Electron beam evaporation deposition of cadmium sulphide and cadmium telluride thin films: Solar cell applications

Cadmium sulphide (CdS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films are deposited by electron beam evaporation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the root mean square (RMS) roughness values of the CdS films increase as substrate temperature increases. The optical band gap values of CdS films increase slightly with the increase in the substrate temperature, in a range of 2.42-2.48 eV. The result of Hall effect measurement suggests that the carrier concentration decreases as the substrate temperature increases, making the resistivity of the CdS films increase. CdTe films annealed at 300℃ show that their lowest transmittances are due to their largest packing densities. The electrical characteristics of CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells are investigated in dark conditions and under illumination. Typical rectifying and photovoltaic properties are obtained.     

In-situ growth of a CdS window layer by vacuum thermal evaporation for CIGS thin film solar cell applications

Highly crystalline and transparent CdS films are grown by utilizing the vacuum thermal evaporation （VTE） method. The structural, surface morphological, and optical properties of the films are studied and compared with those prepared by chemical bath deposition （CBD）. It is found that the films deposited at a high substrate temperature （200 ℃） have a preferential orientation along （002） which is consistent with CBD-grown films. Absorption spectra reveal that the films are highly transparent and the optical band gap values are found to be in a range of 2.44 eV-2.56 eV. Culnl_xGaxSe2 （CIGS） solar cells with in-situ VTE-grown CdS films exhibit higher values of Voc together with smaller values of Jsc than those from CBD. Eventually the conversion efficiency and fill factor become slightly better than those from the CBD method. Our work suggests that the in-situ thermal evaporation method can be a competitive alternative to the CBD method, particularly in the physical- and vacuum-based CIGS technology.     

Optical characteristics and mechanical properties of optical thin films on weathered substrates

Thin films used for optical components require improvements in their mechanical properties and long-term stability. We examine the influence of substrate weathering on optical thin films. The light scattering of TiO2 thin films increased as the substrate is weathered. The light scattering of the TiO2 thin film formed by ion-assisted deposition （IAD） is smaller than that of the TiO2 thin film formed by electron beam deposition （EBD）.     

Low temperature ferromagnetic properties of CdS and CdTe thin films

The magnetic property in a material is induced by the unpaired electrons. This can occur due to defect states which can enhance the magnetic moment and the spin polarization. In this report, CdS and CdTe thin films are grown on FTO glass substrates by chemical bath deposition and close-spaced sublimation, respectively. The magnetic properties, which are introduced from oxygen states, are found in CdS and CdTe thin films. From the hysteresis loop of magnetic moment it is revealed that CdS and CdTe thin films have different kinds of magnetic moments at different temperatures. The M–H curves indicate that from 100 K to 350 K, CdS and CdTe thin films show paramagnetism and diamagnetism, respectively.A superparamagnetic or a weakly ferromagnetic response is found at 5 K. It is also observed from ZFC/FC curves that magnetic moments decrease with temperature increasing. Spin polarized density functional calculation for spin magnetic moment is also carried out.     

Large Third-Order Optical Nonlinearity of Cadmium Sulphide Nanoparticles Embedded in Polymer Thin Films

A simple method for synthesis of well dispersed cadmium sulphide nanoparticles embedded in a polyethylene glycol matrix （PEG 400） in thin film form is presented. The large blue shift of the band gap energy of the CdS nanoparticles compared to the bulk semiconductors is observed via UV-vis absorption spectra. Photoluminescence spectra of CdS nanocomposite films show that the emission peaks shift towards the longer wavelength with the increase of annealing temperature. Transmission electron microscopic images as well as Raman scattering studies confirm the CdS nanometer size particle formation within the polymer matrix. The particle size is about 8 nm. Selected area electron diffraction （SAED） shows the cubic zinc blende polycrystalline rings. Third-order optical nonlinearity of the CdS nanopartieles embedded in polymer thin films is studied with the Z-scan technique under 1064 nm excitation. The results show that the CdS nanocomposite film exhibits negative nonlinear refraction index and positive absorption coefficient. The film shows large optical nonlinearity, and the magnitude of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of the film is calculated to be 1.73 × 10^-9 esu. The corresponding mechanism is discussed.     

Raman scattering of polycrystalline GaSb thin films grownby co-evapouration process

<正>This paper reports that GaSb thin films have been co-deposited on soda-lime glass substrates.The GaSb thin film structural properties are characterized by Raman spectroscopy.The Sb-A_1g/GaSb-TO ratio decreases rapidly with the increase of substrate temperature,which suggests a small amount of crystalline Sb in the GaSb thin film and suggests that Sb atoms in the thin film decrease.In Raman spectra,the transverse optical（TO） mode intensity is stronger than that of the longitudinal optical（LO） mode,which indicates that all the samples are disordered.The LO/TO intensity ratio increases with increasing substrate temperature which suggests the improved polycrystalline quality of the GaSb thin film.A downshift of the TO and LO frequencies of the polycrystalline GaSb thin film to single crystalline bulk GaSb Raman spectra is also observed.The uniaxial stress in GaSb thin film is calculated and the value is around 1.0 GPa.The uniaxial stress decreases with increasing substrate temperature.These results suggest that a higher substrate temperature is beneficial in relaxing the stress in GaSb thin film.     

Effect of Substrate Bias on Microstructures of Zirconia Thin Films Deposited by Cathodic Vacuum Arc

Zirconium oxide （Zr02） thin films are deposited at room temperature by cathodic arc at substrate biases of 0 V, -60 V and -120 V, respectively. The crystal structure, composition, morphology, and deposition rate of the as-deposited thin films are systematically investigated by x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） as well as scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the crystal structure, morphology and deposition rate of the films all are dependant on substrate bias. With the increase of bias voltage from 0 V to -120 V, the zirconium oxide thin film grown on silicon wafer first exhibits monoclinic lattice and tetragonal lattice, further evolves monoclinic phase with the preferred orientation along the （-111） and （-222） directions at -60 V and finally along nearly one observed preferred （002） direction under -120 V. In addition, the variations of morphology with bias voltage are correlated to changes of the film structure. The results of XPS demonstrate that Zr elements are almost oxidized completely in the films achieved under -120 V bias.     

Influence of substrate surface roughness on light scattering of TiO2 optical thin films

Optical thin films are used in many optical elements; however, light scattering can be problematic. We investigate the effect of substrate surface roughness on the light scattering of optical thin films. The substrates are classified according to their surface roughness, from fine to very rough, and coated with a single TiO2 layer or a SiO2/TiO2 multilayer. The light scattering intensity increases as the substrate roughness increases. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that the number of nodules formed in the optical thin films increases with the substrate roughness, which affects the light scattering properties.     

Structure Stability of LaAlO3 Thin Films on Si Substrates

A series of amorphous and single-crystalline LaAlO3 （LAO） thin films are fabricated by laser molecular-beam epitaxy technique on Si substrates under various conditions of deposition. The structure stability of the LAO films annealed in high temperature and various ambients is studied by x-ray diffraction as well as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the epitaxial LAO films have very good stability, and the structures of amorphous LAO thin films depend strongly on the conditions of deposition and post-annealing. The results reveal that the formation of LAO composition during the deposition is very important for the structure stability of LAO thin films.     

Effect of Different Substrate Temperature on Phosphorus-Doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by PLD on Sapphire Substrates

Phosphorus-doped ZnO （ZnO：P） thin films are deposited on a c-plane sapphire in oxygen at 350℃, 450℃, 550℃ and 650℃, respectively, by pulsed laser deposition （PLD）, then all the ZnO：P samples are annealed at 650℃ in oxygen with a pressure of 1 × 10^5 Pa. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the crystalline quality of the ZnO：P thin films is improved with the increasing substrate temperature from 350℃ to 550℃. With a further increase of the deposition temperature, the crystalline quality of the ZnO：P sample is degraded. The measurements of low-temperature photoluminescence spectra demonstrate that the samples deposited at the substrate temperatures of 350℃ and 450℃ show a strong acceptor-bound exciton （A^0X） emission. The electrical properties of ZnO：P films strongly depend on the deposition temperature. The ZnO：P samples deposited at 350℃ and 450℃ exhibit p-type conductivity. The p-type ZnO：P film deposited at 450℃ shows a resistivity of 1.846Ω·cm and a relatively high hole concentration of 5.100 × 10^17 cm^-3 at room temperature.     

Electrical and optical properties of Sb-doped ZnO thin films synthesized by sol–gel method

Sb-doped ZnO thin films with different values of Sb content （from 0 to 1.1 at.%） are deposited by the sol-gel dip- coating method under different sol concentrations. The effects of Sb-doping content, sol concentration, and annealing ambient on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of ZnO films are investigated. The results of the X-ray diffraction and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy （UV-VIS） spectrophotometer indicate that each of all the films retains the wurtzite ZnO structure and possesses a preferred orientation along the c axis, with high transmittance （〉 90%） in the visible range. The Hall effect measurements show that the vacuum annealed thin films synthesized in the sol concentration of 0.75 mol/L each have an adjustable n-type electrical conductivity by varying Sb-doping density, and the photoluminescence （PL） spectra revealed that the defect emission （around 450 nm） is predominant. However, the thin films prepared by the sol with a concentration of 0.25 mol/L, despite their poor conductivity, have priority in ultraviolet emission, and the PL peak position shows first a blue-shift and then a red-shift with the increase of the Sb doping content.     

Epitaxial Properties of Co-Doped ZnO Thin Films Grown by Plasma Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

High quality Co-doped ZnO thin films are grown on single crystalline Al2O3（0001） and ZnO（0001） substrates by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy at a relatively lower substrate temperature of 450℃. The epitaxial conditions are examined with in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction （RHEED） and ex-situ high resolution x-ray diffraction （HRXRD）. The epitaxial thin films are single crystal at film thickness smaller than 500nm and nominal concentration of Co dopant up to 20%. It is indicated that the Co cation is incorporated into the ZnO matrix as Co^2＋ substituting Zn^2＋ ions. Atomic force microscopy shows smooth surfaces with rms roughness of 1.9 nm. Room-temperature magnetization measurements reveal that the Co-doped ZnO thin films are ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures Tc above room temperature.     

Mechanical properties of Al/a-C nanocomposite thin films synthesized using a plasma focus device

The Al/a-C nanocomposite thin films are synthesized on Si substrates using a dense plasma focus device with alu- minum fitted anode and operating with CH4/Ar admixture. X-ray diffractometer results confirm the formation of metallic crystalline Al phases using different numbers of focus shots. Raman analyses show the formation of D and G peaks for all thin film samples, confirming the presence of a-C in the nanocomposite thin films. The formation of Al/a-C nanocomposite thin films is further confirmed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The scanning electron microscope results show that the deposited thin films consist of nanoparticles and their agglomerates. The sizes of th agglomerates increase with increasing numbers of focus deposition shots. The nanoindentation results show the variations in hardness and elastic modulus values of nanocomposite thin film with increasing the number of focus shots. Maximum values of hardness and elastic modulus of the composite thin film prepared using 20 focus shots are found to be about 10.7 GPa and 189.2 GPa, respectively.     

Influences of Y2O3 dopant content on residual stress,structure, and optical properties of ZrO2 thin films

Four kinds of Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2 （YSZ） thin films with different Y2O3 contents （from 0 to 12 mol%） are deposited on BK7 glass substrates by electron-beam evaporation method. The effects of different Y2O3 dopant contents on residual stress, structure, and optical properties of ZrO2 thin films are investigated. The results show that residual stress in YSZ thin films varies from tensile to compressive with the increase of Y2O3 molar content. The addition of Y2O3 is beneficial to the crystallization of YSZ thin film and transformation from amorphous to high temperature phase, and the refractive index decreases with the increase of Y2O3 molar content. Moreover, the variations of residual stress and the shifts of refractive index correspond to the evolution of structures induced by the addition of Y2O3.     

Structure,Electrical,and Optical Properties of Nb-doped BaTiO3 Thin Films Grown by Laser Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Structure,electrical,and optical properties of Nb-doped BaTiO3 (Nb:BTO) thin films on MgO substrates grownby laser molecular beam epitaxy with increasing Nb content were investigated.The Nb:BTO thin films with high crystallinity are epitaxially grown on MgO substrates.With more Nb-doped content,the impurity phases are found in Nb:BTO thin films.Hall measurement at room temperature confirms that the charge carriers of the Nb:BTO thin films are n-type.When the Nb-doped content increases,the carrier concentration and carrier mobility increase.Meanwhile the optical transmittance decreases with the increase of the Nb-doping,and the width of the forbidden band in each group is not affected by the presence of Nb in the samples.Raman spectra show that the structural phase transition may occur with the increase of the Nb-doping content,in the meantime more defects and impurities exist in the Nb:BTO thin films.     

Giant Temperature Coefficient of Resistance in ZnO/Si （111） Thin Films

Giant negative temperature coefficient of resistance （TCR） was observed in ZnO/Si （111） thin films. The films were grown using the pulsed laser deposition （PLD） technique, taking Si （111） wafer as substrates, with a substrate at the temperature below 450°C in the PLD. It is found that both TCR-temperature behavior and TCR value are strongly affected by deposition temperature. The maximal TCR value over -10.9%K-1 can be observed at the deposition temperature from 20°C to 350°C and reaches to -13%K-1 at deposition temperature 20°C where the film shows X-ray diffraction amorphous. The results suggest that the ZnO/Si films demonstrate great potentials when used in a low-cost, high-performance, non-cooling and highly sensitive bolometer.     

Effect of post-thermal and optical properties annealing on the structural of ZnO thin films prepared from a polymer precursor

ZnO thin films were synthesised by a new method which uses polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） as the polymer precursor. The films are annealed at different temperatures and for different annealing times. The structural parameters, like grain size, lattice constants, optical band gap, and Urbach energy, depend on the annealing temperature and time. All the films possess tensile strain, which relaxes as the annealing temperature and time increase. The photoluminescence （PL） spectra contain only ultraviolet （UV） peaks at low temperature, but as the annealing temperature and time increase, we observe peaks at the blue and green regions with a variation in the intensities of these peaks with annealing temperature and time.     

Effects of Substrate Temperature and Nitrogen Pressure on Growth of AIN Films by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Highly oriented aluminium nitride （AIN） films are grown on p-Si （100） substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and their characteristics of structure and composition are studied by x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the deposited films exhibit good crystalline properties with a sharp x-ray diffraction peak at 2θ= 33.15 ° corresponding to AIN h （100） crystalline orientation. The influences of substrate temperature and ambient nitrogen （N2） pressure on the crystallinity of A1N films are remarkable. At room temperature, when the ambient N2 pressure arises from 5 × 10^-6 Pa to 5 Pa, the crystallinity of the film becomes better. When the substrate temperature is 600℃, the film has the best crystallinity at 0.05 Pa. Furthermore, the effects of substrate temperature and ambient N2 pressure on the combination of A1-N bonds and surface morphology of AIN films are also studied.     

Grain size and its distribution in NiTi thin films sputter-deposited on heated substrates

Grain size and its distribution in NiTi thin films sputter-deposited on a heated substrate have been investigated using the small angle x-ray scattering technique. The crystalline particles have a small size and are distributed over a small range of sizes for the films grown at substrate temperatures 370 and 420℃. The results show that the sizes of crystalline particles are about the same. From the x-ray diffraction profiles, the sizes of crystalline particles obtained were 2.40nm and 2.81nm at substrate temperatures of 350 and 420℃, respectively. The morphology of NiTi thin films deposited at different substrate temperatures has been studied by atomic force microscopy. The root mean square roughness calculated for the film deposited at ambient temperature and 420℃ are 1.42 and 2.75nm, respectively.     

Compositional and Structural Properties of TiO2-xNx Thin Films Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

TiO2-xNx thin films are deposited onto Si（100） and quartz substrates by arf magnetron sputtering method using a titanium metal disc as a target in Ar, N2, and 02 atmospheres. The substrate temperature is kept at 300℃. The O2 and Ar gas flow rates are kept to be constants and the N gas flow rate is varied. TiO2-xNx films with different N contents are characterized by x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the TiO2-xNx thin films can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film, and the films with mixed TiO2 and TiN crystal can be obtained at 13% N and 15% N contents in the film. In terms of the results of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N ls of β-N （396 eV） is the main component in the TiO2-xNx thin films. Because the energy level of β-N is positioned above the valence-band maximum of TiO2, an effective optical-energy gap decreases from 2.8 eV （for pure TiO2 film deposited by the same rf sputtering system） to 2.3 eV, which is verified by the optical-absorption spectra.