Secondary electron emission of sputtered alumina films

Secondary electron emission yieldδ was measured for thin films of alumina prepared byrf sputtering technique. Single pulse method was used along with 4-gridleed optics system to determineδ. Maximum value of 4·3 was obtained at primary energy of 350 eV. The Dionne’s theory was used to analyse the results and the emission probability escape depth and absorption coefficient of secondaries were also estimated. Fairly good correlation is observed between experimental and theoretical values ofδ for beam energies upto 1 keV.     

非平衡磁控溅射沉积系统伏安特性模型研究

非平衡磁控溅射沉积系统的伏安特性对阴极溅射和薄膜沉积过程具有重要的影响.通过分析在常规磁控溅射沉积系统中非平衡磁场对于放电过程的影响，根据蔡尔得定律研究了非平衡磁场对磁控溅射沉积系统伏安特性影响的基本规律；根据模型和实验数据的对比证明模型正确表达了非平衡磁控溅射沉积系统中非平衡磁场对伏安特性影响的规律. 关键词： 等离子体 金属薄膜/非磁性 磁控溅射     

Measurement of the impedance of very thin superconducting YBaCuO films at 10 GHz with a cavity perturbation method between 4 and 300 K

We have measured the complex film impedance 1/σd (σ conductivity, d film thickness) of three YBaCuO thin films with d = 44, 115, and 168 nm on MgO substrates at 10.2 GHz in the temperature range between 300 and 4 K. Below T_c, the experimental results are discussed in terms of the two-fluid model and the BCS theory. The residual resistance decreases with the film thickness. The thinnest film has a residual surface resistance of 3 · 10^?4 Ω. For this film, the complex microwave conductivity is calculated and compared with the models. Apart from the residual resistance, the measured conductivity is in agreement with the peak caused by the energy gap of the BCS theory. All measurements were performed with a cavity perturbation method which we have to our knowledge applied for the first time to superconducting thin films. The method allows to determine the complex impedance of films with arbitrary thickness. In particular, films with thicknesses small compared to the skin depth δ or the London penetration depth λ can be measured. Therefore, we are able to measure the impedance both in the normal and superconducting state.     

Microstructure and transport properties of various 90° grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7 thin films

The microstructure and transport properties of various 90° grain boundaries in (103) oriented YBa₂Cu₃O₇(YBCO) thin films grown epitaxially in situ by 90° off-axis sputtering are compared. The (103) films grown on (101) LaAlO₃ and (101) SrTiO₃ substrates have specific sets of 90° grain boundaries in both principal in-plane directions: 90° [010] twist boundaries along the [101] direction, and 90° [010] symmetrical tilt boundaries and 90° [010] basal-plane-faced tilt boundaries along the (301) direction. No weak-link behavior is observed across some of these boundaries by transport critical current density and normalized magnetic field dependence of J _c measurements along both those in-plane directions. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals variations in the structure and microfaceting of the 90° boundaries, which may contribute to the absence of weak-link behavior. These results have important implications for understanding the behavior of step-edge Josephson junctions.     

Oxide films of copper prepared by the oxidation of copper sulphide films

Copper sulphide films prepared by reactive evaporation, when heated in air at 500 K, oxidized to Cu₂O after a series of intermediate chemical transitions. Golden yellow coloured Cu₂O films showed a large absorption before the fundamental absorption edge. The optical band gap was found to be (2.29±0.02)eV. When these Cu₂O films were further heated they got converted to CuO and the optical band gap was found to be (2.17±0.02)eV.     

Influence of the temperature on the photoluminescence of silicon clusters embedded in a silicon oxide matrix

Amorphous silicon oxide thin films were prepared by co-evaporation of Si and SiO in ultra-high vacuum. Different compositions were obtained by changing the evaporation rate of silicon. After thermal annealing treatments, the dissociation of the silicon oxide in pure silicon and silicon dioxide leads to the formation of silicon clusters embedded in a silicon oxide matrix. Thus the samples were annealed to different temperatures up to 950°C. Depending on the annealing temperature and on the composition, different cluster sizes were obtained. The photoluminescence (PL) energy depends on the cluster size and a large range of wavelengths is obtained from 500 to 750 nm. The PL, attributed to a confinement effect of the electron–hole pairs in the silicon particles, is studied as a function of the temperature. It is demonstrated that the continuous decrease of PL intensity with the temperature from 77 to 500 K depends on the structure of the samples. For samples with well-separated clusters, the PL decreases rapidly with the temperature. For samples containing clusters separated by a small distance, the PL weakly depends on the temperature. No shift of the energy is observed. The results are discussed by taking into account the competition between the radiative recombination in the silicon clusters and the non-radiative escape of the carriers via a hopping mechanism.     

A First Insight in the Mechanisms Involved in the Self-Assembly of 2D-Hexagonal Templated SiO2 and TiO2 Mesostructured Films During Dip-Coating

Since mesoporous materials can be prepared by combining the sol-gel chemistry and the structuring effect of surfactants, they have attracted attention for application in various high technology fields. The present work deals with the analyses of the mechanisms involved in the formation of SiO₂ and TiO₂ highly organised 2D-hexagonal meso-structured films using Brij 58 as surfactant. The preparation of such films by dip-coating involves rapid evaporation which makes the different steps difficult to control. Simultaneous in-situ SAXS (synchrotron) and interferometry analyses have been performed to get a first understanding of the self-assembly process. SiO₂ and TiO₂ materials have a different chemical reactivity (kinetics and coordination aspects). However, we show that the mechanisms involved during dip-coating are quite similar : the self-assembly leading to the organised phase takes place at a final stage of the drying process, involves the formation of a disorganised intermediate phase and depends also on the presence of micellar interfaces in addition to film/air and film/substrate interfaces.     

Influence of substrate temperature and post-treatment on the properties of ZnO:Al thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Highly transparent conductive Al₂O₃ doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been deposited on the glass substrate by pulsed laser deposition technique. The effects of substrate temperature and post-deposition annealing treatment on structural, electrical and optical properties of AZO thin films were investigated. The experimental results show that the electrical resistivity of films deposited at 240 °C is 6.1 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm, which can be further reduced to as low as 4.7 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm by post-deposition annealing at 400 °C for 2 h in argon. The average transmission of AZO films in the visible range is 90%. The optical direct band gap of films was dependent on the substrate temperature and the annealing treatment in argon. The optical direct band gap value of AZO films increased with increasing annealing temperature.     

A.c. Conductivity of reactive-evaporation-depositeda-Si:H films

Summary The electrical-conductivity frequency dependence of reactive-evaporation-depositeda-Si:H films has been measured in the temperature range (100÷450)K. The influence of the substrate temperature, of the hydrogen ions energy and of post-deposition thermal treatments has also been investigated. The results show that, depending on the material quality, three different conduction mechanisms associated with gap states, band or band tail states and to hopping processes near the Fermi level are observed.