Structural and ac electrical properties of a newly synthesized single phase rare earth double perovskite oxide: Ba2CeNbO6

A single phase rare earth double perovskite oxide Ba₂CeNbO₆ (BCN) is synthesized by solid-state reaction technique for the first time. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the sample at room temperature shows monoclinic structure, with the lattice parameters, a=5.9763 Å, b=5.975 Å and c=8.48 Å and β=90.04°. Impedance spectroscopy is used to study the ac electrical behavior of this material as a function of frequency (10²-10⁶ Hz) at various temperatures (30-450 °C). A relaxation is observed in the entire temperature range. Conduction mechanism is investigated by fitting the complex impedance data to Cole-Cole equation. Complex impedance plane plots show only one semicircular arc, indicating only the grain contribution of dielectric relaxation. The scaling behavior of imaginary part of electric modulus (M″) and imaginary part of electrical impedance (Z″) suggests that the relaxation describes the same mechanism at various temperatures. The frequency dependence of conductivity is interpreted in terms of the jump relaxation model and is fitted to Jonscher's power law. The values of dc conductivities extracted from the Jonscher power law varies from 2.79×10⁻⁷ to 3.5×10⁻⁵ Sm⁻¹ with the increase in temperature from 100 to 450 °C. The activation energies (0.37 eV) extracted from M″(ω) and Z″(ω) peaks are found to follow the Arrhenius law.     

Impedance study of polymethyl methacrylate composites/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PMMA/MWCNTs)

The dielectric behavior of polymethyl methacrylate/multi-walled carbon nanocomposites (PMMA/MWCNTs) was investigated using impedance spectroscopy technique. The composites were prepared using melt mixing with MWCNTs loading ranging from 0.01 to 10 wt%. The experimental results showed that the measured impedance reflects the insulating behavior of the host material (PMMA) with no appreciable effects of the filler less than 8.5 wt%. However, for the sample containing 10 wt%, the calculated value of dc conductivity increases with increasing temperature from 2.0×10⁻⁶ (Ω m)⁻¹ to attain a value of 4.8×10⁻⁶ (Ω m)⁻¹ at 110 °C. The percolation threshold derived from the dielectric data was estimated to be higher than 8.5 wt% and lower than 10 wt%. A temperature dependent electrical relaxation phenomenon was only observed in the sample containing 10 wt% of MWCNTs. The frequency dependence of the ac conductivity data followed a power law.     

Effect of composition and deposition temperature on the characteristics of Ga doped ZnO thin films

ZnO films doped with Ga (GZO) of varying composition were prepared on Corning glass substrate by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at various deposition temperatures of room temperature, 150, 250 and 400 °C, and their temperature dependent photoelectric and structural properties were correlated with Ga composition. With increasing deposition temperature, the Ga content, at which the lowest electrical resistivity and the best crystallinity were observed, decreased. Films with optimal electrical resistivity of 2-3 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and with good crystallinity were obtained in the substrate temperature range from 150 to 250 °C, and the corresponding C_Ga/(C_Ga + C_Zn) atomic ratio was about 0.049. GZO films grown at room temperature had coarse columnar structure and low optical transmittance, while films deposited at 400 °C yielded the highest figure of merit (FOM) due to very low optical absorption despite rather moderate electrical resistivity slightly higher than 4 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm. The optimum Ga content at which the maximum figure of merit was obtained decreased with increasing deposition temperature.     

The sodium diffusion in aluminium-oxide

The transport of Na through the polycrystalline ceramic arc tube of high intensity discharge lamps has been investigated. This complex process consists of several steps: solution in the ceramics, diffusion through the ceramics, leaving the bulk phase, evaporation from the surface. Among the listed processes the kinetics of the diffusion was examined in the temperature range 400-1200 °C, separately from other disturbing effects. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) were used to determine the concentration depth profiles. The obtained results confirmed that the grain boundary diffusion plays an important role in the transport process of sodium through the ceramic wall. The bulk and the grain boundary diffusion coefficients and the temperature dependencies of these transport processes have been determined. The activation energy of Na bulk diffusion is 56.5 ± 6.7 kJ/mol at 900-1200 °C, respectively the activation energies of Na grain boundary diffusion amount to 97.5 ± 21.6 kJ/mol in the temperature range 700-1100 °C and 7.7 ± 4.0 × 10⁻² kJ/mol at 400-700 °C. The preexponential factor of the bulk diffusion was found to be D_o = 5.1 × 10⁻¹⁵ ± 9.5 × 10⁻¹⁷ cm²/s in the temperature range 900-1200°C, whereas the preexponential factors of grain boundary diffusion are D_o = 1.1 × 10⁻¹⁰ ± 1.1 × 10⁻¹¹ cm²/s at 700-1100 °C and D_o = 7.5 × 10^-15 ± 1.5 × 10⁻¹⁷ cm²/s at 400-700 °C.     

Synthesis, electrical and dielectric properties of FeVO4 nanoparticles

The electrical and dielectric properties of FeVO₄ nanoparticles were studied at different temperatures from ambient to 200 °C. The samples were prepared by simple co-precipitation method using ferric nitrate and ammonium metavanadate as the starting precursors. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern inferred the single phase formation and triclinic structure of FeVO₄. The morphology of the particles was elucidated from SEM studies. Detailed studies on the electrical and dielectric properties of the compound were carried out by using solid state impedance spectroscopy. A maximum dc conductivity of 4.65×10⁻⁵ S cm⁻¹ was observed at the measuring temperature of 200 °C. The calculated activation energy from dc conductivity was found to be 0.28 eV. It was evident that the electrical transport process in the system was due to the hopping mechanism. The detailed dielectric studies were also carried out.     

Removal of chloridazon by natural and ammonium kerolite samples

The adsorption of chloridazon (5-amino-4-chloro-2-phenylpyridazin-3(2H)-one) on natural and ammonium kerolite samples from aqueous solution at 10, 25 and 40 °C has been studied by using batch experiments. The experimental data points were fitted to the Langmuir equation in order to calculate the adsorption capacities (X_m) of the samples; two straight lines were obtained, which indicates that the adsorption process takes place in two different stages. Values for X_m1 (first stage) ranged from 1.1 × 10⁻² mol kg⁻¹ for natural kerolite at 40 °C up to 5.1 × 10⁻² mol kg⁻¹ for ammonium kerolite at 10 °C and the values for X_m2 (second stage) ranged from 9.1 × 10⁻² mol kg⁻¹ for natural kerolite at 40 °C up to 14 × 10⁻² mol kg⁻¹ for natural kerolite at 10 °C. The adsorption experiments showed on the one hand, that the ammonium kerolite is more effective than natural kerolite to adsorb chloridazon in the range of temperature studied and on the other hand, that the lower temperature, the more effective the adsorption of chloridazon on the adsorbents studied.     

Electrical characterisation of ruthenium Schottky contacts on n-Ge (1 0 0)

Ruthenium (Ru) Schottky contacts were fabricated on n-Ge (1 0 0) by electron beam deposition. Current–voltage (I–V), deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), and Laplace-DLTS techniques were used to characterise the as-deposited and annealed Ru/n-Ge (1 0 0) Schottky contacts. The variation of the electrical properties of the Ru samples annealed between 25 °C and 575 °C indicates the formation of two phases of ruthenium germanide. After Ru Schottky contacts fabrication, an electron trap at 0.38 eV below the conduction band with capture cross section of 1.0×10⁻¹⁴ cm⁻² is the only detectable electron trap. The hole traps at 0.09, 0.15, 0.27 and 0.30 eV above the valence band with capture cross sections of 7.8×10⁻¹³ cm⁻², 7.1×10⁻¹³ cm⁻², 2.4×10⁻¹³ cm⁻² and 6.2×10⁻¹³ cm⁻², respectively, were observed in the as-deposited Ru Schottky contacts. The hole trap H(0.30) is the prominent single acceptor level of the E-centre, and H(0.09) is the third charge state of the E-centre. H(0.27) shows some reverse annealing and reaches a maximum concentration at 225 °C and anneals out after 350 °C. This trap is strongly believed to be V–Sb₂ complex formed from the annealing of V–Sb defect centre.     

Annealing temperature influence on electrical properties of ion beam sputtered Bi2Te3 thin films

Ion beam sputtering process was used to deposit n-type fine-grained Bi₂Te₃ thin films on BK7 glass substrates at room temperature. In order to enhance the thermoelectric properties, thin films are annealed at the temperatures ranging from 100 to 400 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the films have preferred orientations in the c-axis direction. It is confirmed that grain growth and crystallization along the c-axis are enhanced as the annealing temperature increased. However, broad impurity peaks related to some oxygen traces increase when the annealing temperature reached 400 °C. Thermoelectric properties of Bi₂Te₃ thin films were investigated at room temperature. The Bi₂Te₃ thin films, including as-deposited, exhibit the Seebeck coefficients of −90 to −168 μV K⁻¹ and the electrical conductivities of 3.92×10²-7.20×10² S cm⁻¹ after annealing. The Bi₂Te₃ film with a maximum power factor of 1.10×10⁻³ Wm⁻¹ K⁻² is achieved when annealed at 300 °C. As a result, both structural and transport properties have been found to be strongly affected by annealing treatment. It was considered that the annealing conditions reduce the number of potential scattering sites at grain boundaries and defects, thus improving the thermoelectric properties.     

Oxygen relaxation and phase transition in GdBaCo2O5 + δ oxide

Electrical conductivity, internal friction techniques and dilatometer have been used to investigate the oxygen relaxation, phase transition and thermal expansion behavior of GdBaCo₂O_5 + δ. The main electronic charge carriers in GdBaCo₂O_5 + δ are electronic holes, which could be assigned to the formation of Co⁴⁺. The oxygen exchange kinetics intensely depends on oxygen partial pressure and is also closely related to temperature. Both electrical conductivity and internal friction give rise to an abnormal at about 75 °C, which are related to the insulator-metal transition occurring in GdBaCo₂O_5 + δ. One large relaxation internal friction peak, due to the motion of oxygen within Gd-O plane, is also found in the oxide. The average thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of GdBaCo₂O_5 + δ is about 21.4 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ between 500 °C and 900 °C.     

Modification of dielectric relaxations in sodium bismuth titanate with samarium doping

Na_0.5Bi_(0.5−x) Sm_xTiO₃ (NBST) ceramics with x=0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 are prepared through chemical route. The X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the formation of single phase. Dielectric measurements in the temperature region ranging from room temperature (∼30 °C) to 600 °C at different frequencies (10 kHz-1 MHz) showed anomalies at 130, 306, and 474 °C (at 10 kHz frequency) for x=0.05 sample. Other samples showed only two peaks. To establish the electrical nature of these relaxations, impedance measurements are done at different temperatures and frequencies. The relaxation time, obtained from both impedance and modulus data, is found to decrease with increase in temperature. The relaxations observed are of non-Debye type. Increase in samarium content increases the activation energy for relaxation.     

Preparation, structure and oxide ion conductivity in Ce6−xYxMoO15−δ (x=0.1-1.4) solid solutions

The Ce_6−xY_xMoO_15−δ solid solution with fluorite-related structure have been characterized by differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry (DTA/TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), IR, Raman, scanning electric microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods. The electric conductivity of samples is investigated by Ac impedance spectroscopy. An essentially pure oxide-ion conductivity of the oxygen-deficiency was observed in pure argon, oxygen and air. The highest oxygen-ion conductivity was found in Ce_5.5Y_0.5MoO_15−δ ranging from 5.9×10⁻⁵ (S cm⁻¹) at 300 °C to 1.3×10⁻² (S cm⁻¹) at 650 °C, respectively. The oxide-ion conductivities remained stable over 80 h-long test at 800 °C. These properties suggested that significant oxide-ionic conductivity exists in these materials at moderately elevated temperatures.     

Investigation of p-type behavior in Ag-doped ZnO thin films by E-beam evaporation

Ag-doped ZnO (ZnO:Ag) thin films were grown on glass substrates by E-beam evaporation technique. The structural, electrical and optical properties of the films were investigated as a function of annealing temperature. The films were subjected to post annealing at different temperatures in the range of 350-650 °C in an air ambient. All the as grown and annealed films at temperature of 350 °C showed p-type conduction. The films lost p-type conduction after post annealing treatment temperature of above 350 °C, suggesting a narrow post annealing temperature window for the fabrication of p-type ZnO:Ag films. ZnO:Ag film annealed at 350 °C revealed lowest resistivity of 7.25 × 10⁻² Ω cm with hole concentration and mobility of 5.09 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and 1.69 cm²/V s, respectively. Observation of a free-to-neutral-acceptor (e,A^o) and donor-acceptor-pair (DAP) emissions in the low temperature photoluminescence measurement confirms p-type conduction in the ZnO:Ag films.     

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.     

Electrical, structural and surface morphological properties of thermally stable low-resistance W/Ti/Au multilayer ohmic contacts to n-type GaN

A W/Ti/Au multilayer scheme has been fabricated for achieving thermally stable low-resistance ohmic contact to n-type GaN (4.0 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³). It is shown that the as-deposited W/Ti/Au contact exhibits near linear I-V behaviour. However, annealing at temperature below 800 °C the contacts exhibit non-linear behaviour. After annealing at a temperature in excess of 850 °C, the W/Ti/Au contact showed ohmic behaviour. The W/Ti/Au contact produced specific contact resistance as low as 6.7 × 10⁻⁶ Ω cm² after annealing at 900 °C for 1 min in a N₂ ambient. It is noted that the specific contact resistance decreases with increase in annealing temperature. It is also noted that annealing the contacts at 900 °C for 30 min causes insignificant degradation of the electrical and thermal properties. It is further shown that the overall surface morphology of the W/Ti/Au stayed fairly smooth even after annealing at 900 °C. The W/Ti/Au ohmic contact showed good edge sharpness after annealing at 900 °C for 30 min. Based on the Auger electron spectroscopy and glancing angle X-ray diffraction results, possible explanation for the annealing dependence of the specific contact resistance of the W/Ti/Au contacts are described and discussed.     

Electrical characterization and carrier transportation in Hf-silicate dielectrics using ALD gate stacks for 90 nm node MOSFETs

Metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCs) and metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) incorporating hafnium silicate (Hf-silicate) dielectrics were fabricated by using atomic layer deposition (ALD). The electrical properties of these Hf-silicate thin films with various postnitridation annealing (PNA) temperatures were then examined to find the best nitridation condition. It is found that the best conditions to achieve the lowest gate leakage current and best equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) are when PNA is performed at 800 °C in NH₃ ambient for 60 s. To understand the obtained film, carrier transportation mechanisms, the temperature dependence of the leakage current was measured from 300 K to 500 K for both gate injection and substrate injection. The result reveals that the leakage mechanisms involve Schottky emission at high temperature and low electrical field and Poole-Frenkle emission at low temperature and high electrical field. The barrier heights of poly-Si/Hf-silicate and Hf-silicate/Si interfaces extracted from Schottky emission are 1.1 eV and 1.04 eV, respectively. The interface traps per unit area, the mean density of interface traps per area and energy and the mean capture cross-section are determined about 8.1 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻², 2.7 × 10¹¹ cm⁻² eV⁻¹ and 6.4 × 10⁻¹⁵ cm⁻² using charge pumping method.     

Structural and surface properties of Si1−xGex thin films obtained by reduced pressure CVD

This paper investigates the structure and surface characteristics, and electrical properties of the polycrystalline silicon-germanium (poly-Si_1−xGe_x) alloy thin films, deposited by vertical reduced pressure CVD (RPCVD) in the temperature range between 500 and 750 °C and a total pressure of 5 or 10 Torr. The samples exhibited a very uniform good quality films formation, with smooth surface with rms roughness as low as 7 nm for all temperature range, Ge mole fraction up to 32% (at 600 °C), textures of 〈2 2 0〉 preferred orientation at lower temperatures and strong 〈1 1 1〉 at 750 °C, for both 5 and 10 Torr deposition pressures. The ³¹P⁺ and ¹¹B⁺ doped poly-Si_1−xGe_x films exhibited always lower electrical resistivity values in comparison to similar poly-Si films, regardless of the employed anneal temperature or implantat dose. The results indicated also that poly-Si_1−xGe_x films require much lower temperature and ion implant dose than poly-Si to achieve the same film resistivity. These characteristics indicate a high quality of obtained poly-Si_1−xGe_x films, suitable as a gate electrode material for submicron CMOS devices.     

Electrical properties of La2O3 thin films grown on TiN/Si substrates via atomic layer deposition

The electrical as well as the structural properties of La₂O₃ thin films on TiN substrates were investigated. Amorphous stoichiometric La₂O₃ thin films were grown at 300 °C via atomic layer deposition technique by using lanthanum 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione [La(TMHD)₃] and H₂O as precursors. Post-annealing of the grown film induced dramatic changes in structural and the electrical properties. Crystalline phases of the La₂O₃ film emerged with the increase of the post-annealing temperature. Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor was fabricated to measure the electrical properties of the grown film. The dielectric constant of the La₂O₃ thin films increased with annealing temperature to reach the value of 17.3 at 500 °C. The leakage current density of the film post-annealed at 400 °C was estimated to be 2.78 × 10⁻¹⁰ and 2.1 × 10⁻⁸ A/cm² at ±1 V, respectively.     

The influence of substrate temperature on the morphology, optical and electrical properties of thermal-evaporated ZnTe Thin Films

The structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of ZnTe films deposited by evaporation were investigated as a function of substrate temperature (at −123 and 27 °C) and post-deposition annealing temperature (at 200, 300 and 400 °C). It was determined that films deposited at both substrate temperatures were polycrystalline in nature with zinc-blende structure and a strong (1 1 1) texture. A small Te peak was detected in XRD spectra for both substrate temperatures, indicating that as-deposited ZnTe films were slightly rich in Te. Larger grains and a tighter grain size distribution were obtained with increased substrate temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies showed that the microstructures of the as-deposited films agreed well with the expectations from structure zone model. Post-deposition annealing induced further grain growth and tightened the grain size distribution. Annealing at 400 °C resulted in randomization in the texture of films deposited at both substrate temperatures. Optical spectroscopy results of the films indicated that the optical band gap value increased from 2.13 to 2.16 eV with increased substrate temperature. Increasing the annealing temperature sharpened the band-edge. Resistivity measurements showed that the resistivity of films deposited at substrate temperatures of −123 and 27 °C were 32 Ω cm, and 1.0 × 10⁴ Ω cm, respectively with corresponding carrier concentrations of 8.9 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ and 1.5 × 10¹⁴ cm⁻³. Annealing caused opposite changes in the film resistivity between the samples prepared at substrate temperatures of −123 and 27 °C.     

The characteristics of platinum diffusion in n-type GaN

The electrical and optical characteristics of platinum (Pt) diffusion in n-type gallium nitride (GaN) film are investigated. The diffusion extent was characterized by the SIMS technique. The temperature-dependent diffusion coefficients of Pt in n-GaN are 4.158 × 10⁻¹⁴, 1.572 × 10⁻¹³ and 3.216 × 10⁻¹³ cm²/s at a temperature of 650, 750 and 850 °C, respectively. The Pt diffusion constant and activation energy in GaN are 6.627 × 10⁻⁹ cm²/s and 0.914 eV, respectively. These results indicate that the major diffusion mechanism of Pt in GaN is possibly an interstitial diffusion. In addition, it is also observed that the Pt atom may be a donor because the carrier concentration in Pt-diffused GaN is higher than that in un-diffused GaN. The optical property is studied by temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The thermal quenching of the PL spectra for Pt-diffused GaN samples is also examined.     

Experimental determination of solid-liquid interfacial energy for solid Sn in the Sn-Mg system

The equilibrated grain boundary groove shapes for solid Sn in equilibrium with the Sn-9 at.% Mg eutectic liquid were directly observed annealing a sample at the eutectic temperature for about 5 days with a radial heat flow apparatus. The thermal conductivities of the solid phase, κ_S, and the liquid phase, κ_L, for the groove shapes were measured. From the observed grain boundary groove shapes, the Gibbs-Thomson coefficient, the solid-liquid interfacial energy and grain boundary energy for solid Sn in equilibrium with the Sn-9 at.% Mg eutectic liquid have been determined to be (7.35 ± 0.36) × 10⁻⁸ Km, (136.41 ± 13.64) × 10⁻³ J m⁻² and (230.95 ± 25.40) × 10⁻³ J m⁻², respectively.