using a mixture of SiH4 and H2. The structures of the films are characterized by x-ray diffraction and Raman spectra. Under the optimum experimental conditions, we observe that the crystallinity of Si films becomes more excellent and the preferred orientation changes from （111） to （220） with the decreasing dilution of SiH4 in H2. Such an abnormal crystallization is tentatively interpreted in term of the high density, low electron temperature and spatial confinement of the plasma in the process of ICP-CVD.     

Superconductivity of bilayer titanium/indium thin film grown on SiO_2/Si(001)

Bilayer superconducting films with tunable transition temperature(Tc) are a critical ingredient to the fabrication of high-performance transition edge sensors. Commonly chosen materials include Mo/Au, Mo/Cu, Ti/Au, and Ti/Al systems. Here in this work, titanium/indium(Ti/In) bilayer superconducting films are successfully fabricated on SiO_2/Si(001)substrates by molecular beam epitaxy(MBE). The success in the epitaxial growth of indium on titanium is achieved by lowering the substrate temperature to-150?C during indium evaporation. We measure the critical temperature under a bias current of 10 μA, and obtain different superconducting transition temperatures ranging from 645 m K to 2.7 K by adjusting the thickness ratio of Ti/In. Our results demonstrate that the transition temperature decreases as the thickness ratio of Ti/In increases.     

Surface Properties of Unintentionally Doped GaN Film and Its Contact Behaviour with Ni／Cr／Au Compound Metals

The surface properties of GaN films grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy were investigated by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy, while the depth profile was analysed by the Ar ion sputtering method.The contaminants carbon and silicon are chiefly adsorbed onto the surface while oxygen and aluminium diffuse into the bulk to distribute in a certain depth. The mixture oxides is roughly 0.1μm in thickness. Based on the analytical results of XPS of the GaN films, the Ni/Cr/Au interdigital metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure has been fabricated. It has been found that the contact behaviour of the Ni/Cr/Au/undoped GaN exhibits a linear I-V characteristic under dark and 362-um light excitation without annealing treatment. The lower resistance of the MSM structure has also been observed.     

SbOx Thin Films Used for Write-Once Blue Laser Recording

SbOx thin films are deposited by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering from an antimony metal target in Ar＋O2 with the relative O2 content 7%. It is found that the as-deposited films can represent a two-component system comprising amorphous Sb and amorphous Sb2 O3. The crystallization of Sb is responsible for the changes of optical properties of the films. The results of the static test show that the SbOx thin films have good writing sensitivity for blue laser beams and the recording marks are very clear and circular. High reflectivity contrast of about 41% is obtained at a writing power 6mW and writing pulse width 300ns. In addition, the films show a good stability after reading 10000 times.     

Electroluminescence and Photoluminescence from Scored Si—Rich SiO2 Film／p—Si Structure

Electroluminescence(EL)is observed from the Au/Si-rich SiO2 film/p-Si diodes,in which the Si-rich SiO2 films are scroed deliberately by a diamond tip.The EL intensity of the scroed diode annelaed at 800℃ is about 6 times of that of the unscored counterpart,The EL sectrum of the usscored diode could be decomposed into two Gaussian luminescence bands with peaks at about 1.83 and 2.23eV,while for the EL spectrum of the scored diode,an additional Gaussian band at about 3.0eV appears,and the 1.83-eV peak increases significantly in intensity,The photoluminescence(PL) spectrum of an unscored Si-rich SiO2 film has only one band peaking at about 1.48eV,whereas the Pl spectrum of the scored one has two bands at about 1.48 and 1.97eV.We consider that the high-density defect regions produced by the scoring provide new luminescence centres and become some types of nonradiative centres in the Si oxide layer,which thus result in changes of the EL and PL spectra.     

The Influence of Au-Doping on Morphology and Visible-Light Reflectivity of TiN Thin Films Deposited by Direct-Current Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Ti, TiN and Au-TiN （Au content： from 0.5%to 7.7%） thin films were deposited on stainless steel substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering with a metal Ti target. The crystal structure, surface morphology and visiblelight reflectivity of the films for different film compositions are studied in detail. Distinctly different surface morphologies appear for the Ti, TiN and Au-TiN thin films. It can be observed that the surface morphology of the TiN film is affected by the Au-doping, when the Au content increases from 0% to 7.7%, surface roughness enlarges from 62.4 to 82.8 nm. Moreover, visible-light reflectivity varies significantly with increasing A u contents in the TiN films. However, the rettectivity of the TiN thin film at 550-800 nm is higher than that of the Au-TiN thin film. The present work illustrates the dependence of metal elements on the surface morphology and on the reflectivity of Au-TiN thin films. It is speculated that the addition of Au can suppress the formation and growth of TiN grains so that it changes the surface morphology and the Au-TiN thin film has potential applications in spectral selective coating.     

Surface Plasmon Resonance and Raman Scattering Activity of the Au/AgxO/Ag Multilayer Film

The nanostructured Au/AgxO/Ag sandwich multilayer films on quartz substrates are prepared by the magnetron sputtering method. The morphology, plasmon resonance and surface enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） activi- ties of the multilayer films are studied. The resonant absorption wavelength of localized surface plasmon is tuned in a wide range from 618nm to 993nm by controlling the density of nanoparticles of Au and Ag. The SERS activity of the Au/AgxO/Ag multilayer films are enhanced over -10 times compared with those of bare Ag and bare Au films. These properties may find a potential application in biosensor and bioimaging.