Properties of a-Si : H : F deposited in SiF4/SiH4/Ar Gas mixtures by a glow-discharge technique

Films of silicon-hydrogen-fluorine alloys (a-Si : H : F) were prepared by capacitive coupling rf glow discharge in an SiF₄/SiH₄/Ar gas mixture. Up to 4% fluorine can be incorporated in films prepared with a gas mixture of SiF₄/(SiF₄ + SiH₄) = 0.72. The hydrogen concentration decreases as fluorine concentration increases but there is still more hydrogen than fluorine in films with the highest density of fluorine, which is in sharp contrast to the best films produced by the Madan and co-workers. Both dark conductivity and photoconductivity decrease as fluorine increases, though improvement of doping efficiency was observed in films with moderate concentrations of fluorine. The influence of hydrogen is more important than the influence of fluorine in the present silicon-hydrogen-fluorine alloys.     

Structure and electrical conduction of Sb2O3 thin films

Antimony trioxide (Sb₂O₃) thin films have been deposited onto glass substrates using thermal evaporation technique at room temperature. The structural feature and surface morphology were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Sandwich‐type structures were deposited with films thickness d = 0.55 μm using evaporated electrodes of silver. Current‐voltage (J‐U) characteristics have been measured at various fixed temperatures in the range 293‐473 K. In all cases, at low electric field (E <10⁴ V/cm), ohmic behavior is observed. However, at high electric field (E >10⁴ V/cm), non‐ohmic behavior is observed. An analysis of the experimental data indicates that in the range of high‐applied electric field, the dominant conduction mechanism is space charge limited currents (SCLC). Using the relevant SCLC theory, the carrier concentration, total trap concentration and the ratio of free charge to trapped charge have been calculated and correlated with changes in the structures of antimony trioxide thin films. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of substrate temperature on the properties of vacuum evaporated indium selenide thin films

Thin films of InSe were obtained by thermal evaporation techniques on glass substrates maintained at various temperatures (T_sb = 30°, 400°C). X‐ray diffraction analysis showed the occurrence of amorphous to polycrystalline transformation in the films deposited at higher substrate temperature (400°C). The polycrystalline films were found to have a hexagonal lattice. Compositions of these films have been characterized by EDAX and the surface analysis by scanning electron microscopy. Optical properties of the films, investigated by using spectrophotometer transmittance spectra in the wavelength range (300 – 1100 nm), were explained in terms of substrate temperatures. Films formed at room temperature showed an optical band gap (E_g^opt) 1.56 eV; where as the films formed at 400°C were found to have a E_g^opt of 1.92 eV. The increase in the value of E_g^opt with T_sb treatment is interpreted in terms of the density of states model as proposed by Mott and Davis. The analysis of current ‐Voltage characteristics, based on space charge limited currents (SCLC) measurements, confirms the exponential decrease of density of states from the conduction band edge towards the Fermi level for both the amorphous and polycrystalline films. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Preparation and characterization of electrodeposited indium selenide thin films

Indium Selenide (InSe) thin films were deposited from a mixture of Indium chloride and selenium dioxide in aqueous solution by electrodeposition technique on Indium Tin oxide coated glass substrates. The effects of the parameters during deposition such as current density, deposition potential versus saturated calomel electrode, pH value and concentration of source material were studied. X‐ray diffraction studies were carried out on the films to analyze the microstructure using an x‐ray diffractometer and were examined by RAMAN spectroscopy. The Raman peak position did not change much with chemical concentrations. Raman scattering due to the (LO) phonon was observed at 211 cm^–1. Optical absorption studies were performed with a double beam ultra violet‐visible –NIR spectrophotometer in the wavelength 300–1100 nm. The surface morphology of the layer was examined using a scanning electron micrograph. The composition of the films was studied using an Energy Dispersive Analysis by X‐Rays (EDAX).     

衬底温度对In2S3薄膜结构及其性能的影响

采用超声喷雾热解法,在玻璃基底上一步合成了In2S3薄膜.研究了衬底温度对In2S3薄膜的结构、表面形貌、电学和光学性能影响.结果表明:所制备的In2S3薄膜均具有沿(220)面择优取向生长特性且无其他杂相,衬底温度对薄膜的均匀性、致密度、结晶程度均有明显影响,并因此影响薄膜的光电性能.薄膜的导电件随着衬底温度的升高迅速增强,但足在衬底温度为350℃时有所降低.衬底温度为300℃所制备的薄膜在可见光区透光率最高达到90;以上,禁带宽度达到2.43 eV.     

Physical Properties of Zinc Oxide Films Prepared by dc Reactive Magnetron Sputtering at Different Sputtering Pressures

Thin films of zinc oxide were deposited by dc reactive magnetron sputtering onto glass substrates held at a temperature of 663 K and oxygen partial pressure of 1x10^‐3 mbar, and at different sputtering pressures in the range 3x10^‐2 ‐ 10x10^‐2 mbar. The effect of sputtering pressure on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the films were systematically studied. The films were polycrystalline in nature with preferred (002) orientation. The temperature dependence of Hall mobility indicated that the grain boundary scattering of the charge carriers are predominant in these films. The films formed at a sputtering pressure of 6x10^‐2 mbar showed a low electrical resistivity of 6.9x10^‐2 Ohm cm, optical transmittance of 83% with an optical band gap of 3.28 eV.     

A solvothermal route to tellurium based thin films

Tellurium thin film was prepared via a solvothermal route on glass substrates modified by exchaning the positive charge with high charge. It was characterized by SEM and XRD. The possible growth of tellurium thin film was proposed. It is expected that this method would be extended to other functional thin films. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of rare-earth elements on the plasma etching behavior of the RE–Si–Al–O glasses

The effect of rare-earth elements on the plasma etching behavior of oxide glasses were investigated to develop the window glass for a plasma processing chamber in the semiconductor industry. Aluminosilicate glasses with various rare-earth elements (Y, Gd and La) were prepared and their optical transmittance and plasma etching depth were evaluated. The plasma etching behavior of the glasses was estimated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis at the fluorine plasma exposure surface of the glasses. The rare-earth element in the glass was highly related to various properties such as density, molar volume, mechanical properties and plasma etching depth. The cationic field strength of the rare-earth element more strongly affected the plasma etching depth of the glasses than the sublimation point of the fluorine compounds and this may be related to the plasma etching condition.     

Structural and transport properties of quaternary glass system: LiF-Li2O-SrO-Bi2O3

Bismuth based glasses containing LiF, Li₂O and SrO were investigated by different physical, spectroscopic and transport techniques. The results show that density of the glass system increases whereas glass transition temperature decreases with increase in LiF content. The decrease in glass transition temperature is attributed to the entry of the fluoride ions into the glass network mainly substitutionally in place of oxygen ion. The increase in dc electrical conductivity in the present glasses with increase in the fluorine ions is due to the mixed contribution of the positively charged lithium cations throughout the glass network and the negatively charged fluorine, which may act as impurity and/or as terminal non-bridging halide ion. Infrared and Raman spectroscopic results indicate that the glass network consists of BiO₆ octahedral and BiO₃ pyramidal units.     

DC conduction in bis(dimethylglyoximato)palladium(II) thin films

Bis(dimethylglyoximato)palladium (II) complex thin films of polycrystalline structure were prepared by sublimation in a vacuum at 140°C on p‐Si substrates. After carrying out the characterisation of the prepared films by X‐ray diffraction and X‐ray fluorescence methods, Al‐complex‐Si MIS devices were fabricated. The constructed MIS structure was characterised by measuring the capacitance as a function of gate voltage at 1 MHz. The dependence of dc‐current density on gate voltage and temperature in the range of 293 ‐ 328 K of the MIS device was measured. It was found that the experimental data follow the trap‐charge‐limited space‐charge‐limited conductivity mechanism, from which the total concentration and the exponential energy distribution of the trap density were determined. In general, the measured quantities suggest that the conduction can be realised by thermally assisted hopping between localised states bundled in a very narrow band lying energetically near the mobility band edge. Moreover, results show that it is possible to use a film of the complex in applications of low‐k dielectric material. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Study of transport properties co – evaporated lead telluride (PbTe) thin films

Thin films of lead telluride (PbTe) of thicknesses ranging from 1000 Å to 2500 Å have been prepared by co‐evaporation (three temperature) technique, onto precleaned amorphous glass substrates at various temperatures. The deposited samples were annealed and annealed samples were used for characterization. Resistivity of these samples was measured by four‐probe technique as a function of thickness and temperature. Activation energy for charge transport have been evaluated and found in the range of 0.09 to 0.106 eV. Thermoelectric power has been measured and found to be positive indicating that the samples are p‐type semiconducting material. Mobility variation with temperature has been estimated (evaluated) and correlated with scattering mechanism in the entire range of temperature studied. The X‐ray diffraction analysis confirmed that films are polycrystalline having cubic structure cell and lattice parameters are reported.     

Synthesis of highly‐ordered hierarchical ZnO nanostructures and their application in dye‐sensitized solar cells

In order to improve the performance of ZnO‐based solar cells, highly‐ordered hierarchical ZnO nanostructures were design and fabricated. The hierarchical nanostructures were grown on FTO (fluorine doped tin oxide, SnO₂:F) glass substrates via a facile, low‐temperature, and low‐cost chemical route. The morphology and structure of the obtained products has been confirmed by field‐emission scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction measurements. The performance investigation of the prepared dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) demonstrates that the hierarchical ZnO nanostructure‐based solar cell shows a higher short‐circuit current density compared with the ZnO nanowire counterpart. The enhanced current density may be due to the fact that the surface area of the hierarchical nanostructures is increased. These results indicate that hierarchical ZnO nanostructures are more suitable for the application as photoelectrode of DSSCs. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Structural,Morphological and Electrical Studies on Barium Strontium Titanate Thin Films Prepared by Sol‐Gel Technique

The crystal structure, surface morphology, compositional homogeneity and electrical properties of barium strontium titanate (BST) thin films are investigated. The films were deposited on bare silicon and platinum coated silicon substrates by spin coating process. The precursor solution with Ba/Sr ratio 70/30 was prepared by sol‐gel synthesis using metal alkoxides. The crystalline nature and morphology of the films are found to be strongly influenced by the heating cycle adopted to form the Ba_0.7Sr_0.3TiO₃ layer. The elemental composition analysis on the surface and in‐depth confirms the stoichiometry of the films. The dielectric constant at 100 kHz and dissipation factor at room temperature is found to be 120 and 0.0236 for the films with 400nm thickness annealed at 700°C for 2 hrs. The leakage current density of the film is found to be 4x10^‐8 A/cm² from I‐V measurements.     

Effect of annealing and composition on crystal structure,surface morphology and optical absorption of chemically deposited Cd1‐xSnxS films

Cd_1‐xSn_xS thin films were successfully deposited on suitably cleaned glass substrate by chemical bath deposition method at 74 °C. Hydrated Stannous Chloride (SnCl₂.2H₂O) in aqueous solution was added to the CdS growing solution in different proportions. The experimental results indicate, a successful doping for lower concentration of Sn, saturation for intermediate doping levels, and a degradation of the doping process for higher concentration of Sn. Indirect (X‐ray diffraction) and Direct (Scanning electron microscopy) measurements were performed to characterize the growth and the nature of crystallinity of the different Cd_1‐xSn_xS films. The effect of annealing on the crystal structure and morphology of the deposited films has also been discussed. The X‐ray diffraction spectra show that the thin films are polycrystalline and have both cubic and hexagonal structure. The Interplanar spacing, lattice constant, grain size, strain, and dislocation density were calculated for as‐deposited and annealed films. The grain size was found to decrease from 5 nm to 0.89 nm with doping concentration of Sn. The grain size further decreased due to annealing at 400 °C. SEM studies show layered growth and long needle like structures along with some voids. After annealing the densification and smaller size of the particles was also observed. The optical absorption spectra show shifting of absorption peaks towards lower wavelength side (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Deposition of device grade poly-Si films on glass substrate directly at 450 °C and fabrication of bottom-gate poly-Si TFTs

We have observed the progressive stages of nucleation and growth of the poly-Si films with the source gasses of Si₂H₆ and F₂ on glass substrates directly at 450 °C and found that nuclei density and size are controllable effectively via governing process pressures. We introduced a nuclei governed layer of approximately less than 2 nm and it brought about 33% increases in grain diameter. Finally, we fabricated n- and p-channel bottom-gate TFTs whose field effect mobility was higher than 50 cm²/V s. However, the devices with the nuclei governed layers faced degradation due to the propagation of fluorine into gate oxide. Therefore, it needs further studies.     

Microstructural Characterization of Electrosynthesized ZnTe Thin Films

Thin films of zinc telluride (ZnTe) were electrosynthesized on tin oxide coated conducting glass substrates at various bath temperatures. The deposited films were characterized by x‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The structure was found to be cubic with preferential orientation along (111) plane. X‐ray line profile analysis technique by the method of the variance has been used to evaluate the microstructural parameters. The variation of different microstructural parameters such as, crystallite size, RMS strain, dislocation density and stacking fault probability affecting the fraction of planes with film thickness and bath temperatures were studied. The experimental observations are discussed in detail.     

Investigations on the Optical Properties of Undoped,Fluorine Doped and Antimony Doped Tin Oxide Films

Undoped, fluorine doped and antimony doped tin oxide films are prepared on quartz plates by Spray pyrolysis technique. The films grown at the optimum substrate temperature with different doping levels have been chosen for this study. Optical properties of these films are investigated in the entire UV-Visible -IR region (0.2 - 10 mikrom). The observed absorption edge lies at 3.65 eV for undoped tin oxide and on doping it shifts towards higher energies, which is due to the Moss - Burstein effect. For fluorine doping depending upon the fluorine concentration, the absorption edge lies in the range 3.9 - 4.14 eV and for antimony doping it lies in the range 3.82 - 4.1 eV. In the undoped tin oxide films the direct allowed transition occurs at 4.02 eV and indirect allowed transition occurs at 2.43 eV, whereas for fluorine doped tin oxide and antimony doped tin oxide films, the direct allowed transitions occur in the range 4.18 - 4.28 and 4.13 - 4.22 eV respectively and the indirect allowed transitions occur in the range 2.63 - 2.73 and 2.54 - 2.65 eV respectively. Optical properties near the plasma edge have been analyzed using Drude's theory. The dependence of effective mass on carrier concentration has been explained on the basis of nonparabolicity of the conduction band. The shift in the fermi energy, calculated on the basis of energy dependent effective mass, is consistent with the measured shift in the absorption edge.     

Effect of thickness and heat treatment on the crystallite size and dislocation density of nanostructured zinc oxide thin films

The zinc oxide thin films were deposited by the sol–gel method on the glass microscope slide substrates. The microstructure of films was determined as a function of film thickness as well as annealing temperature using X-ray line broadening technique and applying whole powder pattern modeling (WPPM). This investigation showed that the film thickness has no significant effect on the grain size, whereas the dislocation density decreases with the film thickness. On the other hand with the rise of annealing temperature the dislocation density decreases, but the crystallite size becomes larger.     

Fluorine incorporation in silica glass by the MCVD process: Study of fluorine incorporation zone,evaluation of optical properties and structure of the glass

A theoretical approach was made to find out a complete fluorine incorporation zone on a ternary diagram which serves as a useful graphical representation to select the flows of the supplied reagents for incorporation of the suitable amount of fluorine into cladding glass of optical fiber preform made by the MCVD process using CCl₂F₂ as a source of fluorine under oxygen abundance, oxygen deficiency and intermediate oxygen state conditions. The possible mechanism for incorporation of fluorine into cladding glass of optical fiber is also evaluated on the basis of the thermodynamical data. The fluorine incorporation mechanism in silica glass by the MCVD process is found to be dependent on the CCl₂F₂/SiCl₄ ratio in the input gas mixture. Fluorine doping is found to be effective for removing the strained Si–O–Si bonds, which govern the optical transparency in deep ultra-violet (DUV) and vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) regions. The maximum refractive index depression of ?0.5 × 10^?3 is obtained with incorporation of fluorine into silica cladding glass by the MCVD process using CCl₂F₂ as a dopant precursor with suitable flow of SiCl₄ vapor along with O₂ through backward deposition pass. The structure of fluorine doped silica glass preform samples containing 1.70–1.79 mol% fluorine incorporated by the MCVD process based on the analyses of ¹⁹F MAS spectra done by high-resolution ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy reveal the presence of two distinct types of fluorine environments. The majority of the fluorine environments are formed in SiO_1.5F polyhedral and less abundant species is observed to be highly unusual, yielding a fivefold coordinated silicon of the type SiO₂F polyhedral which become increased with increasing the fluorine content.     

MOCVD growth of GaN on Si(1 1 1) substrates using an ALD-grown Al2O3 interlayer

GaN thin films have been grown on Si(1 1 1) substrates using an atomic layer deposition (ALD)-grown Al₂O₃ interlayer. This thin Al₂O₃ layer reduces strain in the subsequent GaN layer, leading to lower defect densities and improved material quality compared to GaN thin films grown by the same process on bare Si. XRD ω-scans showed a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 549 arcsec for GaN grown on bare Si and a FWHM as low as 378 arcsec for GaN grown on Si using the ALD-grown Al₂O₃ interlayer. Raman spectroscopy was used to study the strain in these films in more detail, with the shift of the E₂(high) mode showing a clear dependence of strain on Al₂O₃ interlayer thickness. This dependence of strain on Al₂O₃ thickness was also observed via the redshift of the near bandedge emission in room temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL) spectroscopy. The reduction in strain results in a significant reduction in both crack density and screw dislocation density compared to similar films grown on bare Si. Screw dislocation density of the films grown on Al₂O₃/Si substrates approaches that of typical GaN layers on sapphire. This work shows great promise for the use of oxide interlayers for growth of GaN-based LEDs on Si.