Effect of indium doping in CdO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis technique

Preparation of transparent and conducting indium doped CdO thin films by spray pyrolysis on glass substrate is reported for various concentration of indium (2-8 wt%) in the spray solution. The electrical, optical and structural properties of indium doped CdO films were investigated using different techniques such as Hall measurement, optical transmission, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. X-ray analysis shows that the undoped CdO films are preferentially orientated along (2 0 0) crystallographic direction. Increase of indium doping concentration increases the films packing density and reorient the crystallites along (1 1 1) plane. A minimum resistivity of 4.843×10⁻⁴ Ω cm and carrier concentration of 3.73×10²⁰ cm⁻³ with high transmittance in the range 300-1100 nm were achieved for 6 wt% indium doping. The band gap value increases with doping concentration and reaches a maximum of 2.72 eV for 6 wt% indium doping from 2.36 eV of that of undoped film. The minimum resistivity achieved in the present study is found to be the lowest among the reported values for In-doped CdO films prepared by spray pyrolysis method.     

High-conductive nanocrystalline silicon with phosphorous and boron doping

Intrinsic, P- and B-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. As-deposited samples were thermally annealed at the temperature of 800 °C to obtain the doped nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) films. The microstructures, optical and electronic properties have been evaluated for the undoped and doped nanocrystalline films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements demonstrated the presence of the substitutional boron and phosphorous in the doped films. It was found that thermal annealing can efficiently activate the dopants in films accompanying with formation of nc-Si grains. Based on the temperature-dependent conductivity measurements, it was shown that the activation of dopant by annealing increased the room temperature dark conductivity from 3.4 × 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ to 5.3 S cm⁻¹ for the P-doped films and from 1.28 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ to 130 S cm⁻¹ for the B-doped films. Meanwhile, the corresponding value of conductivity activation energies was decreased from 0.29 eV to 0.03 eV for the P-doped films and from 0.3 eV to 5.6 × 10⁻⁵ eV for the B-doped films, which indicated the doped nc-Si films with high conductivity can be achieved with the present approach.     

Structural, optical and electrical properties of molybdenum-doped cadmium oxide thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis method

Molybdenum-doped cadmium oxide films were prepared by a spray pyrolysis technique at a substrate temperature of 300?°C. The effect of doping on structural, electrical and optical properties were studied. X-ray analysis shows that the undoped CdO films are preferentially oriented along the (111) crystallographic direction. Molybdenum doping concentration increases the films?? packing density and reorients the crystallites along the (200) plane. A?minimum resistivity of 4.68×10^?4????cm with a maximum mobility of 75?cm²?V^?1?s^?1 is achieved when the CdO film is doped with 0.5?wt.% Mo. The band-gap value is found to increase with doping and reaches a maximum of 2.56?eV for 0.75?wt.% as compared to undoped films of 2.2?eV.     

Investigation of chemical bath deposition of CdO thin films using three different complexing agents

Chemical bath deposition of CdO thin films using three different complexing agents, namely ammonia, ethanolamine, and methylamine is investigated. CdSO₄ is used as Cd precursor, while H₂O₂ is used as an oxidation agent. As-grown films are mainly cubic CdO₂, with some Cd(OH)₂ as well as CdO phases being detected. Annealing at 400 °C in air for 1 h transforms films into cubic CdO. The calculated optical band gap of as-grown films is in the range of 3.37-4.64 eV. Annealed films have a band gap of about 2.53 eV. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy of as-grown films reveals cadmium to oxygen ratio of 1.00:1.74 ± 0.01 while much better stoichiometry is obtained after annealing, in accordance with the X-ray diffraction results. A carrier density as high as 1.89 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³ and a resistivity as low as 1.04 × 10⁻² Ω-cm are obtained.     

Carrier transport of doped nanocrystalline Si formed by annealing of amorphous Si films at various temperatures

Phosphorus- and boron-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films were prepared by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. As-deposited samples were thermally annealed at various temperatures to get nanocrystalline Si with sizes around 10 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements demonstrated the presence of boron and phosphorus in the doped films. It is found that the nanocrystallization occurs at around 600 °C for the B-doped films, while it is around 700-800 °C for the P-doped samples. For the P-doped samples, the dark conductivity decreases at first and then increases with the annealing temperature. While for the B-doped samples, the dark conductivity monotonously increases with increasing annealing temperature. As a result, the carrier transport properties of both P- and B-doped nanocrystalline Si films are dominated by the gradual activation of dopants in the films. The conductivity reaches 22.4 and 193 S cm⁻¹ for P- and B-doped sample after 1000 °C annealing.     

Device quality ZnO grown using a Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc

In this paper we report on the structural, electrical and optical characteristics of unintentionally doped ZnO films grown on a-plane sapphire substrates using the Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc (FCVA) technique. The resulting films showed considerable promise for device applications with properties including high transparency, moderate intrinsic carrier concentrations (10¹⁷–10¹⁹ cm⁻³), electron mobilities up to 30 cm²/Vs, low surface roughness (typically <2% of film thickness) and well-structured photoluminescence. Post-annealing in oxygen at temperatures up to 800 °C produced significant improvements in the properties of these films. Silver oxide Schottky diodes fabricated on FCVA ZnO showed ideality factors as low as 1.20 and good sensitivity to ultraviolet light.     

High mobility W-doped In2O3 thin films: Effect of growth temperature and oxygen pressure on structural, electrical and optical properties

Highly conducting and transparent thin films of tungsten (W)-doped indium oxide were obtained using pulsed laser deposition to study the effect of growth temperature and oxygen pressure on structural, optical and electrical properties. The transparency of the films is seen to largely depend on the growth temperature. The electrical properties, however, are found to depend strongly on both the growth temperature and the oxygen pressure. High mobility (up to 358 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹), low resistivity (1.1 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm), and relatively high transmittance (∼90%) tungsten-doped indium oxide films have been prepared at a growth temperature of 500 °C and an oxygen pressure of 1 × 10⁻⁶ bar.     

Structural, optical and electrical properties of Cd-doped SnO2 thin films grown by RF reactive magnetron co-sputtering

Transparent conducting SnO₂:Cd thin films were prepared by RF reactive magnetron co-sputtering on glass slides at a substrate temperature of 500 °C using CdO as cadmium source. The films were deposited under a mixed argon/oxygen atmosphere. The structural, optical and electrical properties were analyzed as a function of the Cd amount in the target. The X-ray diffraction shows that polycrystalline films were grown with both the tetragonal and orthorhombic phases of SnO₂. The obtained films have high transmittance and conductivity. The figure of merit of SnO₂:Cd films are in the order of 10⁻³ Ω⁻¹, which suggests that these films can be considered as candidates for transparent electrodes.     

Influence of oxygen partial pressure on optoelectrical properties of aluminum-doped CdO thin films

Highly conducting and transparent aluminum-doped CdO thin films were deposited on quartz by ablating the sintered target of CdO containing 2 wt% of aluminum with a KrF excimer laser (λ = 248 nm and pulsed duration of 20 ns). The effect of oxygen partial pressure on structural, electrical, and optical properties was studied. It is observed that the (2 0 0) plane is highly preferred for the films grown under high oxygen pressure. The conductivity, carrier concentration and mobility of the films decrease with increase in the oxygen pressure after attaining maximum. Low resistivity (2.27 × 10⁻⁵ Ω cm), and high mobility (79 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹) is observed for the film grown under oxygen pressure of 1.0 × 10⁻³ mbar. The optical band gap is found varying between 2.68 and 2.90 eV for various oxygen pressure.     

Structural, optical properties and VCNR mechanisms in vacuum evaporated iodine doped ZnSe thin films

Iodine doped ZnSe thin films were prepared onto uncoated and aluminium (Al) coated glass substrates using vacuum evaporation technique under a vacuum of 3 × 10⁻⁵ Torr. The composition, structural, optical and electrical properties of the deposited films were analyzed using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and study of I-V characteristics, respectively. In the RBS analysis, the composition of the deposited film is calculated as ZnSeI_0.003. The X-ray diffractograms reveals the cubic structure of the film oriented along (1 1 1) direction. The structural parameters such as crystallite size, strain and dislocation density values are calculated as 32.98 nm, 1.193 × 10⁻³ lin⁻² m⁻⁴ and 9.55 × 10¹⁴ lin/m², respectively. Spectroscopic ellipsometric (SE) measurements were also presented for the prepared iodine doped ZnSe thin films. The optical band gap value of the deposited films was calculated as 2.681 eV by using the optical transmittance measurements and the results are discussed. In the electrical studies, the deposited films exhibit the VCNR conduction mechanism. The iodine doped ZnSe films show the non-linear I-V characteristics and switching phenomena.     

Structure and electrical properties of CdIn2O4 thin films prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering

CdIn₂O₄ thin films were prepared by direct-current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering. The structure, surface morphology and the chemical composition of the thin films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The electrical properties of the films prepared in different oxygen concentration and annealing treatment were determined, and the effects of the preparing conditions on the structure and electrical properties were also explored. It indicates that the CdIn₂O₄ thin films with uniform and dense surface morphology contain mainly CdIn₂O₄, In₂O₃ phases, and CdO phase is also observed. The XPS analysis confirms the films are in oxygen-deficient state. The electrical properties of these films significantly depend on the preparing conditions, the resistivity of the films with the oxygen concentration of 4.29% is 2.95 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and the Hall mobility is as high as 60.32 cm²/V s. Annealing treatment can improve the electrical performance of the films.     

Highly conducting and crystalline doubly doped tin oxide films fabricated using a low-cost and simplified spray technique

Doubly doped (simultaneous doping of antimony and fluorine) tin oxide films (SnO₂:Sb:F) have been fabricated by employing an inexpensive and simplified spray technique using perfume atomizer from aqueous solution of SnCl₂ precursor. The structural studies revealed that the films are highly crystalline in nature with preferential orientation along the (2 0 0) plane. It is found that the size of the crystallites of the doubly doped tin oxide films is larger (69 nm) than that (27 nm) of their undoped counterparts. The dislocation density of the doubly doped film is lesser (2.08×10¹⁴ lines/m²) when compared with that of the undoped film (13.2×10¹⁴ lines/m²), indicating the higher degree of crystallinity of the doubly doped films. The SEM images depict that the films are homogeneous and uniform. The optical transmittance in the visible range and the optical band gap of the doubly doped films are 71% and 3.56 eV respectively. The sheet resistance (4.13 Ω/□) attained for the doubly doped film in this study is lower than the values reported for spray deposited fluorine or antimony doped tin oxide films prepared from aqueous solution of SnCl₂ precursor (without using methanol or ethanol).     

Influence of deposition temperature on morphological, optical, electrical and opto-electrical properties of highly textured nano-crystalline spray deposited CdO:Ga thin films

This study investigated the effect of deposition temperature on the morphological, optical, electrical and opto-electrical properties of CdO:Ga films prepared by a cost effective spray pyrolysis deposition method. The substrate temperature was varied from 275 to 375 °C, in steps of 25 °C. The XRD patterns reveal that films are polycrystalline with cubic structure and are highly textured along (2 0 0) preferential orientation. The crystallinity and crystallite size increases with deposition temperature. The SEM images confirmed these results and showed larger grains and more crystallization for the higher deposition temperature. The electrical studies show degenerate, n-type semiconductor nature with minimum resistivity of 1.93 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm. Temperature dependence of electrical conductivity shows a semiconducting behavior with a spectrum of activation energy. The electrical conductivity of the film dependence of temperature shows the thermally activated band conduction mechanism. The optical gap varies from 2.54 to 2.74 eV. The highest figure of merit observed in the present study is 9.58 × 10⁻³ Ω⁻¹ and shows improvement than our previous reports. The blue shift of absorption edge (or bandgap widening BGW) can be described by the Moss-Burstein (M-B) effect in which the optical absorption edge of a degenerate n-type semiconductor is shifted towards higher energy.     

Structural and electrical properties of fluorine-doped zinc tin oxide thin films prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

Transparent and conductive thin films of fluorine doped zinc tin oxide (FZTO) were deposited on glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering using a 30 wt% ZnO with 70 wt% SnO₂ ceramic targets. The F-doping was carried out by introducing a mixed gas of pure Ar, CF₄, and O₂ forming gas into the sputtering chamber while sputtering ZTO target. The effect of annealing temperature on the structural, electrical and optical performances of FZTO thin films has been studied. FZTO thin film annealed at 600 °C shows the decrease in resistivity 5.47 × 10⁻³ Ω cm, carrier concentration ∼10¹⁹ cm⁻³, mobility ∼20 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and an increase in optical band gap from 3.41 to 3.60 eV with increasing the annealing temperatures which is well explained by Burstein–Moss effect. The optical transmittance of FZTO films was higher than 80% in all specimens. Work function (ϕ) of the FZTO films increase from 3.80 eV to 4.10 eV through annealing and are largely dependent on the amounts of incorporated F. FZTO is a possible potential transparent conducting oxide (TCO) alternative for application in optoelectronics.     

Effect of fluorine doping on highly transparent conductive spray deposited nanocrystalline tin oxide thin films

The undoped and fluorine doped thin films are synthesized by using cost-effective spray pyrolysis technique. The dependence of optical, structural and electrical properties of SnO₂ films, on the concentration of fluorine is reported. Optical absorption, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Hall effect studies have been performed on SnO₂:F (FTO) films coated on glass substrates. The film thickness varies from 800 to 1572 nm. X-ray diffraction pattern reveals the presence of cassiterite structure with (2 0 0) preferential orientation for FTO films. The crystallite size varies from 35 to 66 nm. SEM and AFM study reveals the surface of FTO to be made of nanocrystalline particles. The electrical study reveals that the films are degenerate and exhibit n-type electrical conductivity. The 20 wt% F doped film has a minimum resistivity of 3.8 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, carrier density of 24.9 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³ and mobility of 6.59 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. The sprayed FTO film having minimum resistance of 3.42 Ω/cm², highest figure of merit of 6.18 × 10⁻² Ω⁻¹ at 550 nm and 96% IR reflectivity suggest, these films are useful as conducting layers in electrochromic and photovoltaic devices and also as the passive counter electrode.     

Preparation and characterization of Al doped ZnO thin films by PLD

This paper describes the effect of doping on the composition, surface morphology and optical, structural and electrical properties of Al doped ZnO thin films by pulsed laser deposition. SEM analysis shows that the crystalline nature of the deposited films decreases with an increase of Al doping concentration from 1% to 6%. In the AFM analysis, the surface roughness of the deposited films increases by increasing the doping concentration of Al. Al doping strongly influences the optical properties of the ZnO thin films. Optical transmittance spectra show a very good transmittance in the visible region (450–700 nm). The calculated optical band gap was found to be in the range from 3.405 to 3.464 eV. Structural analysis confirms that the increases of Al concentration decrease the crystallinity of the ZnO films and the particle size decreases from 45.7±0.09 to 28.0±0.02 nm. In the Raman analysis, the active mode of Al(=1%) doped ZnO films were observed at 434.81 cm⁻¹. The shifts of the active mode (_E2)$\left(E_2\right)$ show the presence of tensile stress in the deposited films. The electrical properties of the deposited films showed that the values of the Hall mobility was in the range between 2.51 and 10.64 cm²/V s and the carrier concentration between 15.7 and 0.78×10¹⁷ and the resistivity values between 1.59 and 10.97 Ωcm, depending on the doping concentration.     

Formation of CdO films from chemically deposited Cd(OH)2 films as a precursor

Formation of cadmium hydroxide at room temperature onto glass substrates from an aqueous alkaline cadmium nitrate solution using a simple soft chemical method and its conversion to cadmium oxide (CdO) by thermal annealing treatment has been studied in this paper. The as-deposited film was given thermal annealing treatment in oxygen atmosphere at 450 °C for 2 h for conversion into cadmium oxide. The structural, surface morphological and optical studies were performed for as-deposited and the annealed films. The structural analyses revealed that as-deposited films consists of mixture of Cd(OH)₂ and CdO, while annealed films exhibited crystalline CdO. From surface morphological studies, conversion of clusters to grains after annealing was observed. The band gap energy was changed from 3.21 to 2.58 eV after annealing treatment. The determination of elementals on surface composition of the core-shell nanoparticles of annealed films was carried out using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).     

On the mechanism of electronic transport in polycrystalline CdO thin films

Cadmium Oxide (CdO) thin films (d = 0.16−0.62 μm) were deposited onto glass substrates by thermal evaporation under vacuum (quasi closed volume technique) of high purity (99.99%) CdO polycrystalline powders. The substrate temperature was 300 and 473 K, respectively. After a post-deposition heat treatment, the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity becomes reversible. The electronic transport mechanism in studied samples is explained in terms of Seto’s model for polycrystalline semiconducting films. The values of optical bandgap have been determined from absorption spectra.     

Structural and electrical properties of nitrogen and aluminum codoped p-type ZnO films

To resolve the problem of p-type doping in ZnO, nitrogen and aluminum (N-Al) codoped ZnO films were prepared by the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) technique. The structural and electrical properties of N-Al codoped ZnO films were investigated. The results demonstrate that the undoped ZnO films exhibit the preferential orientation of (002) plane, while ZnO films show high orientation of (101) plane after codoping with N and Al. The N-Al codoped ZnO films under optimum conditions show p-type conduction, with a low resistivity of 1.7×10⁻²Ω cm, carrier concentration of 5.09×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and high Hall mobility of 73.6 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. A conversion from p-type conduction to n-type was observed during the increase of measurement temperature.     

Deposition and characterization of transparent and conductive sprayed ZnO:B thin films

Highly transparent and conductive Boron doped zinc oxide (ZnO:B) thin films were deposited using chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP) technique on glass substrate. The effect of variation of boron doping concentration in reducing solution on film properties was investigated. Low angle X-ray analysis showed that the films were polycrystalline fitting well with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and have preferred orientation in [002] direction. The films with resistivity 2.54×10⁻³ Ω-cm and optical transmittance >90% were obtained at optimized boron doping concentration. The optical band gap of ZnO:B films was found ∼3.27 eV from the optical transmittance spectra for the as-deposited films. Due to their excellent optical and electrical properties, ZnO:B films are promising contender for their potential use as transparent window layer and electrodes in solar cells.