Preparation of cathodes for thin film SOFCs

SOFCs are expected to become competitive devices for electrical power generation, but successful application is dependent on decreasing working temperature from 1000 to 800 °C, without detrimental effects on resistance and on electrode processes. This requires a reduction of the stabilized zirconia electrolyte thickness and an optimization of the electrodes, especially the cathode, where losses are higher. Strontium doped lanthanum manganites are the most common materials tested as cathodes for SOFCs working at high temperature (1000 °C). This cathode material presents high electronic and oxygen-ion conductivities, a thermal expansion coefficient compatible with stabilized zirconia and good catalytic activity. For thin film SOFC devices working at intermediate temperatures (less than 800°C), we have studied the optimization of this type of cathode. Strontium doped lanthanum manganite has been deposited on yttria stabilized zirconia electrolyte substrates by spray-pyrolysis and by RF sputtering. The electrode performances depend strongly on cathode microstructure, influenced by processing conditions. With spray-pyrolysis processes, large porosity is expected. This is important for the supply of oxygen, via O₂ molecules through the pores to the triple phase boundaries, where the gas, the cathode and the electrolyte are in contact and where oxygen reduction may occur. However, large porosity can have a nefaste effect on electronic conductivity. With RF sputtering, denser films with higher electronic conductivity are obtained. But, in that case, the supply of oxygen occurs via adsorbed O-atoms in a diffusion process through the cathode to the electrolyte. Spraypyrolysis and RF sputtering have been compared relative to electrode properties. Paper presented at the 4th Euroconference on Solid State Ionics, Renvyle, Galway, Ireland, Sept. 13–19, 1997     

氢化非晶硅薄膜晶体管的低频噪声特性

针对氢化非晶硅薄膜晶体管(hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film transistor,a-Si:H TFT)的低频噪声特性展开实验研究.由测量结果可知,a-Si:H TFT的低频噪声特性遵循1/f~γ(f为频率,γ≈0.92)的变化规律,主要受迁移率随机涨落效应的影响.基于与迁移率涨落相关的载流子数随机涨落模型(?N-?μ模型),在考虑源漏接触电阻、局域态俘获及释放载流子效应等情况时,对器件低频噪声特性随沟道电流的变化进行分析与拟合.基于a-Si:H TFT的亚阈区电流-电压特性提取器件表面能带弯曲量与栅源电压之间的关系,通过沟道电流噪声功率谱密度提取a-Si:H TFT有源层内局域态密度及其分布.实验结果表明:局域态在禁带内随能量呈e指数变化,两种缺陷态在导带底密度分别约为6.31×10~(18)和1.26×10~(18)cm~(-3)·eV~(-1),特征温度分别约为192和290 K,这符合非晶硅层内带尾态密度及其分布特征.最后提取器件的平均Hooge因子,为评价非晶硅材料及其稳定性提供参考.     

Influence of voltage on the degradation of channels formed in thin film MDM cathodes

The influence of voltage on the rate of degradation of formed MDM systems with various upper electrode materials and various dielectric film thicknesses is examined. It is shown that the degradation rate of formed chanels is determined by complex influence of MDM system parameters and deposition conditions. An increase in dielectric thickness permits a significant increase in operating voltage, positioning the maximum of the N-shaped volt-ampere characteristic in a region of higher voltare.Tomsk Institute of Automated Systems, Control and Radioelectronics. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 44–47, October, 1992.     

Theory of resonant tunneling through the insulator conduction band of a thin film metal-insulator-metal (MIM) heterojunction

An “atomic” model of an insulating barrier between two free-electron model metals is used to investigate resonant tunneling across the insulator in the presence of a medium to large, externally applied electric field (bias). The exact numerically calculated tunneling current exhibits a pronounced oscillatory bias dependence superposed on the dominant roughly exponential tunneling characteristic. The interpretation of these results in terms of an internal field emission or Fowler-Nordheim type tunneling subject to “periodic deviations” (or interferences) seems plausible and was suggested by Maserjian. To test this conjecture, a trapezoidal barrier model of our “atomic” model analyzed numerically. As expected, the trapezoidal barrier model could only qualitatively reproduce the oscillatory bias dependence of the barrier transmissivity and of the current. Furthermore this limited agreement depends on allowing the effective mass in the barrier to become a strictly adjustable parameter. This failure of the conventional model of the junction can be interpreted as follows: (i) For moderate external (bias) fields the trapezoidal barrier fails to account for the correct position dependence of the Blochwave vector in the insulator's conduction band, hence the correct interference conditions cannot be reproduced. (ii) For large external fields the band model itself begins to fail. An explanation of oscillatory bias dependence at the tunneling current in terms of splitting of the insulator's conduction band into a set of discrete Stark levels is suggested. It is demonstrated that a fit of the oscillatory tunneling characteristics in the “Fowler-Nordheim regime” is not a reliable technique to determine the effective mass in the thin insulating film of tunneling junctions over the energy interval containing the forbidden gap and the adjoining conduction-band.     

非晶铟锌氧化物薄膜晶体管的低频噪声特性与分析

本文针对底栅结构非晶铟锌氧化物薄膜晶体管的低频噪声特性开展实验与理论研究.由实验结果可知:受铟锌氧化物与二氧化硅界面处缺陷态俘获与释放载流子效应的影响,器件沟道电流噪声功率谱密度随频率的变化遵循1/fγ(γ≈0.75)的变化规律;此外,器件沟道电流归一化噪声功率谱密度随沟道长度与沟道宽度的增加而减小,证明器件低频噪声来源于沟道的闪烁噪声,可忽略源漏结接触及寄生电阻对器件低频噪声的影响.最后,基于载流子数涨落及迁移率涨落模型,提取γ因子与平均Hooge因子,为评价材料及器件特性奠定基础.     

Conductivity of a steadily glowing shock-compressed channel in a film metal-insulator-metal structure

The action of particles accelerated in an electrostatic accelerator on film metal-insulator-metal structures is described. The effect of steady glow of a shock-compressed conducting channel is studied. The temperature of the shock-compressed channel, the through conductivity of the metal-insulator-metal structure, and the related ion mass spectra are found. The applications of the results in various fields of technology are shown.     

The impedance of thin dense oxide cathodes

The impedance is derived for a dense layer electrode of a mixed conducting oxide, assuming that the electronic resistance may be ignored. The influence of layer thickness, oxygen diffusion and surface exchange rate on the ‘General Finite Length Diffusion’ expression is evaluated. The thickness dependence is tested for a series of thin, dense layer electrodes of La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3-δ (LSCF) deposited on a Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_1.95 electrolyte by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). A minimum thickness is required to avoid the influence of contact points of the contacting Pt-gauze and sheet resistance, which is about 1 μm for the studied LSCF electrodes. LEISS surface analysis indicates that PLD deposition process easily leads to a significant Cr contamination of the LSCF surface. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis indicates that the influence on the exchange rate of this Cr-contamination is still negligible.     

Preparation and characterization of Li2CoMn3O8 thin film cathodes for high energy lithium batteries

An ion layer gas reaction (ILGAR) dip-coating process for the deposition of homogeneous spinel structured Li₂CoMn₃O₈ thin layers has been developed. Thin film cathodes for use in high-energy density lithium batteries with thicknesses of about 200 nm have been prepared. The films were found to be X-ray amorphous after preparation. After annealing at 700°C in air for 2 h, the spinel structure of Li₂CoMn₃O₈ was observed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The composition of the surface was studied by XPS, which indicated enhanced Li and Mn concentrations as a result of the rinsing process and different solubilities of the precursor salts. The electrochemical behavior was investigated by separating the annealed electrode sample from a conventional organic lithium ion-conducting electrolyte by a layer of LiPON solid electrolyte and using elemental lithium as counter electrode. A capacity of 110.8 mAh/g was observed which is related to the valence changes of Mn and Co in the spinel structure.     

ZnS thin film prepared through a self-assembled thin film precursor route

Poly(zinc 1,6-hexanedithiolate) thin film, a precursor to prepare ZnS thin film, was self-assembled on a quartz substrate. The UV-vis spectra monitored the annealing process of the poly(zinc 1,6-hexanedithiolate) film, which revealed that the ZnS thin film began to form at approximately 515 K. The result of XRD confirmed the crystallinity of ZnS. With increase of annealing temperature, a red shift of the emission spectra was observed.     

Superconductivity in Pb-PbTe thin film structures

The critical temperatures of thin superconducting films of Pb in intimate contact with PbTe have been measured resistively. The films were formed by sequential deposition and by co-evaporation of Pb and PbTe. The results show a depression of the critical temperature.     

Pyroelectric coupling in thin film photovoltaics

We propose a theory of thin film photovoltaics in which one of the polycrystalline films is made of a pyroelectric material grains such as CdS. That film is shown to generate strong polarization improving the device open circuit voltage. Implications and supporting facts for the major photovoltaic types based on CdTe and CuIn(Ga)Se₂ absorber layers are discussed.

     

FMR in thin ferromagnetic granular film

The ferromagnetic resonance is considered for a thin granular film consisting of spherical metal particles. It is shown that the interparticle dipole interactions lead to a noticeable shift of the resonance field and a strong asymmetry of absorption line. The free induction signal is time modulated and its envelopem _ind(t) obeys the law ln (m _ind) ≈t ^2/3. The role of the particle shape in considered system is also discussed.     

薄膜异质结中磁性斯格明子的相关研究

磁性斯格明子由于具有拓扑保护、尺寸小、驱动电流密度低等优异的属性,有望作为未来超高密度磁存储和逻辑功能器件的信息载体.为了满足器件中信息写入和读取的基本要求,需要在室温下实现斯格明子的精确产生、操控和探测.该综述简要介绍最近我们针对上述问题取得的一系列研究进展,包括:1)证明可以通过控制磁性薄膜材料的垂直磁各向异性在室温下产生斯格明子,并进一步在基于反铁磁的薄膜异质结中发现了室温、零磁场下稳定存在的斯格明子;2)证明能够利用电流产生的自旋轨道力矩操控斯格明子,并进一步制备出一种基于斯格明子的原理型器件,实现了利用电学方式产生和操控数量可控的斯格明子.     

Influence of film morphology on thin film ferromagnetism

Cobalt, nickel and their alloy, Co₁Ni₉, films were epitaxially grown on Cu(100) under different growth conditions and subsequent treatments and studied using surface magneto-optic Kerr effect (SMOKE) in an attempt to understand the effects of film morphology on the magnetic properties. CO contamination can significantly reduce the magnetization and Curie temperature. Thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) shows that CO desorbs at 422 K from Ni and 410 K from Co₁Ni₉ at a heating rate of 6 K per minute. Annealing the films below 450 K produces smooth and clean films with stable magnetic behavior. However, annealing at higher temperatures results in Cu segregation and island formation leading to the finite-size ferromagnetic or even superparamagnetic behavior.     

铜锌锡硫硒薄膜太阳能电池

光伏发电是将“取之不尽、用之不竭”的清洁能源太阳能直接转化为电能的一种新能源技术。大力发展光伏技术并促进其大规模应用是推进能源结构转型的重要途径。光伏发电是通过太阳能电池实现的,经过60多年的发展,涌现了各类太阳能电池,其中硅太阳能电池一直占据主导地位,极大地推动了光伏产业的大规模应用。但硅太阳能电池进一步降低成本愈发困难,而新型薄膜太阳能电池拥有低成本、高效率,且适于多场景应用的优点,成为明日之星。铜锌锡硫硒太阳能电池作为一种新型薄膜太阳能电池,其吸光系数高、弱光响应好、稳定性高、环境友好、组成元素储量丰富且价格低廉,具有很大的发展潜力,近年来受到越来越多的关注。文章重点介绍铜锌锡硫硒太阳能电池的工作原理、关键材料与器件的研究进展以及未来的发展前景。