GaN-based light-emitting diode with ZnO nanotexture layer prepared using hydrogen gas

ZnO films were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO), which formed the transparent conductive layer (TCL) of a GaN-based light-emitting diode (LED), by ultrasonic spraying pyrolysis to increase the light output power. The ZnO nanotexture was formed by treating the as-deposited ZnO films with hydrogen. The root mean square (RMS) roughness increased from 4.47 to 7.89 nm before hydrogen treatment to 10.82-15.81 nm after hydrogen treatment for 20 min. Typical current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the GaN-based LEDs with a ZnO nanotexture layer have a forward-bias voltage of 3.25 V at an injection current of 20 mA. The light output power of a GaN-based LED with a ZnO nanotexture layer improved to as much as about 27.5% at a forward current of 20 mA.     

Heat-insulation film with gold layer deposited on antireflection subwavelength-structured surface

The optical properties of gold layer deposited on antireflection subwavelength-structured surface are first exposed. The experimental results of the reflectances and transmittances for several different thicknesses of gold-deposited layers on the subwavelength structures are carried out. The nanostructured surface with spatial period and a diameter of about 230 nm and height of about 150 nm on polyethylene terphthalate (PET) film is fabricated by micro-replication process of UV imprinting. Comparing these with the bare gold-deposited layer and bare nanostructure, the results show that the optical films with the suitable gold layer deposited on antireflection subwavelength-structured surface has high transmittance and low glare in the visible spectral range and high reflectance in the infrared range. That is to say, when the antireflection subwavelength-structured surface is coated with a gold layer of several tens of nm thickness, it will have some unique optical characters.     

Synthesis of CdS nanocrystals by a microwave activated method and investigation of the photoluminescence and electroluminescence properties

We have synthesized CdS nanocrystals (NCs) by a microwave activated method. CdSO₄ and Na₂S₂O₃ were used as the precursors and thioglycolic acid (TGA) was used as capping agent molecule. The aqueous synthesis was based on the heat sensitivity of Na₂S₂O₃. In this method, microwave irradiation creates the activation energy for dissociation of Na₂S₂O₃ and leads to the CdS NCs formation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses demonstrated hexagonal phase CdS NCs with an average size around 3 nm for sample prepared at 5 min irradiation time. A band gap range of 3.38-2.89 eV was possible only by increasing the microwave irradiation time, corresponding to a 2.7-3.7 nm size. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra showed a white emission between 400 and 750 nm. The best attained PL quantum yield (QY) of the NCs was about 10%. Synthesized NCs were used as emissive layer in a light emitting device (LED) with ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PVK/CdS-NCs/AL structure. Turn on voltage of fabricated device was about 7 V. The CIE color coordinate of the LED at (0.34, 0.43) demonstrated a near white light LED with an emission on green-yellow boundary of white.     

White organic light emitting diodes based on DCM dye sandwiched in 2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinolinolatolithium

Stable white electroluminescence (EL) has been achieved from organic LED, in which an ultrathin 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethyl-aminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM) dye layer has been inserted in between two 2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinolinolatolithium [LiMeq] emitter layer and by optimizing the position of the DCM dye layer from the α-NPD/LiMeq interface. Electroluminescence spectra, current-voltage-luminescence (I-V-L) characteristics of the devices have been studied by changing the position of the dye layer. As the distance of DCM layer from α-NPD/LiMeq interface is increased, the intensity of host emission enhances rapidly. Introduction of thin layer of DCM in emissive layer increases the turn on voltage. The best Commission International de L’ Eclairage (CIE) coordinates i.e. (0.32, 0.33) were obtained with device structure ITO/α-NPD(30 nm) /LiMeq(10 nm)/DCM(1 nm)/LiMeq(25 nm)/BCP(6 nm)/Alq₃(28 nm)/LiF(1 nm)/Al(100 nm). The EL spectrum covers the whole visible spectra range 400-700 nm. The color rendering index (CRI) for our best white light (Device 4) is 47.4. The device shows very good color stability in terms of CIE coordinates with voltages. The maximum luminescence 1240 cd/m⁻² has been achieved at 19 V.     

Formation of high aspect ratio polyamide-6 nanofibers via electrically induced double layer during electrospinning

In the present study, the formation of high aspect ratio nanofibers in polyamide-6 was investigated as a function of applied voltage ranging from 15 to 25 kV using electrospinning technique. All other experimental parameters were kept constant. The electrospun polyamide-6 nanofibers were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF). FE-SEM images of polyamide-6 nanofibers showed that the diameter of the electrospun fiber was decreased with increasing applied voltage. At the critical applied voltage, the polymer solution was completely ionized to form the dense high aspect ratio nanofibers in between the main nanofibers. The diameter of the polyamide-6 nanofibers was observed to be in the range of 75-110 nm, whereas the high aspect ratio structures consisted of regularly distributed very fine nanofibers with diameters of about 9-28 nm. Trends in fiber diameter and diameter distribution were discussed for the high aspect ratio nanofibers. TEM results revealed that the formation of double layers in polyamide-6 nanofibers and then split-up into ultrafine fibers. The electrically induced double layer in combination with the polyelectrolytic nature of solution is proposed as the suitable mechanisms for the formation of high aspect ratio nanofibers in polyamide-6.     

Deposition of Ni, Ag, and Pt-based Al-doped ZnO double films for the transparent conductive electrodes by RF magnetron sputtering

Ni, Ag, and Pt-based Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films have been deposited as transparent conductivity layers on quartz by RF magnetron sputtering and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Hall measurement, optical transmission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The deposition of thicker metal layer in double layers resulted in lowering the effective electrical resistivity with a slight reduction of their optical transmittance. A film consisting of AZO (250 nm)/Ni (2 nm) double structure, exhibits a sheet resistance of 21.0 Ω/sq, a high transmittance of 76.5%, and characterize good adhesion to substrate. These results make the satisfactory for GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar cells with metal-based AZO double films as current spread layers.     

Effect of tin-doped indium oxide film as capping layer on the agglomeration of copper film and the appearance of copper silicide

In this work, the effect of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) film as capping layer on the agglomeration of copper film and the appearance of copper silicide was studied. Both samples of Cu 100 nm/ITO 10 nm/Si and ITO 20 nm/Cu 100 nm/ITO 10 nm/Si were prepared by sputtering deposition. After annealing in a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) furnace at various temperatures for 5 min in vacuum, the samples were characterized by four probe measurement for sheet resistance, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis for phase identification, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface morphology and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for microstructure.The results show that the sample with ITO capping layer is a good diffusion barrier between copper and silicon at least up to 750 °C, which is 100 °C higher than that of the sample without ITO capping layer. The failure temperature of the sample with ITO capping layer is about 800 °C, which is 100 °C higher than that of the sample without ITO capping layer. The ITO capping layer on Cu/ITO/Si can obstacle the agglomeration of copper film and the appearance of Cu₃Si phase.     

Direct observation of slow morphological transformations and wetting behavior of pulsed laser deposited sub-monolayer gold on (0 0 0 1) sapphire in atmosphere

Using high-resolution atomic force microscope we observed in ambient atmosphere the slow morphological transitions of the incipient adlayer of gold grown on (0 0 0 1) sapphire substrate by pulsed laser deposition. The equivalent average uniform thickness of the gold deposition was about 0.55 Å, which is about one-fourth of its monolayer. A dynamic simulation revealed that about 10% of the gold was implanted into the substrate up to the depth of about 3.3 nm and the top monolayer of the sapphire surface was almost completely depleted of oxygen atoms due to the preferential sputtering by the plume particles. The gold adlayer transformed into a labile phase which enhanced the surface roughness and had a preferred orientation of a wavy structure during 24 h of the deposition. The auto-correlation function of this wavy structure in labile metastable phase revealed two-fold symmetry and provided a preferential size of about 4 nm (peak to peak) with a mean separation of 8 nm. At the end of about 6 days this phase was found to completely transform into an apparently de-wetted phase of beads with average in-plane diameter of ∼20 nm and height of ∼7 nm having large size distribution. Each bead was seen to have coating of a concentric corona layer, which might be that of the condensed moisture or other gaseous species from atmosphere because subjecting these samples to vacuum removed this layer. These observations shed light on the dynamics of the pulsed laser deposited metastable gold adlayer in the incipient stage of its growth on sapphire and their wetting or de-wetting mechanisms in ambient atmosphere.     

Enhanced thermal stability of Ag ohmic reflector for InGaN/GaN light-emitting diode using a Ru capping layer

A Ru capping layer is employed to improve the thermal stability of Ag ohmic reflectors for high-power GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The 20-nm-thick Ru capping layer is shown to be fairly effective in suppressing agglomeration by forming RuO₂. The Ag/Ru contacts exhibit specific contact resistance of 8.1 × 10⁻⁵ Ω cm² and reflectance of ∼89% at a wavelength of 450 nm when annealed at 500 °C for 1 min, which are much better than that of Ag only contacts. Blue LEDs fabricated with the 500 °C-annealed Ag/Ru contacts give a forward voltage of 2.98 V at an injection current of 20 mA, which is lower than that (3.02 V) of LEDs with the 500 °C-annealed Ag only contacts. LEDs with the 500 °C-annealed Ag/Ru contacts show 25% higher output power (at 20 mA) than LEDs with the 500 °C-annealed Ag only contacts. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy examinations are performed to describe the improved electrical performance of the Ag/Ru contacts.     

Effect of Co layer thickness on structural and magnetic properties of C/Co/C films

Granular C/Co/C films have been prepared by magnetron sputtering from C and Co onto glass substrates at room temperature and subsequent in situ annealing. It has been found that the structure and magnetic properties of the C/Co/C films depend strongly on the Co layer thickness. Vibrating sample magnetometer measurements indicate that the in-plane coercivities reach maximum in 20 nm Co thickness of both as-deposited and annealed films. The squareness ratio of annealed films was more than 0.8. X-ray diffraction shows that majority Co nanograins are formed as the hexagonal-close-packed (HCP) structure in 20 nm Co thickness with annealing at 400 °C. Scanning probe microscope was used to scan surface morphology and magnetic domain structures. The values of the surface roughness were lower than 0.6 nm in all annealed samples. The average magnetic cluster size was estimated to be about 10 nm in annealed 20 nm Co thickness films.     

Structure and mechanical properties of Al/AlN multilayer with different AlN layer thickness

Nanometer scale Al/AlN multilayers have been prepared by dc magnetron sputtering technique with a columnar target. A set of Al/AlN multilayers with the Al layer thickness of 2.9 nm and the AlN layer thickness variation from 1.13 to 6.81 nm were determined. Low angle X-ray diffraction (LAXRD) was used to analyze the layered structure of multilayers. The phase structure of the coatings was investigated with grazing angle XRD (GAXRD). Mechanical properties of these multilayers were thoroughly studied using a nanoindentation and ball-on-disk micro-tribometer. It was found that the multilayer hardness and reduced modulus showed no strong dependence on the AlN layer thickness. Al2.9 nm/AlN1.13 nm multilayer had more excellent tribological properties than single layers and other proportion multilayers with a lowest friction coefficient of 0.15. And the tribological properties of all the multilayers are superior to the AlN single layer.     

采用银纳米圆盘阵列提高LED发光特性的研究

为了提高GaN基蓝光LED的发光效率,设计了在LED有源层上方引入银纳米圆盘阵列的模型。利用时域有限差分方法计算了银纳米圆盘阵列不同结构参数情况下LED有源层自发辐射率的变化情况及光提取效率值。通过对有源区的近场分布和LED远场方向性的分析,理论上解释了利用该金属纳米结构生成的表面等离激元对LED性能增强的影响,利用该模型可使得表面等离激元与有源层有效耦合,从而增强有源层的自发辐射率。此外,银纳米粒子组成的阵列结构所生成的栅格矢量可以补偿表面等离激元的波矢量,从而可将局域化表面等离激元转为辐射性表面等离激元,显著提高LED顶端光提取效率。结果表明,当银纳米圆盘颗粒满足直径为120nm,厚度为30nm时,含该结构的GaN基蓝光LED自发辐射率比普通LED增强了3.6倍。在此基础上,当其按照晶格常数为220nm的三角晶格排列时,顶端光提取效率增强为2.5倍。这些结果为实际的高性能GaN基LED的设计与优化提供了一定的参考。     

Ultraviolet electroluminescence from ZnO-based light-emitting diode with p-ZnO:N/n-GaN:Si heterojunction structure

A p-ZnO:N/n-GaN:Si structure heterojunction light-emitting diode (LED) is fabricated on c-plane sapphire by full metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. The p-type layer with hole concentration of 8.94×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ is composed of nitrogen-doped ZnO using NH₃ as the doping source with subsequent annealing in N₂O plasma ambient. Silicon-doped GaN film with electron concentration of 1.15×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ is used as the n-type layer. Desirable rectifying behavior is observed from the current-voltage (I-V) curve of the device. The forward turn on voltage is about 4 V and the reverse breakdown voltage is more than 7 V. A distinct ultraviolet (UV) electroluminescence (EL) with a dominant emission peak centered at 390 nm is detected at room temperature from the heterojunction structure under forward bias conditions. The origins of the EL emissions are discussed in comparison with the photoluminescence (PL) spectra.     

Efficient white organic light-emitting devices using 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline as block layer

A white light-emitting device has been fabricated with a structure of ITO/m-MTDATA (45 nm)/NPB (10 nm)/DPVBi (8 nm)/DPVBi:DCJTB 0.5% (15 nm)/BPhen (x nm)/Alq₃ [(55−x) nm]/LiF (1 nm)/Al, with x=0, 4, and 7. BPhen was used as the hole-blocking layer. This results in a mixture of lights from DPVBi molecules (blue-light) and DCJTB (yellow-light) molecules, producing white light emission. The chromaticity can be readily adjusted by only varying the thickness of the BPhen layer. The CIE coordinates of the device are largely insensitive to the driving voltages. When the thickness of BPhen is 7 nm, the device exhibits peak efficiency of 6.87 cd/A (3.59 lm/W) at the applied voltage of 6 V, the maximum external quantum efficiency η_ext=2.07% corresponding to 6.18 cd/A, and the maximum brightness is 18494 cd/m² at 15 V.     

Characterization of two-emitter WOLED with no additional blocking layer

In this paper, white organic light emitting diodes (WOLEDs) utilizing two primary-color emitters with no additional blocking layer are fabricated. With a structure of ITO/2TNATA (20 nm)/NPB (20 nm)/NPB: rubrene (2%) (10 nm)/ADN (30 nm)/Alq₃ (20 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm), a white light with CIE coordinates of (0.344, 0.372) is generated at a current density of 30 mA/cm² and the electroluminescence (EL) spectra consist of two broad bands around 456 nm (ADN) and 556 nm (NPB:rubrene). The device shows the low turn-on voltage and bright white emission with a power efficiency of 2.3 lm/W at a luminance of 100 cd/m². Through control of the location of the recombination zone and energy transfer, a stable white light emission is achieved. The maximum color shift is less than 0.02 units on the 1931 CIE x,y chromaticity diagram. Given the spectral power distribution of WOLED, the parameters of a light source (chromaticity coordinate, CCT, CRI, and the luminous efficacy) can be calculated. A MATLAB program for this purpose is developed in this paper. Based on this, the design of WOLED for an illumination and display system using a white emitter with color filter arrays is discussed.     

Structural properties of single and multilayer ITO and TiO2 films deposited by reactive pulsed laser ablation deposition technique

Indium tin oxide (ITO) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) single layer and double layer ITO/TiO₂ films were prepared using reactive pulsed laser ablation deposition (RPLAD) with an ArF excimer laser. The films were deposited on SiO₂ substrates heated at 200 and 400 °C. ITO and TiO₂ films with uniform thicknesses of about 400 and 800 nm, respectively, over large areas were prepared. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the ITO films are formed of highly orientated nanocrystals with an average particle size of 10-15 nm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations indicate rough ITO films surfaces with average roughness of 26-30 nm. Pores were also observed. TiO₂ films deposited on the prepared ITO films result less crystalline. Annealing at 300 and 500 °C for three consecutive hours promoted formation of TiO₂ anatase phase, with crystal size of ∼6-7 nm. From the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) images, it can be seen that the TiO₂ films deposited onto the prepared ITO films present a relatively high pore sizes with an average pore diameter of ∼40 nm and excellent uniformity. In addition, STEM cross-sectional analysis of our films showed a columnar structure but no evidence of voids in the structure. Therefore, films exhibited large surface area, well suited for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) applications.     

Magnetic layer thickness dependence of magnetization reversal in electrodeposited CoNi/Cu multilayer nanowires

The magnetization reversal of electrodeposited CoNi/Cu multilayer nanowires patterned in an array using a hole template has been investigated. The reversal mode is found to depend on the CoNi layer thickness t(CoNi); with increasing t(CoNi) a transition occurs from coherent rotation to a combination of coherent and incoherent rotation at around t(CoNi)=51 nm. The reversal mode has been identified using the magnetic hysteresis loops measured at room temperature for CoNi/Cu nanowires placed at various angles between the directions of the nanowire axis and external fields using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The nanowire samples have a diameter of ∼250 nm and constant Cu layer thickness of 4.2 nm with various t(CoNi) ranging from 6.8 nm to 7.5 μm. With increasing t(CoNi), the magnetic easy axis moves from the direction perpendicular to nanowires to that parallel to the nanowires at around t(CoNi)=51 nm, indicating a change in the magnetization reversal mode. The reversal mode for the nanowires with thin disk-shaped CoNi layers (t(CoNi)=6.8, 12 and 17 nm) is of a coherent rotation type, while that for long rod-shaped CoNi layers (t(CoNi)=150 nm, 1.0, 2.5 and 7.5 μm) can be consistently explained by a combination of coherent rotation and a curling mode. The effects of dipole–dipole interactions between nanowires and between adjacent magnetic layers in each nanowire on the reversal process have been discussed.     

High-density-plasma (HDP)-CVD oxide to thermal oxide wafer bonding for strained silicon layer transfer applications

Direct wafer bonding between high-density-plasma chemical vapour deposited (HDP-CVD) oxide and thermal oxide (TO) has been investigated. HDP-CVD oxides, about 230 nm in thickness, were deposited on Si(0 0 1) control wafers and the wafers of interest that contain a thin strained silicon (sSi) layer on a so-called virtual substrate that is composed of relaxed SiGe (∼4 μm thick) on Si(0 0 1) wafers. The surfaces of the as-deposited HDP-CVD oxides on the Si control wafers were smooth with a root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of <1 nm, which is sufficiently smooth for direct wafer bonding. The surfaces of the sSi/SiGe/Si(0 0 1) substrates show an RMS roughness of >2 nm. After HDP-CVD oxide deposition on the sSi/SiGe/Si substrates, the RMS roughness of the oxide surfaces was also found to be the same, i.e., >2 nm. To use these wafers for direct bonding the RMS roughness had to be reduced below 1 nm, which was carried out using a chemo-mechanical polishing (CMP) step. After bonding the HDP-CVD oxides to thermally oxidized handle wafers, the bonded interfaces were mostly bubble- and void-free for the silicon control and the sSi/SiGe/Si(0 0 1) wafers. The bonded wafer pairs were then annealed at higher temperatures up to 800 °C and the bonded interfaces were still found to be almost bubble- and void-free. Thus, HDP-CVD oxide is quite suitable for direct wafer bonding and layer transfer of ultrathin sSi layers on oxidized Si wafers for the fabrication of novel sSOI substrates.     

Fabrication and characterization of Au/SiO2 nanocomposite films

Au/SiO₂ nanocomposite films were prepared by radio frequency sputtering technique and annealing. The above nanocomposite films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The surface of the nanocomposite films was uniform with the particle diameter of 100-300 nm. The size of Au crystallites increased on increasing annealing time. The luminescent behavior of the nanocomposite films was characterized by photoluminescence (PL) with different excitation wavelengths. Two emission peaks at around 525 nm and 560 nm were observed with the excitation wavelength at 325 nm. An intensive emission peak at around 325 nm was observed with the excitation wavelength at 250 nm, which is related to the defective structure of the amorphous SiO₂ layer because of oxygen deficiency, and could be applied to many fields, such as ultraviolet laser and ultraviolet detector.     

Excited state complex and electroluminescence in TPD-based single layer device

N-N′-diphenyl-N,N′-(bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine) (TPD), was used to fabricate single layer devices (ITO/TPD/Ca/Al). A near-white emission (CIE coordinate of 0.25, 0.24) is observed in electroluminescence (EL) of the single layer device with prominent emission bands at 400, 475 and 670 nm. Steady state and time-resolved emission spectra of spin-coated and annealed TPD films and TRES and TRANES analysis confirmed that emission at 400 and 475 nm are due to monomer and excimer emission, respectively. The origin of the red emission at 670 nm in EL is discussed.