Mechanism for wettability alteration of ZnO nanorod arrays via thermal annealing in vacuum and air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Jun; Liu Yanru; Wei Zhiyang; Zhang Junyan

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Oxygen vacancy is the key factor in accounting for the change in morphology of the ZnO nanorod arrays. ► We firstly investigated the wettability alteration of ZnO nanorod arrays annealed in vacuum at different temperature. ► The hydrophilicity of the ZnO nanorod arrays annealed in air is not related to the oxygen vacancy but ascribed to the O adatom on the nanorod surface. - Abstract: The ZnO nanorod arrays were synthesized via a simple hydrothermal process followed by annealing in vacuum and air respectively at different temperature. The wettability of samples was controlled by adjusting the annealing atmosphere and temperature. To investigate the mechanism of wettability alteration, the chemical composition and surface morphology of nanorod arrays were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively. Increasing oxygen vacancy concentration by increasing annealing temperature in vacuum resulted in a great change of surface morphology, which played the major role in wettability change. Under annealing in air, oxygen vacancy concentration reduced and the surface morphology of nanorod arrays showed little change with increasing annealing temperature. The wettability alteration is ascribed to the O adatom on the nanorods surface.

Development of transparent conductive indium and fluorine co-doped ZnO thin films: Effect of F concentration and post-annealing temperature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hadri, A. [University Mohammed V, Faculty of Sciences, Physics Department, LPM, B.P. 1014, Rabat (Morocco); Taibi, M. [University of Mohammed V, LPCMIN, Ecole Normale Superieure, Rabat (Morocco); Loghmarti, M.; Nassiri, C.; Slimani Tlemçani, T. [University Mohammed V, Faculty of Sciences, Physics Department, LPM, B.P. 1014, Rabat (Morocco); Mzerd, A., E-mail: mzerd@yahoo.fr [University Mohammed V, Faculty of Sciences, Physics Department, LPM, B.P. 1014, Rabat (Morocco)

2016-02-29

In the present work ZnO, In doped ZnO and In-F co-doped ZnO (IFZO) films were synthesized on heated glass substrates (350 °C) by the chemical spray technique. The effect of fluorine concentration on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties was studied. It was observed from X-ray diffraction (XRD) that the films have a polycrystalline structure and the intensity of the peaks depend on the doping and co-doping concentration. No diffraction peak related to dopants in XRD patterns along with shift in peaks angles to ZnO proved that In and F ions were doped into ZnO thin films. The Raman spectra confirm the hexagonal structure of the as-deposited films, and demonstrated an enhancement of the surface phonon mode of doped and co-doped films as compared to undoped films. The as-deposited films showed an average transmittance above 70%, in the wavelength range of 400–800 nm. A minimum electrical resistivity, in the order of 5.2 × 10{sup −} {sup 2} Ω cm was obtained for the IFZO thin film with 5 at.% F doping. Moreover, the electrical properties of doped and co-doped films were enhanced after post-deposition annealing. It was found that post-annealed thin films at 350 °C showed a decrease of one order of magnitude of the resistivity values. Such a transparent and conducting thin film can be suitable for optical and electrical applications owing to their low resistivity combined with high transmittance in the visible range. - Highlights: • Conductive transparent ZnO, IZO, IFZO thin films were deposited by spray pyrolysis. • Doping and co-doping affect morphology and optoelectrical properties. • As deposited film with high fluorine content exhibited high carrier mobility (55 cm{sup 2} V{sup −} {sup 1} s{sup −} {sup 1}). • Correlation between intrinsic defects and carrier mobility was observed. • Post-annealing in Ar atmosphere improves conductivity.

X-ray diffraction analysis of thermally-induced stress relaxation in ZnO films deposited by magnetron sputtering on (100) Si substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conchon, F., E-mail: florineconchon@gmail.co [Laboratoire de Physique des Materiaux (PHYMAT) UMR 6630, Universite de Poitiers, 86962 Futuroscope-Chasseneuil (France); Renault, P.O.; Goudeau, P.; Le Bourhis, E. [Laboratoire de Physique des Materiaux (PHYMAT) UMR 6630, Universite de Poitiers, 86962 Futuroscope-Chasseneuil (France); Sondergard, E.; Barthel, E.; Grachev, S. [Laboratoire de Surface du Verre et Interfaces (SVI), UMR 125, 93303 Aubervilliers (France); Gouardes, E.; Rondeau, V.; Gy, R. [Laboratoire de Recherche de Saint-Gobain (SGR), 93303 Aubervilliers (France); Lazzari, R.; Jupille, J. [Institut des Nanosciences de Paris (INSP), UMR 7588, 75015 Paris (France); Brun, N. [Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (LPS), UMR 8502, 91405 Orsay (France)

2010-07-01

Residual stresses in sputtered ZnO films on Si are determined and discussed. By means of X-ray diffraction, we show that as-deposited ZnO films are highly compressively stressed. Moreover, a transition of stress is observed as a function of the post-deposition annealing temperature. After an 800 {sup o}C annealing, ZnO films are tensily stressed while ZnO films encapsulated by Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} are stress-free. With the aid of in-situ X-ray diffraction under ambient and argon atmosphere, we argue that this thermally activated stress relaxation may be attributed to a variation of the stoichiometry of the ZnO films.

Effect of High Temperature Annealing on Conduction-Type ZnO Films Prepared by Direct-Current Magnetron Sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Li-Jie; He Dong-Kai; Xu Xiao-Qiu; Zhong Ze; Wu Xiao-Peng; Lin Bi-Xia; Fu Zhu-Xi

2010-01-01

We experimentally find that the ZnO thin films deposited by dc-magnetron sputtering have different conduction types after annealing at high temperature in different ambient. Hall measurements show that ZnO films annealed at 1100°C in N 2 and in O 2 ambient become n-type and p-type, respectively. This is due to the generation of different intrinsic defects by annealing in different ambient. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photolumi-nescence measurements indicate that zinc interstitial becomes a main defects after annealing at 1100°C in N 2 ambient, and these defects play an important role for n-type conductivity of ZnO. While the ZnO films annealed at 1100°C in O 2 ambient, the oxygen antisite contributes ZnO films to p-type. (condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties)

The influence of annealing in nitrogen atmosphere on the electrical, optical and structural properties of spray- deposited ZnO thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ikhmayies, S.J. [Applied Science Private Univ., Amman (Jordan). Dept. of Physics; Abu El-Haija, N.M.; Ahmad-Bitar, R.N. [Jordan Univ., Amman (Jordan). Dept. of Physics

2009-07-01

Thin-film zinc oxide (ZnO) has many applications in solar cell technology and is considered to be a candidate for the substitution of indium tin oxide and tin oxide. ZnO thin films can be prepared by thermal evaporation, rf-sputtering, atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, sol-gel, laser ablation and spray pyrolysis technique. Spray pyrolysis has received much attention because of its simplicity and low cost. In this study, large area and highly uniform polycrystalline ZnO thin films were produced by spray pyrolysis using a home-made spraying system on glass substrates at 450 degrees C. The electrical, optical and structural properties of the ZnO films were enhanced by annealing the thin films in nitrogen atmosphere. X-ray diffraction revealed that the films are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure. The preferential orientation did not change with annealing, but XRD patterns revealed that some very weak lines had grown. There was no noticeable increase in the grain size. The transmittance of the films increased as a result of annealing. It was concluded that post-deposition annealing is essential to improve the quality of the ZnO thin films. The electrical properties improved due to a decrease in resistivity. 13 refs., 5 figs.

Effect of thermal annealing on the structure and magnetism of Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals synthesized by solid state reaction

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dong; Chen, Z. Q.; Wang, D. D.; Gong, J.; Cao, C. Y.; Tang, Z.; Huang, L. R.

2010-11-01

High purity Fe 2O 3/ZnO nanocomposites were annealed in air at different temperatures between 100 and 1200 °C to get Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals. The structure and grain size of the Fe 2O 3/ZnO nanocomposites were investigated by X-ray diffraction 2θ scans. Annealing induces an increase of the grain size from 25 to 195 nm and appearance of franklinite phase of ZnFe 2O 4. Positron annihilation measurements reveal large number of vacancy defects in the interface region of the Fe 2O 3/ZnO nanocomposites, and they are gradually recovered with increasing annealing temperature. After annealing at temperatures higher than 1000 °C, the number of vacancies decreases to the lower detection limit of positrons. Room temperature ferromagnetism can be observed in Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals using physical properties measurement system. The ferromagnetism remains after annealing up to 1000 °C, suggesting that it is not related with the interfacial defects.

Effect of thermal annealing on the structure and magnetism of Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals synthesized by solid state reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Dong; Chen, Z.Q.; Wang, D.D.; Gong, J.; Cao, C.Y.; Tang, Z.; Huang, L.R.

2010-01-01

High purity Fe 2 O 3 /ZnO nanocomposites were annealed in air at different temperatures between 100 and 1200 o C to get Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals. The structure and grain size of the Fe 2 O 3 /ZnO nanocomposites were investigated by X-ray diffraction 2θ scans. Annealing induces an increase of the grain size from 25 to 195 nm and appearance of franklinite phase of ZnFe 2 O 4 . Positron annihilation measurements reveal large number of vacancy defects in the interface region of the Fe 2 O 3 /ZnO nanocomposites, and they are gradually recovered with increasing annealing temperature. After annealing at temperatures higher than 1000 o C, the number of vacancies decreases to the lower detection limit of positrons. Room temperature ferromagnetism can be observed in Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals using physical properties measurement system. The ferromagnetism remains after annealing up to 1000 o C, suggesting that it is not related with the interfacial defects.

Annealing temperature dependence of the structures and properties of Co-implanted ZnO films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Bin; Tang, Kun; Gu, Shulin; Ye, Jiandong; Huang, Shimin; Gu, Ran; Zhang, Yang; Yao, Zhengrong; Zhu, Shunming; Zheng, Youdou

2014-01-01

Highlights: • To avoid the forming of Co clusters and explore the origin of the magnetism, detailed investigation on the properties of the Co-implanted ZnO films with a rather low dose of 8 × 10 15 cm −2 and high implantation energy of 1 MeV were carried out. • The crystalline structure of the damaged region caused by ion-implantation has been recovered via the thermal annealing treatment at the temperature of 900 °C and above. • The low temperature magnetic hysteresis loops have indicated paramagnetism for the annealed films with weak ferromagnetic characteristics. • The zero-field cooling (ZFC) magnetization curves of the Co-implanted ZnO samples have varied from concave shape to convex one as the annealing temperature increased from 750 °C to 1000 °C. - Abstract: The effects of thermal annealing treatment on the structural, electrical, optical and magnetic properties of Co-implanted ZnO (0 0 0 1) films have been investigated in detail. The crystalline structure of the damaged region caused by ion implantation has been recovered via the thermal annealing at the temperature of 900 °C and above, and no Co clusters or its related oxide phases have been observed. The electrical and optical properties of the annealed films have shown strong dependence on the annealing temperature. The zero field cooling magnetization curves of the annealed films have varied from concave shape to convex one as the annealing temperature increased from 750 °C to 1000 °C, which are possibly tuned by the changes of the ratio of the itinerant carriers over the localized spin density. The low temperature magnetic hysteresis loops have indicated paramagnetic behavior for the annealed films with weak ferromagnetic characteristics. The ferromagnetism is attributed to the substituted Co 2+ ions and vacancy defects, while the paramagnetism could be induced by ionized interstitial Zn defects

Annealing effects of ZnO nanorods on dye-sensitized solar cell efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Jooyoung; Lee, Juneyoung [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemoon-gu, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of); Lim, Sangwoo, E-mail: swlim@yonsei.ac.k [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemoon-gu, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-06-01

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using ZnO nanorod arrays vertically grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass using a low-temperature hydrothermal method. When the ZnO seed layer was annealed, greater DSSC efficiency was obtained. This may be attributed to the improvement of adhesion between the FTO and the seed layer and the corresponding effective growth of the ZnO nanorods. The DSSCs fabricated using ZnO nanorods which underwent annealing were more efficient than those that did not undergo annealing. The ZnO nanorods which were annealed in N{sub 2}/H{sub 2} or O{sub 2} had increased dye loadings due to higher OH concentrations on the hydrophilic surface, which contributed to the improved DSSC efficiency. The fill factor increased after the annealing of the ZnO nanorods, potentially due to the improved crystallinity of the ZnO nanorods. In this study, annealing of both the seed layer and the ZnO nanorods resulted in the greatest DSSC efficiency.

Effect of thermal annealing on the structure and magnetism of Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals synthesized by solid state reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Dong [Hubei Nuclear Solid Physics Key Laboratory, Department of Physics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 (China); Chen, Z.Q., E-mail: chenzq@whu.edu.c [Hubei Nuclear Solid Physics Key Laboratory, Department of Physics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 (China); Wang, D.D.; Gong, J. [Hubei Nuclear Solid Physics Key Laboratory, Department of Physics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 (China); Cao, C.Y.; Tang, Z. [Department of Electronic and Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241 (China); Huang, L.R. [Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, College of Opto-electronics Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2010-11-15

High purity Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}/ZnO nanocomposites were annealed in air at different temperatures between 100 and 1200 {sup o}C to get Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals. The structure and grain size of the Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}/ZnO nanocomposites were investigated by X-ray diffraction 2{theta} scans. Annealing induces an increase of the grain size from 25 to 195 nm and appearance of franklinite phase of ZnFe{sub 2}O{sub 4}. Positron annihilation measurements reveal large number of vacancy defects in the interface region of the Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}/ZnO nanocomposites, and they are gradually recovered with increasing annealing temperature. After annealing at temperatures higher than 1000 {sup o}C, the number of vacancies decreases to the lower detection limit of positrons. Room temperature ferromagnetism can be observed in Fe-doped ZnO nanocrystals using physical properties measurement system. The ferromagnetism remains after annealing up to 1000 {sup o}C, suggesting that it is not related with the interfacial defects.

Low-temperature growth of aligned ZnO nanorods: effect of annealing gases on the structural and optical properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Umar, Ahmad; Hahn, Yoon-Bong; Al-Hajry, A; Abaker, M

2014-06-01

Aligned ZnO nanorods were grown on ZnO/Si substrate via simple aqueous solution process at low-temperature of - 65 degrees C by using zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA). The detailed morphological and structural properties measured by FESEM, XRD, EDS and TEM confirmed that the as-grown nanorods are vertically aligned, well-crystalline possessing wurtzite hexagonal phase and grown along the [0001] direction. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the grown nanorods exhibited a strong and broad green emission and small ultraviolet emission. The as-prepared ZnO nanorods were post-annealed in nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2) environments and further characterized in terms of their morphological, structural and optical properties. After annealing the nanorods exhibit well-crystallinity and wurtzite hexagonal phase. Moreover, by annealing the PL spectra show the enhancement in the UV emission and suppression in the green emission. The presented results demonstrate that simply by post-annealing process, the optical properties of ZnO nanostructures can be controlled.

Investigations of rapid thermal annealing induced structural evolution of ZnO: Ge nanocomposite thin films via GISAXS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ceylan, Abdullah, E-mail: aceylanabd@yahoo.com [Department of Physics Eng., Hacettepe University, Beytepe, 06800 Ankara (Turkey); Ozcan, Yusuf [Department of Electricity and Energy, Pamukkale University, Denizli (Turkey); Orujalipoor, Ilghar [Department of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, 06800 Ankara (Turkey); Huang, Yen-Chih; Jeng, U-Ser [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, 101 Hsin-Ann Road, Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan (China); Ide, Semra [Department of Physics Eng., Hacettepe University, Beytepe, 06800 Ankara (Turkey); Department of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, 06800 Ankara (Turkey)

2016-06-07

In this work, we present in depth structural investigations of nanocomposite ZnO: Ge thin films by utilizing a state of the art grazing incidence small angle x-ray spectroscopy (GISAXS) technique. The samples have been deposited by sequential r.f. and d.c. sputtering of ZnO and Ge thin film layers, respectively, on single crystal Si(100) substrates. Transformation of Ge layers into Ge nanoparticles (Ge-np) has been initiated by ex-situ rapid thermal annealing of asprepared thin film samples at 600 °C for 30, 60, and 90 s under forming gas atmosphere. A special attention has been paid on the effects of reactive and nonreactive growth of ZnO layers on the structural evolution of Ge-np. GISAXS analyses have been performed via cylindrical and spherical form factor calculations for different nanostructure types. Variations of the size, shape, and distributions of both ZnO and Ge nanostructures have been determined. It has been realized that GISAXS results are not only remarkably consistent with the electron microscopy observations but also provide additional information on the large scale size and shape distribution of the nanostructured components.

Radio-frequency magnetron sputtering and wet thermal oxidation of ZnO thin film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, H. F.; Chua, S. J.; Hu, G. X.; Gong, H.; Xiang, N.

2007-01-01

The authors studied the growth and wet thermal oxidation (WTO) of ZnO thin films using a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique. X-ray diffraction reveals a preferred orientation of [1010]ZnO(0002)//[1120]Al 2 O 3 (0002) coexisted with a small amount of ZnO (1011) and ZnO (1013) crystals on the Al 2 O 3 (0001) substrate. The ZnO (1011) and ZnO (1013) crystals, as well as the in-plane preferred orientation, are absent from the growth of ZnO on the GaAs(001) substrate. WTO at 550 deg. C improves the crystalline and the photoluminescence more significantly than annealing in air, N 2 and O 2 ambient; it also tends to convert the crystal from ZnO (1011) and ZnO (1013) to ZnO (0002). The evolution of the photoluminescence upon WTO and annealing reveals that the green and orange emissions, centered at 520 and 650 nm, are likely originated from oxygen vacancies and oxygen interstitials, respectively; while the 420 nm emission, which is very sensitive to the postgrowth thermal processing regardless of the substrate and the ambient gas, is likely originated from the surface-state related defects

Molecular dynamics simulation of annealed ZnO surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Min, Tjun Kit; Yoon, Tiem Leong [School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Lim, Thong Leng [Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Multimedia University, Melaka Campus, 75450 Melaka (Malaysia)

2015-04-24

The effect of thermally annealing a slab of wurtzite ZnO, terminated by two surfaces, (0001) (which is oxygen-terminated) and (0001{sup ¯}) (which is Zn-terminated), is investigated via molecular dynamics simulation by using reactive force field (ReaxFF). We found that upon heating beyond a threshold temperature of ∼700 K, surface oxygen atoms begin to sublimate from the (0001) surface. The ratio of oxygen leaving the surface at a given temperature increases as the heating temperature increases. A range of phenomena occurring at the atomic level on the (0001) surface has also been explored, such as formation of oxygen dimers on the surface and evolution of partial charge distribution in the slab during the annealing process. It was found that the partial charge distribution as a function of the depth from the surface undergoes a qualitative change when the annealing temperature is above the threshold temperature.

Variation of microstructural and optical properties in SILAR grown ZnO thin films by thermal treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Valanarasu, S; Dhanasekaran, V; Chandramohan, R; Kulandaisamy, I; Sakthivelu, A; Mahalingam, T

2013-08-01

The influence of thermal treatment on the structural and morphological properties of the ZnO films deposited by double dip Successive ionic layer by adsorption reaction is presented. The effect of annealing temperature and time in air ambient is presented in detail. The deposited films were annealed from 200 to 400 degrees C in air and the structural properties were determined as a function of annealing temperature by XRD. The studies revealed that films were exhibiting preferential orientation along (002) plane. The other structural parameters like the crystallite size (D), micro strain (epsilon), dislocation density (delta) and stacking fault (alpha) of as-deposited and annealed ZnO films were evaluated and reported. The optical properties were also studied and the band gap of the ZnO thins films varied from 3.27 to 3.04 eV with the annealing temperature. SEM studies revealed that the hexagonal shaped grains with uniformly distributed morphology in annealed ZnO thin films. It has been envisaged using EDX analysis that the near stoichiometric composition of the film can be attained by thermal treatment during which microstructural changes do occur.

Effect of stress, strain and optical properties in vacuum and normal annealed ZnO thin films using RF magnetron sputtering

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, B. Santhosh; Purvaja, K.; Harinee, N.; Venkateswaran, C.

2018-05-01

Zinc oxide thin films have been deposited on quartz substrate using RF magnetron sputtering. The deposited films were subjected to different annealing atmosphere at a fixed temperature of 500 °C for 5h. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns reveals the shift in the peak of both normal annealed and vacuum annealed thin films when compared to as-deposited ZnO film. The crystallite size, intrinsic stress and other parameters were calculated from XRD data. The surface morphology of the obtained films were studied using Atomic force microscopy (AFM). From Uv-Visible spectroscopy, the peak at 374 nm of all the films is characteristics of ZnO. The structural, thermal stability and optical properties of the annealed ZnO films are discussed in detail.

Post-growth annealing induced change of conductivity in As-doped ZnO grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To, C. K.; Yang, B.; Su, S. C.; Ling, C. C.; Beling, C. D.; Fung, S. [Department of Physics, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road (Hong Kong)

2011-12-01

Arsenic-doped ZnO films were fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method at a relatively low substrate temperature of 200 deg. C. Post-growth annealing in air was carried out up to a temperature of 1000 deg. C. The samples were characterized by Hall measurement, positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and cathodoluminescence (CL). The as-grown sample was of n-type and it converted to p-type material after the 400 deg. C annealing. The resulting hole concentration was found to increase with annealing temperature and reached a maximum of 6 x 10{sup 17} cm{sup -3} at the annealing temperature of 600 deg. C. The origin of the p-type conductivity was consistent with the As{sub Zn}(V{sub Zn}){sub 2} shallow acceptor model. Further increasing the annealing temperature would decrease the hole concentration of the samples finally converted the sample back to n-type. With evidence, it was suggested that the removal of the p-type conductivity was due to the dissociation of the As{sub Zn}(V{sub Zn}){sub 2} acceptor and the creation of the deep level defect giving rise to the green luminescence.

Post-growth annealing induced change of conductivity in As-doped ZnO grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Science.gov (United States)

To, C. K.; Yang, B.; Su, S. C.; Ling, C. C.; Beling, C. D.; Fung, S.

2011-12-01

Arsenic-doped ZnO films were fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method at a relatively low substrate temperature of 200 °C. Post-growth annealing in air was carried out up to a temperature of 1000 °C. The samples were characterized by Hall measurement, positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and cathodoluminescence (CL). The as-grown sample was of n-type and it converted to p-type material after the 400 °C annealing. The resulting hole concentration was found to increase with annealing temperature and reached a maximum of 6 × 1017 cm-3 at the annealing temperature of 600 °C. The origin of the p-type conductivity was consistent with the AsZn(VZn)2 shallow acceptor model. Further increasing the annealing temperature would decrease the hole concentration of the samples finally converted the sample back to n-type. With evidence, it was suggested that the removal of the p-type conductivity was due to the dissociation of the AsZn(VZn)2 acceptor and the creation of the deep level defect giving rise to the green luminescence.

Post-growth annealing induced change of conductivity in As-doped ZnO grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To, C. K.; Yang, B.; Su, S. C.; Ling, C. C.; Beling, C. D.; Fung, S.

2011-01-01

Arsenic-doped ZnO films were fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method at a relatively low substrate temperature of 200 deg. C. Post-growth annealing in air was carried out up to a temperature of 1000 deg. C. The samples were characterized by Hall measurement, positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and cathodoluminescence (CL). The as-grown sample was of n-type and it converted to p-type material after the 400 deg. C annealing. The resulting hole concentration was found to increase with annealing temperature and reached a maximum of 6 x 10 17 cm -3 at the annealing temperature of 600 deg. C. The origin of the p-type conductivity was consistent with the As Zn (V Zn ) 2 shallow acceptor model. Further increasing the annealing temperature would decrease the hole concentration of the samples finally converted the sample back to n-type. With evidence, it was suggested that the removal of the p-type conductivity was due to the dissociation of the As Zn (V Zn ) 2 acceptor and the creation of the deep level defect giving rise to the green luminescence.

Modelling the growth of ZnO thin films by PVD methods and the effects of post-annealing.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackwell, Sabrina; Smith, Roger; Kenny, Steven D; Walls, John M; Sanz-Navarro, Carlos F

2013-04-03

Results are presented for modelling of the evaporation and magnetron sputter deposition of Zn(x)O(y) onto an O-terminated ZnO (0001¯) wurtzite surface. Growth was simulated through a combination of molecular dynamics (MD) and an on-the-fly kinetic Monte Carlo (otf-KMC) method, which finds diffusion pathways and barriers without prior knowledge of transitions. We examine the effects of varying experimental parameters, such as substrate bias, distribution of the deposition species and annealing temperature. It was found when comparing evaporation and sputtering growth that the latter process results in a denser and more crystalline structure, due to the higher deposition energy of the arriving species. The evaporation growth also exhibits more stacking faults than the sputtered growth. Post-annealing at 770 K did not allow complete recrystallization, resulting in films which still had stacking faults where monolayers formed in the zinc blende phase, whereas annealing at 920 K enabled the complete recrystallization of some films to the wurtzite structure. At the latter temperature atoms could also sometimes be locked in the zinc blende phase after annealing. When full recrystallization did not take place, both wurtzite and zinc blende phases were seen in the same layer, resulting in a phase boundary. Investigation of the various distributions of deposition species showed that, during evaporation, the best quality film resulted from a stoichiometric distribution where only ZnO clusters were deposited. During sputtering, however, the best quality film resulted from a slightly O rich distribution. Two stoichiometric distributions, one involving mainly ZnO clusters and the other involving mainly single species, showed that the distribution of deposition species makes a huge impact on the grown film. The deposition of predominantly single species causes many more O atoms at the surface to be sputtered or reflected, resulting in an O deficiency of up to 18% in the

Annealing temperature dependent reversible wettability switching of micro/nano structured ZnO superhydrophobic surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Velayi, Elmira; Norouzbeigi, Reza

2018-05-01

Superhydrophobic ZnO surfaces with reversibly tunable wettability were fabricated on stainless steel meshes via a facile chemical bath deposition method just by regulating the micro/nano structured ZnO needles without using chemical post modifications. The obtained surfaces can be easily and reversibly switched between superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic characteristics by altering the annealing temperatures. As-prepared sample exhibited long-term superhydrophobic properties with a water contact angle (WCA) of 163.8° ± 1.8° and contact angle hysteresis (CAH) of 1.1° ± 0.8°. The SEM, XRD, XPS and Raman analyses were employed to characterize the morphological features and surface chemistry of the prepared samples. SEM images showed the formation of ZnO micro/nanoneedles with a diameter of ∼90 nm on the substrate. The superhydrophobic ZnO surface was switched to highly hydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties with an oil contact angle (OCA) of about 172.5° after being annealed at 400 °C in air for 30 min and restored to superhydrophobic state again by altering the annealing temperature to 150 °C. Mechanical durability of the ZnO superhydrophobic surface was tested by an abrasion test. Results confirmed that the prepared surface exhibited an excellent robustness after 20 abrasion cycles under the pressure of 4.7 kPa.

Thermal annealing study on P3HT: PCBM based bulk heterojunction organic solar cells using impedance spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gollu, Sankara Rao, E-mail: sankar.gollu@gmail.com [Plastic Electronics and Energy Lab (PEEL), Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400076 (India); Sharma, Ramakant, E-mail: diptig@iitb.ac.in; G, Srinivas, E-mail: diptig@iitb.ac.in; Gupta, Dipti, E-mail: diptig@iitb.ac.in [Plastic Electronics and Energy Lab (PEEL) Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400076 (India)

2014-10-15

Recently, Thermal annealing is an important process for bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ OSCs) to improve the device efficiency and performance of the organic solar cells. Here in, we have examined the changes in the efficiency and morphology of P3HT: PCBM film according to the thermal annealing temperature to find the changes during the annealing process by measuring the optical absorption, atomic force microscope and X-ray diffraction. We also investigated the effect of different annealing process conditions (without, pre- and post-annealing) on the device performance of the inverted bulk heterojunction organic solar cells consist the structure of ITO/ ZnO / P3HT: PCBM / MoO{sub 3}/ Al by measuring AC impedance characteristics. Particularly, the power conversion efficiency (PCE), crystalline nature of the polymer, light absorption and the surface smoothness of P3HT: PCBM films are significantly improved after the annealing process. These results indicated the improvement in terms of PCE, interface smoothness between the P3HT: PCBM and MoO{sub 3} layers of the post annealed device originated from the decrease of series resistance between P3HT: PCBM layer and Al electrodes, which could be due to decrease in the effective life time of charge carriers.

Recovery of thermal-degraded ZnO photodetector by embedding nano silver oxide nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Zhan-Shuo [Institute of Microelectronics, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); Hung, Fei-Yi, E-mail: fyhung@mail.ncku.edu.tw [Institute of Nanotechnology and Microsystems Engineering, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); Chen, Kuan-Jen [Institute of Nanotechnology and Microsystems Engineering, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); The Instrument Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); Chang, Shoou-Jinn [Institute of Microelectronics, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); Institute of Microelectronics and Department of Electrical Engineering, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); Hsieh, Wei-Kang; Liao, Tsai-Yu; Chen, Tse-Pu [Institute of Microelectronics, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China)

2013-08-15

The degraded performance of annealed ZnO-based photodetector can be recovered by embedding Ag{sub 2}O nanoparticles resulted from the transformation of as-deposited Ag layer. After thermal treatment, the electrons were attracted at the interface between ZnO and Ag{sub 2}O. The excess Ag{sup +} ions form the cluster to incorporate into the interstitial sites of ZnO lattice to create a larger amount of lattice defects for the leakage path. The photo-current of ZnO film with Ag{sub 2}O nanoparticles is less than annealed ZnO film because the photo-induced electrons would flow into Ag{sub 2}O side. ZnO photodetector with the appropriate Ag{sub 2}O nanoparticles possesses the best rejection ratio.

ZnO nanorod arrays prepared by chemical bath deposition combined with rapid thermal annealing: structural, photoluminescence and field emission characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Hung-Wei; He, Hsin-Min; Lee, Yi-Mu; Yang, Hsi-Wen

2016-01-01

ZnO nanorod arrays were prepared by low temperature chemical bath deposition (CBD) combined with rapid thermal annealing (RTA) under different ambient conditions. The structure and morphology of the synthesized ZnO have been characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The obtained ZnO samples are highly crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite phase and also display well-aligned array structure. A pronounced effect on increased nanorod length was found for the RTA-treated ZnO as compared to the as-grown ZnO. Analysis of XRD indicates that the (0 0 2) feature peak of the as-grown ZnO was shifted towards a lower angle as compared to the peaks of RTA-treated ZnO samples due to the reduction of tensile strain along the c-axis by RTA. Photoluminescence (PL) studies reveal that the ZnO nanorod arrays receiving RTA in an O 2 environment have the sharpest UV emission band and greatest intensity ratio of near band-edge emission (NBE) to deep level emission (DLE). Additionally, the effects of RTA on the field emission properties were evaluated. The results demonstrate that RTA an O 2 environment can lower the turn-on field and improve the field enhancement factor. The stability of the field emission current was also tested for 4 h. (paper)

Effects of thermal annealing on the performance of Al/ZnO nanorods/Pt structure ultraviolet photodetector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Hai; Fang Guojia; Liu Nishuang; Zhao Xingzhong

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetectors were obtained by sputtering Pt electrode and evaporating Al electrode on the top of ZnO nanorod arrays with thermal treatment. When annealing temperature was up to 300 deg. C, the performance of the PDs was improved with the great decrease of response and recovery times. → For annealing temperature at 300 deg. C and above, the responsivity decreases with increasing annealing temperature. → The ratio of detectivity (D254* to D546*) was calculated as high as 103 for all PDs annealed at 300 deg. C and above. - Abstract: ZnO nanorod arrays were fabricated on ZnO coated glass substrate by hydrothermal method. Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetectors (PDs) were obtained by sputtering Pt electrode and evaporating Al electrode on the top of ZnO nanorod arrays with thermal treatment. It is illustrated that Schottky contacts at the electrode/ZnO NRs interface were formed at the annealing temperature of 300 deg. C and above. When annealing temperature was up to 300 o C, the performance of the PDs was improved with the great decrease of response and recovery times. At the forward bias of 2 V, the Schottky contact PDs showed the biggest responsivity and the best detectivity at the annealing temperature of 300 deg. C. For annealing temperature at 300 deg. C and above, the responsivity decreases with increasing annealing temperature and the ratio of detectivity (D 254 * to D 546 *) was calculated as high as 10 3 for all PDs annealed at 300 deg. C and above.

Study of annealing effect on the growth of ZnO nanorods on ZnO seed layers

Science.gov (United States)

Sannakashappanavar, Basavaraj S.; Pattanashetti, Nandini A.; Byrareddy, C. R.; Yadav, Aniruddh Bahadur

2018-04-01

A zinc oxide (ZnO) seed layer was deposited on the SiO2/Si substrate by RF sputtering. To study the effect of annealing, the seed layers were classified into annealed and unannealed thin films. Annealing of the seed layers was carried at 450°C. Surface morphology of the seed layers were studied by Atomic force microscopy. ZnO nanorods were then grown on both the types of seed layer by hydrothermal method. The morphology and the structural properties of the nanorods were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Scanning electron microscopy. The effect of seed layer annealing on the growth and orientation of the ZnO nanorods were clearly examined on comparing with the nanorods grown on unannealed seed layer. The nanorods grown on annealed seed layers were found to be well aligned and oriented. Further, the I-V characteristic study was carried out on these aligned nanorods. The results supports positively for the future work to further enhance the properties of developed nanorods for their wide applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Defect characterization and magnetic properties in un-doped ZnO thin film annealed in a strong magnetic field

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, Shuai; Zhan, Peng; Wang, Wei-Peng; Li, Zheng-Cao; Zhang, Zheng-Jun

2014-12-01

Highly c-axis oriented un-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films, each with a thickness of ~ 100 nm, are deposited on Si (001) substrates by pulsed electron beam deposition at a temperature of ~ 320 °C, followed by annealing at 650 °C in argon in a strong magnetic field. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), positron annihilation analysis (PAS), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterizations suggest that the major defects generated in these ZnO films are oxygen vacancies. Photoluminescence (PL) and magnetic property measurements indicate that the room-temperature ferromagnetism in the un-doped ZnO film originates from the singly ionized oxygen vacancies whose number depends on the strength of the magnetic field applied in the thermal annealing process. The effects of the magnetic field on the defect generation in the ZnO films are also discussed.

Microwave Synthesized ZnO Nanorod Arrays for UV Sensors: A Seed Layer Annealing Temperature Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pimentel, Ana; Ferreira, Sofia Henriques; Nunes, Daniela; Calmeiro, Tomas; Martins, Rodrigo; Fortunato, Elvira

2016-04-20

The present work reports the influence of zinc oxide (ZnO) seed layer annealing temperature on structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO nanorod arrays, synthesized by hydrothermal method assisted by microwave radiation, to be used as UV sensors. The ZnO seed layer was produced using the spin-coating method and several annealing temperatures, ranging from 100 to 500 °C, have been tested. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectrophotometry measurements have been used to investigate the structure, morphology, and optical properties variations of the produced ZnO nanorod arrays regarding the seed layer annealing temperatures employed. After the growth of ZnO nanorod arrays, the whole structure was tested as UV sensors, showing an increase in the sensitivity with the increase of seed layer annealing temperature. The UV sensor response of ZnO nanorod arrays produced with the seed layer annealed temperature of 500 °C was 50 times superior to the ones produced with a seed layer annealed at 100 °C.

Defect characterization and magnetic properties in un-doped ZnO thin film annealed in a strong magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ning Shuai; Zhan Peng; Wang Wei-Peng; Li Zheng-Cao; Zhang Zheng-Jun

2014-01-01

Highly c-axis oriented un-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films, each with a thickness of ∼ 100 nm, are deposited on Si (001) substrates by pulsed electron beam deposition at a temperature of ∼ 320 °C, followed by annealing at 650 °C in argon in a strong magnetic field. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), positron annihilation analysis (PAS), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterizations suggest that the major defects generated in these ZnO films are oxygen vacancies. Photoluminescence (PL) and magnetic property measurements indicate that the room-temperature ferromagnetism in the un-doped ZnO film originates from the singly ionized oxygen vacancies whose number depends on the strength of the magnetic field applied in the thermal annealing process. The effects of the magnetic field on the defect generation in the ZnO films are also discussed. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

Improvement on the electrical characteristics of Pd/HfO2/6H-SiC MIS capacitors using post deposition annealing and post metallization annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Esakky, Papanasam; Kailath, Binsu J.

2017-08-01

HfO2 as a gate dielectric enables high electric field operation of SiC MIS structure and as gas sensor HfO2/SiC capacitors offer higher sensitivity than SiO2/SiC capacitors. The issue of higher density of oxygen vacancies and associated higher leakage current necessitates better passivation of HfO2/SiC interface. Effect of post deposition annealing in N2O plasma and post metallization annealing in forming gas on the structural and electrical characteristics of Pd/HfO2/SiC MIS capacitors are reported in this work. N2O plasma annealing suppresses crystallization during high temperature annealing thereby improving the thermal stability and plasma annealing followed by rapid thermal annealing in N2 result in formation of Hf silicate at the HfO2/SiC interface resulting in order of magnitude lower density of interface states and gate leakage current. Post metallization annealing in forming gas for 40 min reduces interface state density by two orders while gate leakage current density is reduced by thrice. Post deposition annealing in N2O plasma and post metallization annealing in forming gas are observed to be effective passivation techniques improving the electrical characteristics of HfO2/SiC capacitors.

The effects of Mg incorporation and annealing temperature on the physicochemical properties and antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes of ZnO nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Shadan, Nima; Ziabari, Ali Abdolahzadeh; Meraat, Rafieh; Jalali, Kamyar Mazloum

2017-02-01

In this paper, Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by the facile sol-gel method. The crystalline structure, characteristic absorption bands and morphology of the obtained Mg-doped ZnO nanoparticles were studied by XRD, FTIR and TEM. The thermal degradation behaviour of the samples was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TG). The effect of Mg concentrations and annealing temperatures on the antibacterial properties of the obtained nanoparticles was investigated in detail. The results indicated that doping Mg ions into ZnO lattice could enhance its antibacterial activity. Antibacterial assay demonstrated that Mg-doped ZnO with 7% Mg content annealed at 400 ∘C had the strongest antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes (98.7%). This study indicated that the inhibition rate of ZnO nanoparticles increased with the formation of granular structure and the decrease of ZnO size due to the doping of Mg ions into the ZnO lattice.

Characteristics of OMVPE grown GaAsBi QW lasers and impact of post-growth thermal annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Honghyuk; Guan, Yingxin; Babcock, Susan E.; Kuech, Thomas F.; Mawst, Luke J.

2018-03-01

Laser diodes employing a strain-compensated GaAs1-xBix/GaAs1-yPy single quantum well (SQW) active region were grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE). High resolution x-ray diffraction, room temperature photoluminescence, and real-time optical reflectance measurements during the OMVPE growth were used to find the optimum process window for the growth of the active region material. Systematic post-growth in situ thermal anneals of various lengths were carried out in order to investigate the impacts of thermal annealing on the laser device performance characteristics. While the lowest threshold current density was achieved after the thermal annealing for 30 min at 630 °C, a gradual decrease in the external differential quantum efficiency was observed as the annealing time increases. It was observed that the temperature sensitivities of the threshold current density increase while those of lasing wavelength and slope efficiency remain nearly constant with increasing annealing time. Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopic) analysis revealed inhomogeneous Bi distribution within the QW active region.

Annealing impact on the structural and photoluminescence properties of ZnO thin films on Ag substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Linhua; Zheng, Gaige; Lai, Min; Pei, Shixin

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: The Gaussian fitting indicates that the PL spectra of the ZnO thin films include four emission peaks which are centered at 380, 520, 570 and 610 nm, respectively. The ZnO thin film deposited on an Ag substrate shows a stronger green emission and a weaker UV emission than the ZnO thin film directly deposited on a Si substrate annealed at 400 °C. With the rise of annealing temperature, the visible emission intensity and wavelength are largely changed. Highlights: • ZnO thin films have been prepared on Ag substrates by sol–gel method. • The Ag substrates have a great effect on the photoluminescence of ZnO thin films. • All the films exhibit three visible emission bands including green, yellow and red. • Annealing causes a large change of the visible emission intensity and wavelength. -- Abstract: In this work, ZnO thin films were prepared by sol–gel method on Ag substrates. The structural and optical properties of the films annealed at different temperatures were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence, respectively. The results of XRD showed that all the ZnO thin films had a wurtzite phase and were preferentially oriented along the c-axis direction. The sample annealed at 400 °C exhibited better crystalline quality than the ZnO thin film directly deposited on a Si substrate annealed at the same temperature. The photoluminescence spectra showed that ZnO thin films had an ultraviolet emission band and three visible emission bands including green, yellow and red band. The sample annealed at 400 °C exhibited a stronger green emission and a weaker ultraviolet emission compared with the ZnO thin film deposited on a Si substrate annealed at the same temperature. The difference of the luminescence properties was thought to be originated from different substrates. As for the ZnO films on Ag substrates, the increase of annealing temperature led to different changes of visible emissions

Post-growth annealing of zinc oxide thin films pulsed laser deposited under enhanced oxygen pressure on quartz and silicon substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rusop, M.; Uma, K.; Soga, T.; Jimbo, T.

2006-01-01

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique at room temperature on quartz and single crystal silicon (1 0 0) substrates. The oxygen ambient gas pressure was attained at 6 Torr during the deposition. The deposited films were post-growth annealed in air at various annealing temperatures for 30 min. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical and electrical properties have been measured to study the properties of the films as a function of annealing temperatures. XRD has shown the strength of (0 0 2) peak increases and FWHM value decreases as the annealing temperatures increases from 200 to 600 deg. C. The post-growth annealed at 600 deg. C show dominant c-axis oriented hexagonal wurtize crystal structure and exhibit high average transmittance about 85% in the visible region and very sharp absorption edge at 376 nm with energy band gap of approximately 3.46 eV. Electrical measurement indicates the resistivity decreases with the annealing temperatures up to 600 deg. C, after which it increases with higher annealing temperatures at 800 deg. C. The complex of oxygen vacancy in the ZnO films may be the source of low conductivity in undoped ZnO films

Effect of annealing temperature on the tribological behavior of ZnO films prepared by sol-gel method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Liyu; Kim, Dae-Eun

2009-01-01

The tribological behavior of zinc oxide (ZnO) films grown on glass and silicon (100) substrates by sol-gel method was investigated. Particularly, the as-coated films were post-annealed at different temperatures in air to investigate the effect of annealing temperature. Crystal structural and surface morphology of the films were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). XRD patterns and AFM images indicated that the crystallinity and grain size of the films were enhanced and increased, respectively, with temperature. The tribological behavior of films was evaluated by sliding the ZnO films against a Si 3 N 4 ball under 0.5 gf normal load using a reciprocating pin-on-plate tribo-tester. The wear tracks of the films were measured by AFM to quantify the wear resistance of the films. The results showed that the wear resistance of the films could be improved by the annealing process. The wear resistance of the films generally increased with annealing temperature. Specifically, the wear resistance of the films was significantly improved when the annealing temperature was higher than 550 deg. C. The increase in the wear resistance is attributed to the increase in hardness and modulus of the film with annealing temperature

Improvement on the electrical characteristics of Pd/HfO{sub 2}/6H-SiC MIS capacitors using post deposition annealing and post metallization annealing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Esakky, Papanasam, E-mail: papanasamte@gmail.com; Kailath, Binsu J

2017-08-15

Highlights: • Post deposition annealing (PDA) and post metallization annealing (PMA) on the electrical characteristics of Pd/HfO{sub 2}/6H-SiC MIS capacitors. • Post deposition N{sub 2}O plasma annealing inhibits crystallization of HfO{sub 2} during high temperature annealing. • Plasma annealing followed by RTA in N{sub 2} results in formation of hafnium silicate at the HfO{sub 2}-SiC interface. • PDA reduces interface state density (D{sub it}) and gate leakage current density (J{sub g}) by order. • PMA in forming gas for 40 min results in better passivation and reduces D{sub it} by two orders and J{sub g} by thrice. - Abstract: HfO{sub 2} as a gate dielectric enables high electric field operation of SiC MIS structure and as gas sensor HfO{sub 2}/SiC capacitors offer higher sensitivity than SiO{sub 2}/SiC capacitors. The issue of higher density of oxygen vacancies and associated higher leakage current necessitates better passivation of HfO{sub 2}/SiC interface. Effect of post deposition annealing in N{sub 2}O plasma and post metallization annealing in forming gas on the structural and electrical characteristics of Pd/HfO{sub 2}/SiC MIS capacitors are reported in this work. N{sub 2}O plasma annealing suppresses crystallization during high temperature annealing thereby improving the thermal stability and plasma annealing followed by rapid thermal annealing in N{sub 2} result in formation of Hf silicate at the HfO{sub 2}/SiC interface resulting in order of magnitude lower density of interface states and gate leakage current. Post metallization annealing in forming gas for 40 min reduces interface state density by two orders while gate leakage current density is reduced by thrice. Post deposition annealing in N{sub 2}O plasma and post metallization annealing in forming gas are observed to be effective passivation techniques improving the electrical characteristics of HfO{sub 2}/SiC capacitors.

Thermal activation of nitrogen acceptors in ZnO thin films grown by MOCVD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dangbegnon, J.K.; Talla, K.; Botha, J.R. [Department of Physics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth (South Africa)

2010-06-15

Nitrogen doping in ZnO is inhibited by spontaneous formation of compensating defects. Perfect control of the nitrogen doping concentration is required, since a high concentration of nitrogen could induce the formation of donor defects involving nitrogen. In this work, the effect of post-growth annealing in oxygen ambient on ZnO thin films grown by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition, using NO as both oxidant and nitrogen dopant, is studied. After annealing at 700 C and above, low-temperature photoluminescence shows the appearance of a transition at {proportional_to}3.23 eV which is interpreted as pair emission involving a nitrogen acceptor. A second transition at {proportional_to}3.15 eV is also discussed. This work suggests annealing as a potential means for p-type doping using nitrogen (copyright 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Non-vacuum, single-step conductive transparent ZnO patterning by ultra-short pulsed laser annealing of solution-deposited nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Daeho; Pan, Heng; Kim, Eunpa; Grigoropoulos, Costas P. [University of California, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Berkeley, CA (United States); Ko, Seung Hwan [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Hee K. [AppliFlex LLC, Sunnyvale, CA (United States)

2012-04-15

A solution-processable, high-concentration transparent ZnO nanoparticle (NP) solution was successfully synthesized in a new process. A highly transparent ZnO thin film was fabricated by spin coating without vacuum deposition. Subsequent ultra-short-pulsed laser annealing at room temperature was performed to change the film properties without using a blanket high temperature heating process. Although the as-deposited NP thin film was not electrically conductive, laser annealing imparted a large conductivity increase and furthermore enabled selective annealing to write conductive patterns directly on the NP thin film without a photolithographic process. Conductivity enhancement could be obtained by altering the laser annealing parameters. Parametric studies including the sheet resistance and optical transmittance of the annealed ZnO NP thin film were conducted for various laser powers, scanning speeds and background gas conditions. The lowest resistivity from laser-annealed ZnO thin film was about 4.75 x 10{sup -2} {omega} cm, exhibiting a factor of 10{sup 5} higher conductivity than the previously reported furnace-annealed ZnO NP film and is even comparable to that of vacuum-deposited, impurity-doped ZnO films within a factor of 10. The process developed in this work was applied to the fabrication of a thin film transistor (TFT) device that showed enhanced performance compared with furnace-annealed devices. A ZnO TFT performance test revealed that by just changing the laser parameters, the solution-deposited ZnO thin film can also perform as a semiconductor, demonstrating that laser annealing offers tunability of ZnO thin film properties for both transparent conductors and semiconductors. (orig.)

Experimental and numerical optical characterization of plasmonic copper nanoparticles embedded in ZnO fabricated by ion implantation and annealing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le, Khai Q. [Faculty of Science and Technology, Hoa Sen University, Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam); Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Jazan University, P.O. Box 114, 45142 Jazan (Saudi Arabia); Nguyen, Hieu P.T. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ 07102 (United States); Ngo, Quang Minh [Institute of Material Sciences, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Cau Giay, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Canimoglu, Adil [Nigde University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Physics Department, Nigde (Turkey); Can, Nurdogan, E-mail: cannurdogan@yahoo.com [Celal Bayar University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics, Muradiye, Manisa (Turkey); Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Jazan University, P.O. Box 114, 45142 Jazan (Saudi Arabia)

2016-06-05

Here we describe the successfully fabrication of metal nanoparticle crystals by implanting copper (Cu) ions into single zinc oxide (ZnO) crystals with ion energy of 400 keV at ion doses of 1 × 10{sup 16} to 1 × 10{sup 17} ions/cm{sup 2}. After implantation and post-annealing treatment, the Cu implanted ZnO produces a broad range of luminescence emissions, ranging from green to yellow. A green luminescence peak at 550 nm could be ascribed to the isolated Cu ions. The changes in luminescence emission bands between the initial implant and annealed suggest that the implants give rise to clustering Cu nanoparticles in the host matrix but that the annealing process dissociates these. Numerical modelling of the Cu nanoparticles was employed to simulate their optical properties including the extinction cross section, electron energy loss spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence. We demonstrate that the clustering of nanoparticles generates Fano resonances corresponding to the generation of multiple resonances, while the isolation of nanoparticles results in intensity amplification. - Highlights: • We present the fabrication of metal nanoparticle crystals by implanting Cu into ZnO. • The luminescence properties were studied at different annealing temperature. • Numerical modelling of the Cu nanoparticles was employed. • We demonstrate that the clustering of nanoparticles generates Fano resonances.

Influence of annealing temperature on ZnO thin films grown by dual ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Administrator

In electrical characterization as well, when annealing temperature was increased .... of ZnO (002) peaks and (c) crystallite size and stress generation on ZnO thin films ... sufficient kinetic energy and surface mobility to occupy stable positions ...

Optically stimulated luminescence of ZnO obtained by thermal treatment of ZnS chemically synthesized

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cruz V, C.; Burruel I, S.E.; Orante B, V.R.; Grijalva M, H.; Perez S, R.; Bernal, R.

2005-01-01

In this work, we report the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry of new nano phosphors of ZnO obtained by thermal annealing of chemically synthesized ZnS powder. The synthesized ZnS nano powder was compressed in order to form pellet shaped pellets, which were afterwards subjected to a thermal annealing at 700 C during 24 h under air atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and energy-disperse X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) analyses confirmed the transformation of ZnS to ZnO. Samples were exposed to several doses of beta radiation up to 600 Gy, and the optically stimulated luminescence with 470 nm wavelength light was recorded as a function of dose. The intensity of the OSL signal increases by increasing dose, for what it is concluded that these new phosphor materials are suitable to be used in optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry. (Author)

Effect of annealing on electrical properties of plasmatron deposited ZnO films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joa, Sang Beom; Penkov, Oteksiy V.; Plaksin, Vadim Yu; Mansur, Rakib; Kim, Ji Hun; Lee, Heon Ju

2009-01-01

Transparent conductive zinc oxide (ZnO) has been extensively studied in recent several years because they have very interesting properties. Besides this, zinc oxide is non-poisonous, abundant and cheap material. ZnO films are employed in different applications like transparent conductive layers in solar cells, protective coatings and so on. Wide industrial application of the ZnO films requires of development of cheap, effective and scalable technology. Typically used technology like RF sputtering, pyrolysis and metal-organic CVD don't completely satisfy the industrial requirements. In our previous publications the new perspective ZnO deposition technology based DC Arc Plasmatron was described. This technology has several advantages (low cost, high deposition rate, low substrate temperature). Currently, films deposited using this technology has can be used only as protective or insulation coatings because of very high resistance. Applying of plasmatron technology in the microelectronics or solar cell production requires the improvement of electrical properties of the films. This can be achieved by optimization of deposition parameters, using of doping, or by post-deposition treatment such as annealing, or by combination of mentioned. It was shown that proposed technology can be used for the deposition of pure ZnO film with good electrical and optical properties. Proposed technology has several disadvantages which can be overcome in the near-term outlook

Annealing effect on optical properties of ZnO films fabricated by cathodic electrodeposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Qingtao; Wang Guanzhong; Jie Jiansheng; Han Xinhai; Xu Bo; Hou, J.G.

2005-01-01

(001)-oriented ZnO films on Zn substrates were synthesized by cathodic electrodeposition from an aqueous solution composed only of 0.05 M zinc nitrate at 65 deg. C. A bound exciton emission band around 3.34 eV along with three longitudinal optical (LO) phonon replicas and an intensive broad emission band around 2.17 eV were observed from the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of ZnO films prepared at more positive potential (- 0.6∼- 0.8 V). When more negative potential (- 1.0∼- 1.4 V) was applied, the ultraviolet emission band disappeared. These results indicate that more positive electrodeposition potential favors the high quality ZnO film growth. The PL spectra of the annealed ZnO films prepared at more positive electrodeposition potentials - 0.6∼- 1.0 V exhibit the ultraviolet emission at 3.35 eV and a negligibly weak emission from defects. Annealing resulted in the enhancement and sharpening of the excitonic emission band and decrease of the deep level emission. The bandgap (E g ) of the ZnO film prepared at - 1.0 V on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate decreased from 3.56 to 3.29 eV due to the removing of Zn(OH) 2 from the film after annealing

Nanofabrication and characterization of ZnO nanorod arrays and branched microrods by aqueous solution route and rapid thermal processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lupan, Oleg; Chow, Lee; Chai, Guangyu; Roldan, Beatriz; Naitabdi, Ahmed; Schulte, Alfons; Heinrich, Helge

2007-01-01

This paper presents an inexpensive and fast fabrication method for one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanorod arrays and branched two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D) - nanoarchitectures. Our synthesis technique includes the use of an aqueous solution route and post-growth rapid thermal annealing. It permits rapid and controlled growth of ZnO nanorod arrays of 1D - rods, 2D - crosses, and 3D - tetrapods without the use of templates or seeds. The obtained ZnO nanorods are uniformly distributed on the surface of Si substrates and individual or branched nano/microrods can be easily transferred to other substrates. Process parameters such as concentration, temperature and time, type of substrate and the reactor design are critical for the formation of nanorod arrays with thin diameter and transferable nanoarchitectures. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Micro-Raman spectroscopy have been used to characterize the samples

Annealing Heat Treatment of ZnO Nanoparticles Grown on Porous Si Substrate Using Spin-Coating Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. A. Eswar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available ZnO nanoparticles were successfully deposited on porous silicon (PSi substrate using spin-coating method. In order to prepare PSi, electrochemical etching was employed to modify the Si surface. Zinc acetate dihydrate was used as a starting material in ZnO sol-gel solution preparation. The postannealing treatments were investigated on morphologies and photoluminescence (PL properties of the ZnO thin films. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM results indicate that the thin films composed by ZnO nanoparticles were distributed uniformly on PSi. The average sizes of ZnO nanoparticle increase with increasing annealing temperature. Atomic force microscopic (AFM analysis reveals that ZnO thin films annealed at 500°C had the smoothest surface. PL spectra show two peaks that completely correspond to nanostructured ZnO and PSi. These findings indicate that the ZnO nanostructures grown on PSi are promising for application as light emitting devices.

Effects of post-growth annealing on InGaAs quantum posts embedded in Schottky diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schramm, A; Polojärvi, V; Hakkarainen, T V; Tukiainen, A; Guina, M

2011-01-01

We study effects of rapid thermal annealing on photoluminescence and electron confinement of InGaAs quantum posts by means of photoluminescence experiments and capacitance–voltage spectroscopy. The quantum posts are embedded in n-type Schottky diodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs(1 0 0). The observed photoluminescence spectra arise from the quantum posts as well as from a contribution of a wetting-layer superlattice. With increasing annealing temperatures, the quantum-post photoluminescence blueshifts toward the wetting-layer superlattice, and upon the highest annealing step, the wetting-layer superlattice luminescence dominates. In capacitance–voltage experiments, we clearly observe a charge accumulation in the quantum-post layer as well as from the wetting-layer superlattice. Capacitance–voltage spectra and carrier-density profiles only experience slight changes upon annealing treatments. We suggest that the main electron accumulation takes place in the wetting-layer superlattice

Effect of Annealing on the Thermoluminescence Properties of ZnO Nanophosphor

Science.gov (United States)

Kalita, J. M.; Wary, G.

2017-07-01

We report the effect of annealing on the thermoluminescence (TL) properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanophosphor. The sample was synthesised by a wet chemical process. The characterisation report shows that the size of the grains is within 123.0 nm-160.5 nm. TL measured at 2 K/s from a fresh un-annealed sample irradiated to 60 mGy shows a composite glow curve containing three peaks at 353.2 K, 429.1 K, and 455.3 K. On the other hand, samples annealed at 473 K and 573 K followed by irradiation to 60 mGy do not give TL. However, annealing at 673 K and 773 K followed by irradiation to the same dose produces a glow curve comprising two overlapping peaks at 352.3 K and 370.6 K. In the TL emission spectrum of un-annealed sample, two emission peaks were found in green ( 523 nm) and orange ( 620 nm) regions whereas in annealed samples, only a peak was found in the orange region ( 618 nm). Kinetic analysis shows that the activation energy corresponding to TL peaks at 353.2 K, 429.1 K, and 455.3 K of the un-annealed sample are 0.64 eV, 0.80 eV, and 1.20 eV whereas that of the peaks at 352.3 K and 370.6 K of 673 K and 773 K annealed samples are 0.64 eV and 0.70 eV, respectively. All peaks of un-annealed and annealed samples, except the one at 429.1 K of the un-annealed sample, follow first-order kinetics whereas the peak at 429.1 K follows second-order kinetics. Considering the kinetic and spectral features, an energy band model for ZnO nanophosphor has been proposed.

Synthetic and effect of annealing on the luminescent properties of ZnO nanowire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mo, Zhao-Jun, E-mail: mzjmzj163@163.com [Institute of Material Physics, Key Laboratory of Display Materials and Photoelectric Devices of Ministry of Education of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300191 (China); Hao, Zhi-Hong [Tianjin Vocational Institute, Tianjin (China); Wu, Hai-Zhen; Yang, Qing; Zhuo, Ping; Yang, Hui; Xu, Jian-Ping; Zhang, Xiao-Song [Institute of Material Physics, Key Laboratory of Display Materials and Photoelectric Devices of Ministry of Education of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300191 (China); Li, Lan, E-mail: lilan2000us@126.com [Institute of Material Physics, Key Laboratory of Display Materials and Photoelectric Devices of Ministry of Education of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300191 (China)

2016-07-15

ZnO nanowires were successfully fabricated by using the hydrothermal method in the existence of the poly ethylene glycol (PEG) with the molecular weight of 200. The experimental results exhibit that the ZnO nanowires with the diameter of ~30 nm and the length of ten micrometers. PL spectra show a weak ultraviolet emission and an intense broad visible emission band for as-grown and annealed samples. These visible emission bands exhibit red-shifts from green (545 nm) to yellow (580 nm) and blue-shifts from yellow (580 nm) to green (520 nm) by annealing at aerobic or anaerobic environment, it indicates that the defect types are changed by annealed at different environment. Additionally, the red-shifts (520 nm) and blue-shifts (580) can match up the bimodal lorentzian fitting (520 nm and 583 nm) of as-growth, which suggest that the visible emission band (545 nm) is closely related to oxygen defects. The oxygen atomic can enter into the crystal lattice of ZnO and decrease the oxygen vacancy in air or oxygen, whereas, more oxygen vacancy defects is gave rise in vacuum annealed. We guess the energy levels of the intrinsic defects in ZnO nanowire maybe like that: the electrons of Zn{sub i} defects compound with holes of V{sub Zn}, O{sub i} and O{sub Zn} levels and conform to the yellow emission, and the green emission corresponds to the electron transition from the association defects deep donor level to the valence band.

Influence of annealing temperature on optical properties of Al doped ZnO nanoparticles via sol-gel methods

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Affa Rozana Abd; Hazwani, Tuan Nur; Mukhtar, Wan Maisarah; Taib, Nur Athirah Mohd

2018-06-01

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have become technologically important materials due to their wide range of electrical and optical properties. The characteristics can be further adjusted by adequate doping processes. The effect of dopant concentration of Al, heating treatment and annealing in reducing atmosphere on the optical properties of the thin films is discussed. Undoped and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films are prepared by the sol-gel method. Zinc acetate dihydrate, 2-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine are used as precursor, solvent and stabilizer. In the case of AZO, aluminum nitrate nanohydrate is added to the precursor solution with an atomic percentage equal to 0 %, 1 %, 2 % and 3 % of Al. The multi thin layers are transformed into ZnO upon annealing at 450 °C and 500 °C. The optical properties such as transmittance, absorbance, band gap and refractive index of the thin films have been investigated by using UV-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The results show that the effect of aluminium dopant concentration on the optical properties is depend on the post-heat treatment of the films. By doping with Al, the transmittance spectra in visible range increased and widen the band gap of ZnO which might due to Burstein-moss effects.

Orientation of rapid thermally annealed lead zirconate titanate thin films on (111) Pt substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brooks, K.G.; Reaney, I.M.; Klissurska, R.; Huang, Y.; Bursill, L.A.; Setter, N.

1994-01-01

The nucleation, growth and orientation of lead zirconate titanate thin films prepared from organometallic precursor solutions by spin coating on (111) oriented platinum substrates and crystallized by rapid thermal annealing was investigated. The effects of pyrolysis temperature, post-pyrolysis thermal treatments, excess lead addition, and Nb dopant substitution are reported. The use of post pyrolysis oxygen anneals at temperatures in the regime of 350-450 deg C was found to strongly effect the kinetics of subsequent amorphous-pyrochlore perovskite crystallization by rapid thermal annealing. It has also allowed films of reproducible microstructure and textures (both (100) and (111)) to be prepared by rapid thermal annealing. It is suggested that such anneals and pyrolysis temperature affect the oxygen concentration/average Pb valence in the amorphous films prior to annealing. The changes in Pb valence state then affect the stability of the transient pyrochlore phase and thus the kinetics of perovskite crystallization. Nb dopant was also found to influence the crystallization kinetics. 28 refs., 18 figs

Annealing effect on the structural, morphological and electrical properties of TiO2/ZnO bilayer thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, M. I.; Imran, S.; Shahnawaz; Saleem, Muhammad; Ur Rehman, Saif

2018-03-01

The effect of annealing temperature on the structural, morphological and electrical properties of TiO2/ZnO (TZ) thin films has been observed. Bilayer thin films of TiO2/ZnO are deposited on FTO glass substrate by spray pyrolysis method. After deposition, these films are annealed at 573 K, 723 K and 873 K. XRD shows that TiO2 is present in anatase phase only and ZnO is present in hexagonal phase. No other phases of TiO2 and ZnO are present. Also, there is no evidence of other compounds like Zn-Ti etc. It also shows that the average grain size of TiO2/ZnO films is increased by increasing annealing temperature. AFM (Atomic force microscope) showed that the average roughness of TiO2/ZnO films is decreased at temperature 573-723 K and then increased at 873 K. The calculated average sheet resistivity of thin films annealed at 573 K, 723 K and 873 K is 152.28 × 102, 75.29 × 102 and 63.34 × 102 ohm-m respectively. This decrease in sheet resistivity might be due to the increment of electron concentration with increasing thickness and the temperature of thin films.

Annealing Temperature Dependent Structural and Optical Properties of RF Sputtered ZnO Thin Films.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Shashikant; Varma, Tarun; Asokan, K; Periasamy, C; Boolchandani, Dharmendar

2017-01-01

This work investigates the effect of annealing temperature on structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films grown over Si 100 and glass substrates using RF sputtering technique. Annealing temperature has been varied from 300 °C to 600 °C in steps of 100, and different microstructural parameters such as grain size, dislocation density, lattice constant, stress and strain have been evaluated. The structural and surface morphological characterization has been done using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). XRD analysis reveals that the peak intensity of 002 crystallographic orientation increases with increased annealing temperature. Optical characterization of deposited films have been done using UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectrometer. An increase in optical bandgap of deposited ZnO thin films with increasing annealing temperature has been observed. The average optical transmittance was found to be more than 85% for all deposited films. Photoluminiscense spectra (PL) suggest that the crystalline quality of deposited film has increased at higher annealing temperature.

Reactor pressure vessel thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, A.D.

1997-01-01

The steel plates and/or forgings and welds in the beltline region of a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) are subject to embrittlement from neutron irradiation. This embrittlement causes the fracture toughness of the beltline materials to be less than the fracture toughness of the unirradiated material. Material properties of RPVs that have been irradiated and embrittled are recoverable through thermal annealing of the vessel. The amount of recovery primarily depends on the level of the irradiation embrittlement, the chemical composition of the steel, and the annealing temperature and time. Since annealing is an option for extending the service lives of RPVs or establishing less restrictive pressure-temperature (P-T) limits; the industry, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have assisted in efforts to determine the viability of thermal annealing for embrittlement recovery. General guidance for in-service annealing is provided in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard E 509-86. In addition, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code Case N-557 addresses annealing conditions (temperature and duration), temperature monitoring, evaluation of loadings, and non-destructive examination techniques. The NRC thermal annealing rule (10 CFR 50.66) was approved by the Commission and published in the Federal Register on December 19, 1995. The Regulatory Guide on thermal annealing (RG 1.162) was processed in parallel with the rule package and was published on February 15, 1996. RG 1.162 contains a listing of issues that need to be addressed for thermal annealing of an RPV. The RG also provides alternatives for predicting re-embrittlement trends after the thermal anneal has been completed. This paper gives an overview of methodology and recent technical references that are associated with thermal annealing. Results from the DOE annealing prototype demonstration project, as well as NRC activities related to the

Optically stimulated luminescence of ZnO obtained by thermal treatment of ZnS chemically synthesized; Luminiscencia opticamente estimulada de ZnO obtenido por tratamiento termico de ZnS sintetizado quimicamente

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cruz V, C.; Burruel I, S.E.; Orante B, V.R.; Grijalva M, H.; Perez S, R.; Bernal, R. [Universidad de Sonora, A.P. 130, Hermosillo (Mexico)

2005-07-01

In this work, we report the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry of new nano phosphors of ZnO obtained by thermal annealing of chemically synthesized ZnS powder. The synthesized ZnS nano powder was compressed in order to form pellet shaped pellets, which were afterwards subjected to a thermal annealing at 700 C during 24 h under air atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and energy-disperse X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) analyses confirmed the transformation of ZnS to ZnO. Samples were exposed to several doses of beta radiation up to 600 Gy, and the optically stimulated luminescence with 470 nm wavelength light was recorded as a function of dose. The intensity of the OSL signal increases by increasing dose, for what it is concluded that these new phosphor materials are suitable to be used in optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry. (Author)

Thermal annealing of recoil 56Mn in strontium permanganate under (n,γ) process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, Shuddhodan P.; Vijaya

2002-01-01

Chemical stabilization of recoil 56 Mn in strontium permanganate (hydrous and anhydrous) has been investigated with a special reference to pre-and post-activation thermal annealing treatments. The retention of 56 Mn in neutron irradiated strontium permanganate showed significant variation on thermal annealing in both pre-and post-activation heated target. The recoil re-entry process obeys simple first order kinetics and the activation energy deduced for thermal annealing process is very low as computed by classical Arrhenius plots. The results observed are discussed in the light of existing ideas for understanding the recoil stabilization mechanism of parent reformation and the nature of precursors in permanganates. (author)

Room temperature photoluminescence properties of ZnO nanorods grown by hydrothermal reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iwan, S., E-mail: iwan-sugihartono@unj.ac.id [Jurusan Fisika, FMIPA-UNJ, Rawamangun, Jakarta (Indonesia); Prodi Ilmu Material, Departemen Fisika, FMIPA, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus UI Depok (Indonesia); Fauzia, Vivi [Prodi Ilmu Material, Departemen Fisika, FMIPA, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus UI Depok (Indonesia); Umar, A. A. [Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Sun, X. W. [School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue (Singapore)

2016-04-19

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were fabricated by a hydrothermal reaction on silicon (Si) substrate at 95 °C for 6 hours. The ZnO seed layer was fabricated by depositing ZnO thin films on Si substrates by ultrasonic spray pyrolisis (USP). The annealing effects on crystal structure and optical properties of ZnO nanorods were investigated. The post-annealing treatment was performed at 800 °C with different environments. The annealed of ZnO nanorods were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) in order to analyze crystal structure and optical properties, respectively. The results show the orientations of [002], [101], [102], and [103] diffraction peaks were observed and hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO nanorods were vertically grown on Si substrates. The room temperature PL spectra show ultra-violet (UV) and visible emissions. The annealed of ZnO nanorods in vacuum condition (3.8 × 10{sup −3} Torr) has dominant UV emission. Meanwhile, non-annealed of ZnO nanorods has dominant visible emission. It was expected that the annealed of ZnO in vacuum condition suppresses the existence of native defects in ZnO nanorods.

Effects of annealing conditions on the photoelectrochemical properties of dye-sensitized solar cells made with ZnO nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Lanlan; Li, Renjie; Fan, Ke [College of Chemistry and Molecular Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 (China); Peng, Tianyou [College of Chemistry and Molecular Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 (China); State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

2010-05-15

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated by using porous ZnO electrodes derived from home-made ZnO nanoparticles. Electrochemical impedance spectra and open-circuit photovoltage decay curves measurements were performed to investigate the photoelectrochemical characteristics of ZnO films annealed at different temperatures. The experimental results indicate that the effects of the bulk traps and the surface states within the ZnO films on the recombination processes of the photoinjected electrons in DSSCs depend on the annealing temperature. The DSSC based on the ZnO electrode annealed at 400 C exhibits an optimal energy conversion efficiency of 3.92% under the illumination of one sun simulated sunlight because the farthest decrease in the effects of both bulk traps and surface states at this film can maintain a lower charge recombination probability. This result indicates that the ZnO film electrode has promising application in the field of DSSCs, and the optimization of porous film fabrication condition is efficient for the improvement of ZnO-based DSSC's performances. (author)

Annealing Temperature Dependence of ZnO Nanostructures Grown by Facile Chemical Bath Deposition for EGFET pH Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Bazilah Rosli, Aimi; Awang, Zaiki; Sobihana Shariffudin, Shafinaz; Herman, Sukreen Hana

2018-03-01

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructures were deposited using chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique in water bath at 95 °C for 4 h. Post-deposition heat treatment in air ambient at various temperature ranging from 200-600 °C for 30 min was applied in order to enhance the electrical properties of ZnO nanostructures as the sensing membrane of extended-gate field effect transistor (EGFET) pH sensor. The as-deposited sample was prepared for comparison. The samples were characterized in terms of physical and sensing properties. FESEM images showed that scattered ZnO nanorods were formed for the as-deposited sample, and the morphology of the ZnO nanorods changed to ZnO nanoflowers when the heat treatment was applied from 200-600 °C. For sensing properties, the samples heated at 300 °C showed the higher sensitivity which was 39.9 mV/pH with the linearity of 0.9792. The sensing properties was increased with the increasing annealing treatment temperature up to 300 °C before decreased drastically.

Effect of high temperature annealing on defects and optical properties of ZnO single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, M.; Wang, D.D.; Zou, B.; Chen, Z.Q.; Kawasuso, A.; Sekiguchi, T.

2012-01-01

Hydrothermal grown ZnO single crystals were annealed in N 2 or O 2 between 900 and 1300 C. Positron lifetime measurements reveal a single lifetime in all the ZnO samples before and after annealing. The positron lifetime is about 181 ps after annealing at 900 C in either N 2 or O 2 atmosphere. However, increase of the positron lifetime is observed after further annealing the sample at higher temperatures up to 1300 C, and it has a faster increase in O 2 ambient. Temperature dependence measurements show that the positron lifetime has very slight increase with temperature for the 900 C annealed sample, while it shows notable variation for the sample annealed at 1300 C. This implied that annealing at high temperature introduces additional defects. These defects are supposed to be Zn vacancy-related defects. Cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements indicates enhancement of both UV and green emission after annealing, and the enhancement of green emission is much stronger for the samples annealed in O 2 ambient. The possible origin of green emission is tentatively discussed. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Effects of the annealing duration of the ZnO buffer layer on structural and optical properties of ZnO rods grown by a hydrothermal process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, C.M.; Lee, J.Y.; Heo, J.H.; Park, J.H.; Kim, C.R. [Department of Nano Systems Engineering, Center for Nano Manufacturing, Inje University, Obang-dong, Gimhae, Gyeongnam 621-749 (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, H., E-mail: hhryu@inje.ac.kr [Department of Nano Systems Engineering, Center for Nano Manufacturing, Inje University, Obang-dong, Gimhae, Gyeongnam 621-749 (Korea, Republic of); Chang, J.H. [Major of Nano Semiconductor, Korea Maritime University, 1 Dongsam-dong, Yeongdo-Ku, Busan 606-791 (Korea, Republic of); Son, C.S. [Department of Electronic Materials Engineering, Silla University, Gwaebeop-dong, Sasang-gu, Busan 617-736 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, W.J. [Department of Nano Engineering, Dong-Eui University, 995 Eomgwangno, Busanjin-gu, Busan 614-714 (Korea, Republic of); Tan, S.T. [Institute of Microelectronics, 11 Science Park Road, Science Park II, Singapore 117685 (Singapore); Zhao, J.L. [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Sun, X.W. [Institute of Microelectronics, 11 Science Park Road, Science Park II, Singapore 117685 (Singapore); School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore)

2009-07-30

In this study, the effects of the annealing duration of a zinc oxide (ZnO) buffer layer on structural and optical properties of ZnO rods grown by a hydrothermal process are discussed. A ZnO buffer layer was deposited on p-type Si (1 1 1) substrates by the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method. After that, ZnO rods were grown on the ZnO-buffer/Si (1 1 1) substrate by a hydrothermal process. In order to determine the optimum annealing duration of the buffer layer for the growth of ZnO rods, durations ranging from 0.5 to 30 min were tried. The morphology and crystal structure of the ZnO/ZnO-buffer/Si (1 1 1) were measured by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) measurement.

The effects of ZnO buffer layers on the properties of phosphorus doped ZnO thin films grown on sapphire by pulsed laser deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K-W; Lugo, F J; Lee, J H; Norton, D P

2012-01-01

The properties of phosphorus doped ZnO thin films grown on sapphire by pulsed laser deposition were examined, specifically focusing on the effects of undoped ZnO buffer layers. In particular, buffer layers were grown under different conditions; the transport properties of as-deposited and rapid thermal annealed ZnO:P films were then examined. As-deposited films showed n-type conductivity. After rapid thermal annealing, the film on buffer layer grown at a low temperature showed the conversion of carrier type to p-type for specific growth conditions while the films deposited on buffer layer grown at a high temperature remained n-type regardless of growth condition. The films deposited on buffer layer grown at a low temperature showed higher resistivity and more significant change of the transport properties upon rapid thermal annealing. These results suggest that more dopants are incorporated in films with higher defect density. This is consistent with high resolution x-ray diffraction results for phosphorus doped ZnO films on different buffer layers. In addition, the microstructure of phosphorus doped ZnO films is substantially affected by the buffer layer.

Effects of hydrogen annealing on the room temperature ferromagnetism and optical properties of Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tong Liuniu; Wang Yichao; He Xianmei; Han Huaibin; Xia Ailin; Hu Jinlian

2012-01-01

We explore the effects of hydrogen annealing on the room temperature ferromagnetism and optical properties of Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by the sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data show evidence that Cr has been incorporated into the wurtzite ZnO lattice as Cr 2+ ions substituting for Zn 2+ ions without any detectable secondary phase in as-synthesized Zn 0.97 Cr 0.03 O nanopowders. The room temperature magnetization measurements reveal a large enhancement of saturation magnetization M s as well as an increase of coercivity of H 2 -annealed Zn 0.97 Cr 0.03 O:H samples. It is found that the field-cooled magnetization curves as a function of temperature from 40 to 400 K can be well fitted by a combination of a standard Bloch spin-wave model and Curie–Weiss law. The values of the fitted parameters of the ferromagnetic exchange interaction constant a and the Curie constant C of H 2 -annealed Zn 0.97 Cr 0.03 O:H nanoparticles are almost doubled upon H 2 -annealing. Photoluminescence measurements show evidence that the shallow donor defect or/and defect complexes such as hydrogen occupying an oxygen vacancy H o may play an important role in the origin of H 2 -annealing induced enhancement of ferromagnetism in Cr-H codoped ZnO nanoparticles. - Graphical Abstract: The H 2 -annealing induced enhancement of room temperature ferromagnetism in Cr-doped ZnO nanoparticles is observed. It is found that the field-cooled M-T curves can be well fitted by a combination of a standard Bloch spin-wave model and Curie–Weiss law. The values of the fitted parameters of the ferromagnetic exchange interaction constant a and the Curie constant C of H 2 -annealed Zn 0.97 Cr 0.03 O:H nanoparticles are almost doubled upon H 2 -annealing. The PL data show evidence that the hydrogen related shallow donor defect or/and defect complexes may be responsible for it. Display Omitted Highlights: ► The H 2 -annealing induced a large enhancement of

Influence of Al concentration and annealing temperature on structural, optical, and electrical properties of Al co-doped ZnO thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gürbüz, Osman; Kurt, İsmail; Çalışkan, Serkan; Güner, Sadık

2015-01-01

Highlights: • RF magnetron sputtering technique seems to be very efficient method for fabrication of Al doped ZnO (AZO) films. • Long range single crystalline structure improves with annealing process. • Optical properties became much better after annealing process especially for the AZO films that include high Al concentration. • Much greater conductivity with increasing Al concentration and annealing process. • AZO films have potential applicability in spintronic devices. - Abstract: The pure ZnO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films (thickness: 200 nm) were prepared on both side polished silica (SiO 2 ) substrates via RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature by using 2.5 inches high-purity ZnO (99.9%) and Al (99.9%) targets. The samples were annealed at 300 °C, 400 °C and 500 °C for 45 min in N 2 ambient in quartz annealing furnace system, respectively. We investigated the effects of various Al concentrations and annealing treatment on the structural, electrical, and optical properties of films. The preferred crystallization was observed along c axis (single (0 0 2) diffraction peak) from substrate surface assigning the single crystalline Würtzite lattice for pure ZnO and AZO thin films. Although increasing Al concentration decreases the order of crystallization of as-grown films, annealing process increases the long range crystal order. The crystallite sizes vary between minimum 12.98 nm and maximum 20.79 nm for as-grown and annealed samples. The crystallite sizes decrease with increasing Al concentration but increase with increasing annealing temperature as general trend. The grain size and porosity of films change with annealing treatment. The smaller grains coalesce together to form larger grains for many films. However, a reverse behavior is seen for Al 2.23 ZnO and Al 12.30 ZnO samples. That is, Al concentration plays critical role as well as temperature on grain size. Low percent optical transmittance (T%) is observed due to higher Al

Effects of Annealing Temperature on Properties of Ti-Ga-Doped ZnO Films Deposited on Flexible Substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tao-Hsing; Chen, Ting-You

2015-11-03

An investigation is performed into the optical, electrical, and microstructural properties of Ti-Ga-doped ZnO films deposited on polyimide (PI) flexible substrates and then annealed at temperatures of 300 °C, 400 °C, and 450 °C, respectively. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results show that all of the films have a strong (002) Ga doped ZnO (GZO) preferential orientation. As the annealing temperature is increased to 400 °C, the optical transmittance increases and the electrical resistivity decreases. However, as the temperature is further increased to 450 °C, the transmittance reduces and the resistivity increases due to a carbonization of the PI substrate. Finally, the crystallinity of the ZnO film improves with an increasing annealing temperature only up to 400 °C and is accompanied by a smaller crystallite size and a lower surface roughness.

Electrical characteristics and density of states of thin-film transistors based on sol-gel derived ZnO channel layers with different annealing temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, S.; Mirkhani, V.; Yapabandara, K.; Cheng, R.; Hernandez, G.; Khanal, M. P.; Sultan, M. S.; Uprety, S.; Shen, L.; Zou, S.; Xu, P.; Ellis, C. D.; Sellers, J. A.; Hamilton, M. C.; Niu, G.; Sk, M. H.; Park, M.

2018-04-01

We report on the fabrication and electrical characterization of bottom gate thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on a sol-gel derived ZnO channel layer. The effect of annealing of ZnO active channel layers on the electrical characteristics of the ZnO TFTs was systematically investigated. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate that the crystal quality of the ZnO improves with increasing annealing temperature. Both the device turn-on voltage (Von) and threshold voltage (VT) shift to a positive voltage with increasing annealing temperature. As the annealing temperature is increased, both the subthreshold slope and the interfacial defect density (Dit) decrease. The field effect mobility (μFET) increases with annealing temperature, peaking at 800 °C and decreases upon further temperature increase. An improvement in transfer and output characteristics was observed with increasing annealing temperature. However, when the annealing temperature reaches 900 °C, the TFTs demonstrate a large degradation in both transfer and output characteristics, which is possibly produced by non-continuous coverage of the film. By using the temperature-dependent field effect measurements, the localized sub-gap density of states (DOSs) for ZnO TFTs with different annealing temperatures were determined. The DOSs for the subthreshold regime decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 600 °C to 800 °C and no substantial change was observed with further temperature increase to 900 °C.

Influence of annealing temperature on the structural, optical and mechanical properties of ALD-derived ZnO thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yen, C.-Y.; Jian, S.-R.; Chen, G.-J.; Lin, C.-M.; Lee, H.-Y.; Ke, W.-C.; Liao, Y.-Y.; Yang, P.-F.; Wang, C.-T.; Lai, Y.-S.; Jang, Jason S.-C.; Juang, J.-Y.

2011-01-01

ZnO thin films grown on Si(1 1 1) substrates by using atomic layer deposition (ALD) were annealed at the temperatures ranging from 300 to 500 deg. C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the annealed ZnO thin films are highly (0 0 2)-oriented, indicating a well ordered microstructure. The film surface examined by the atomic force microscopy (AFM), however, indicated that the roughness increases with increasing annealing temperature. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum showed that the intensity of UV emission was strongest for films annealed at 500 deg. C. The mechanical properties of the resultant ZnO thin films investigated by nanoindentation reveal that the hardness decreases from 9.2 GPa to 7.2 GPa for films annealed at 300 deg. C and 500 deg. C, respectively. On the other hand, the Young's modulus for the former is 168.6 GPa as compared to a value of 139.5 GPa for the latter. Moreover, the relationship between the hardness and film grain size appear to follow closely with the Hall-Petch equation.

Effect of the post-annealing temperature on the thermal-decomposed NiOx hole contact layer for perovskite solar cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuxiao Guo

2018-02-01

Full Text Available A hysteresis-less inverted perovskite solar cell (PSC with power conversion efficiency (PCE of 13.57% was successfully achieved based on the thermal-decomposed NiOx hole contact layer, possessing better electron blocking and hole extraction properties for its suitable work function and high-conduction band edge position. Herein, the transparent and high-crystalline NiOx film is prepared by thermal-decomposing of the solution-derived Ni(OH2 film in our study, which is then employed as hole transport layer (HTL of the organic–inorganic hybrid PSCs. Reasonably, the post-annealing treatment, especially for the annealing temperature, could greatly affect the Ni(OH2 decomposition process and the quality of decomposed NiOx nanoparticles. The vital NiOx HTLs with discrepant morphology, crystallinity and transmission certainly lead to a wide range of device performance. As a result, an annealing process of 400∘C/2h significantly promotes the photovoltaic properties of the NiOx layer and the further device performance.

Damage annealing in low temperature Fe/Mn implanted ZnO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunnlaugsson, H. P.; Bharuth-Ram, K.; Johnston, K.; Langouche, G.; Mantovan, R.; Mølholt, T. E.; Naidoo, D.; Ólafsson, O.; Weyer, G.

2015-01-01

57 Fe Emission Mössbauer spectra obtained after low fluence (<10 12 cm −2 ) implantation of 57 Mn (T 1/2 = 1.5 min.) into ZnO single crystal held at temperatures below room temperature (RT) are presented. The spectra can be analysed in terms of four components due to Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ on Zn sites, interstitial Fe and Fe in damage regions (Fe D ). The Fe D component is found to be indistinguishable from similar component observed in emission Mössbauer spectra of higher fluence (∼10 15 cm −2 ) 57 Fe/ 57 Co implanted ZnO and 57 Fe implanted ZnO, demonstrating that the nature of the damage regions in the two types of experiments is similar. The defect component observed in the low temperature regime was found to anneal below RT

Post-deposition thermal annealing studies of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon deposited at 40 deg. C

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bronsveld, P.C.P.; Wagt, H.J. van der; Rath, J.K.; Schropp, R.E.I.; Beyer, W.

2007-01-01

Post-deposition thermal annealing studies, including gas effusion measurements, measurements of infrared absorption versus annealing state, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (X-TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), are used for structural characterization of hydrogenated amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films, prepared by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) at low substrate temperature (T S ). Such films are of interest for application in thin semiconductor devices deposited on cheap plastics. For T S ∼ 40 deg. C, H-evolution shows rather complicated spectra for (near-) microcrystalline material, with hydrogen effusion maxima seen at ∼ 200-250 deg. C, 380 deg. C and ∼ 450-500 deg. C, while for the amorphous material typical spectra for good-quality dense material are found. Effusion experiments of implanted He demonstrate for the microcrystalline material the presence of a rather open (void-rich) structure. A similar tendency can be concluded from Ne effusion experiments. Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of stepwise annealed samples show Si-H bond rupture already at annealing temperatures of 150 deg. C. Combined AFM/X-TEM studies reveal a columnar microstructure for all of these (near-) microcrystalline materials, of which the open structure is the most probable explanation of the shift of the H-effusion maximum in (near-) microcrystalline material to lower temperature

Annealing effects on electrical and optical properties of ZnO thin-film samples deposited by radio frequency-magnetron sputtering on GaAs (001) substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, H. F.; Chua, S. J.; Hu, G. X.; Gong, H.; Xiang, N.

2007-01-01

The effects of thermal annealing on Hall-effect measurement and photoluminescence (PL) from undoped n-type ZnO/GaAs thin-film samples have been studied. The evolutions of carrier concentration, electrical resistivity, and PL spectrum at various annealing conditions reveal that the dominant mechanism that affects the electrical and PL properties is dependent on the amount of thermal energy and the ambient pressure applied during the annealing process. At low annealing temperatures, annihilation of native defects is dominant in reducing the carrier concentration and weakening the low-energy tail of the main PL peak, while the GaAs substrate plays only a minor role in carrier compensations. For the higher temperatures, diffusion of Ga atoms from the GaAs substrate into ZnO film leads to a more n-type conduction of the sample. As a result, the PL exhibits a high-energy tail due to the high-level doping

Annealing temperature and environment effects on ZnO nanocrystals embedded in SiO2: a photoluminescence and TEM study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pita, Kantisara; Baudin, Pierre; Vu, Quang Vinh; Aad, Roy; Couteau, Christophe; Lérondel, Gilles

2013-12-06

We report on efficient ZnO nanocrystal (ZnO-NC) emission in the near-UV region. We show that luminescence from ZnO nanocrystals embedded in a SiO2 matrix can vary significantly as a function of the annealing temperature from 450°C to 700°C. We manage to correlate the emission of the ZnO nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 thin films with transmission electron microscopy images in order to optimize the fabrication process. Emission can be explained using two main contributions, near-band-edge emission (UV range) and defect-related emissions (visible). Both contributions over 500°C are found to be size dependent in intensity due to a decrease of the absorption cross section. For the smallest-size nanocrystals, UV emission can only be accounted for using a blueshifted UV contribution as compared to the ZnO band gap. In order to further optimize the emission properties, we have studied different annealing atmospheres under oxygen and under argon gas. We conclude that a softer annealing temperature at 450°C but with longer annealing time under oxygen is the most preferable scenario in order to improve near-UV emission of the ZnO nanocrystals embedded in an SiO2 matrix.

Neutron, gamma ray and post-irradiation thermal annealing effects on power semiconductor switches

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarze, G. E.; Frasca, A. J.

1991-01-01

The effects of neutron and gamma rays on the electrical and switching characteristics of power semiconductor switches must be known and understood by the designer of the power conditioning, control, and transmission subsystem of space nuclear power systems. The SP-100 radiation requirements at 25 m from the nuclear source are a neutron fluence of 10(exp 13) n/sq cm and a gamma dose of 0.5 Mrads. Experimental data showing the effects of neutrons and gamma rays on the performance characteristics of power-type NPN Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs), Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs), and Static Induction Transistors (SITs) are presented. These three types of devices were tested at radiation levels which met or exceeded the SP-100 requirements. For the SP-100 radiation requirements, the BJTs were found to be most sensitive to neutrons, the MOSFETs were most sensitive to gamma rays, and the SITs were only slightly sensitive to neutrons. Post-irradiation thermal anneals at 300 K and up to 425 K were done on these devices and the effectiveness of these anneals are also discussed.

Effects of deposition temperatures and annealing conditions on the microstructural, electrical and optical properties of polycrystalline Al-doped ZnO thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oh, Joon-Ho [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kyoung-Kook [Department of Nano-Optical Engineering, Korea Polytechnic University, Gyeonggi 429-793 (Korea, Republic of); Seong, Tae-Yeon, E-mail: tyseong@korea.ac.kr [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of)

2011-01-15

Al-doped ZnO (AZO, ZnO:Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} = 98:2 wt%) films are deposited on different substrates by an RF magnetron sputtering and subsequently annealed at three different conditions to investigate the microstructural, electrical, and optical properties. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope results show that all the samples are polycrystalline and the samples rapid-thermal-annealed at 900 deg. C in an N{sub 2} ambient contain larger grains compared to the furnace-annealed samples. It is shown that the sample deposited at room temperature on the sapphire gives a resistivity of 5.57 x 10{sup -4} {Omega} cm when furnace-annealed at 500 deg. C in a mixture of N{sub 2}:H{sub 2} (9:1). It is also shown that the Hall mobility vs. carrier concentration ({mu}-n) relation is divided into two groups, depending on the annealing conditions, namely, either rapid-thermal annealing or furnace annealing. The relations are described in terms of either grain boundary scattering or ionized impurity scattering mechanism. In addition, the samples produce fairly high transmittance of 91-96.99% across the wavelength region of 400-1100 nm. The optical bandgaps of the samples increase with increasing carrier concentration.

The influence of vacuum and annealing on the visible luminescence in ZnO nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

P R, Chithira; Theresa John, Teny, E-mail: teny@goa.bits-pilani.ac.in

2017-05-15

The ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by a simple solution based chemical bath deposition method were characterized using different experimental techniques. Photoluminescence (PL) studies were performed in ambient as well as in vacuum conditions. The emission spectra exhibit two bands corresponding to UV emission at 380 nm and a wide visible luminescence centered at 571 nm due to surface defects in ambient conditions. Under vacuum condition, the spectra show a reduction in the intensity of the wide visible luminescence and an enhancement in the UV emission. These nanoparticles were annealed at high temperatures in air. The wide visible luminescence remains at the same intensity in both ambient and in vacuum condition for the annealed samples indicating that some of the surface adsorbed defects are removed due to annealing. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) results reveal the presence of [OH{sup -}] related groups on the surface of the samples. An analysis of the O1s peak in ZnO using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurement confirms the presence of intrinsic defects such as oxygen related vacancies and adsorbed oxygen species in the sample. Our investigation shows that the green emission observed in ZnO samples is primarily due to oxygen vacancies.

Electrical properties of solution-deposited ZnO thin-film transistors by low-temperature annealing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Chul; Oh, Ji Young; Koo, Jae Bon; Park, Chan Woo; Jung, Soon-Won; Na, Bock Soon; Chu, Hye Yong

2014-11-01

Flexible oxide thin-film transistors (Oxide-TFTs) have emerged as next generation transistors because of their applicability in electronic device. In particular, the major driving force behind solution-processed zinc oxide film research is its prospective use in printing for electronics. A low-temperature process to improve the performance of solution-processed n-channel ZnO thin-film transistors (TFTs) fabricated via spin-coating and inkjet-printing is introduced here. ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using a facile sonochemical method that was slightly modified based on a previously reported method. The influence of the annealing atmosphere on both nanoparticle-based TFT devices fabricated via spin-coating and those created via inkjet printing was investigated. For the inkjet-printed TFTs, the characteristics were improved significantly at an annealing temperature of 150 degrees C. The field effect mobility, V(th), and the on/off current ratios were 3.03 cm2/Vs, -3.3 V, and 10(4), respectively. These results indicate that annealing at 150 degrees C 1 h is sufficient to obtain a mobility (μ(sat)) as high as 3.03 cm2/Vs. Also, the active layer of the solution-based ZnO nanoparticles allowed the production of high-performance TFTs for low-cost, large-area electronics and flexible devices.

The influence of vacuum and annealing on the visible luminescence in ZnO nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

P R, Chithira; Theresa John, Teny

2017-01-01

The ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by a simple solution based chemical bath deposition method were characterized using different experimental techniques. Photoluminescence (PL) studies were performed in ambient as well as in vacuum conditions. The emission spectra exhibit two bands corresponding to UV emission at 380 nm and a wide visible luminescence centered at 571 nm due to surface defects in ambient conditions. Under vacuum condition, the spectra show a reduction in the intensity of the wide visible luminescence and an enhancement in the UV emission. These nanoparticles were annealed at high temperatures in air. The wide visible luminescence remains at the same intensity in both ambient and in vacuum condition for the annealed samples indicating that some of the surface adsorbed defects are removed due to annealing. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) results reveal the presence of [OH - ] related groups on the surface of the samples. An analysis of the O1s peak in ZnO using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurement confirms the presence of intrinsic defects such as oxygen related vacancies and adsorbed oxygen species in the sample. Our investigation shows that the green emission observed in ZnO samples is primarily due to oxygen vacancies.

Damage annealing in low temperature Fe/Mn implanted ZnO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gunnlaugsson, H. P. [University of Aarhus, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Denmark); Bharuth-Ram, K., E-mail: kbr@tlabs.ac.za [Durban University of Technology, Physics Department (South Africa); Johnston, K. [PH Department, ISOLDE/CERN (Switzerland); Langouche, G. [University of Leuven, Instituut voor Kern-en Stralings fysika (Belgium); Mantovan, R. [Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR (Italy); Mølholt, T. E. [University of Iceland, Science Institute (Iceland); Naidoo, D. [University of the Witwatersrand, School of Physics (South Africa); Ólafsson, O. [University of Iceland, Science Institute (Iceland); Weyer, G. [University of Aarhus, Department of Physics and Astronomy (Denmark)

2015-04-15

{sup 57}Fe Emission Mössbauer spectra obtained after low fluence (<10{sup 12} cm {sup −2}) implantation of {sup 57}Mn (T{sub 1/2}= 1.5 min.) into ZnO single crystal held at temperatures below room temperature (RT) are presented. The spectra can be analysed in terms of four components due to Fe {sup 2+} and Fe {sup 3+} on Zn sites, interstitial Fe and Fe in damage regions (Fe {sub D}). The Fe {sub D} component is found to be indistinguishable from similar component observed in emission Mössbauer spectra of higher fluence (∼10{sup 15} cm {sup −2}){sup 57}Fe/ {sup 57}Co implanted ZnO and {sup 57}Fe implanted ZnO, demonstrating that the nature of the damage regions in the two types of experiments is similar. The defect component observed in the low temperature regime was found to anneal below RT.

Neutron, gamma ray and post-irradiation thermal annealing effects on power semiconductor switches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwarze, G.E.; Frasca, A.J.

1994-01-01

The effects of neutrons and gamma rays on the electrical and switching characteristics of power semiconductor switches must be known and understood by the designer of the power conditioning, control, and transmission subsystem of space nuclear power systems. The SP-100 radiation requirements at 25 m from the nuclear source are a neutron fluence of 10 13 n/cm 2 and a gamma dose of 0.5 Mrads. Experimental data showing the effects of neutrons and gamma rays on the performance characteristics of power-type NPN Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs), Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs), and Static Induction Transistors (SITs) are given in this paper. These three types of devices were tested at radiation levels which met or exceeded the SP-100 requirements. For the SP-100 radiation requirements, the BJTs were found to be most sensitive to neutrons, the MOSFETs were most sensitive to gamma rays, and the SITs were only slightly sensitive to neutrons. Post-irradiation thermal anneals at 300 K and up to 425 K were done on these devices and the effectiveness of these anneals are also discussed

Microwave-assisted low temperature fabrication of ZnO thin film electrodes for solar energy harvesting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nirmal Peiris, T.A.; Sagu, Jagdeep S.; Hazim Yusof, Y.; Upul Wijayantha, K.G., E-mail: U.Wijayantha@lboro.ac.uk

2015-09-01

Metallic Zn thin films were electrodeposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates and oxidized under air by conventional radiant and microwave post-annealing methods to obtain ZnO thin film electrodes. The temperature of each post-annealing method was varied systematically and the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of electrodes was evaluated. The best photocurrent density achieved by the conventional radiant annealing method at 425 °C for 15 min was 93 μA cm{sup −2} at 1.23 V vs. NHE and the electrode showed an incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 28.2%. X-ray diffractogram of this electrode showed that the oxidation of Zn to ZnO was not completed during the radiant annealing process as evident by the presence of metallic Zn in the electrode. For the electrode oxidized from Zn to ZnO under microwave irradiation, a photocurrent of 130 μA cm{sup −2} at 1.23 V vs. NHE and IPCE of 35.6% was observed after annealing for just 3 min, during which the temperature reached 250 °C. The photocurrent was 40% higher for the microwave annealed sample; this increase was attributed to higher surface area by preserving the nanostructure, confirmed by SEM surface topographical analysis, and better conversion yields to crystalline ZnO. Overall, it was demonstrated that oxidation of Zn to ZnO can be accomplished by microwave annealing five times faster than that of conventional annealing, thus resulting in a ~ 75% power saving. This study shows that microwave processing of materials offers significant economic and performance advantages for industrial scale up. - Highlights: • Conversion of Zn to ZnO by microwave and radiant annealing was conducted. • Microwave conversion was 5 times faster compared to radiant annealing. • Photoelectrochemical performance of microwave annealed ZnO was 40% higher. • Microwave annealing results in a 75% energy saving.

Effect of Annealing on the Structural and Optical Properties of Nano Fiber ZnO Films Deposited by Spray Pyrolysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. R. Islam

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Nano fiber ZnO films have been deposited on to glass substrate at 200 °C by a simple spray pyrolysis technique under atmospheric pressure. The effect of annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of the as grown films has been studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM attached with an EDX, powder X-ray diffraction and UV visible spectroscopy. The atomic weight % of Zinc and Oxygen were found to be 49.22 % and 49.62 % respectively. The SEM micrographs show nano fiber structure and uniform deposition on the substrate. Average grain size of ZnO thin film was found in the range of 21 to 27 nm. The lattice constant a and c of ZnO thin film are determined at different annealing temperatures and values are found slightly larger than those of JCPDS data and lower for the sample annealed at 600 °C. The lattice parameters a and c decrease with increasing temperature. It reveals that the samples are poly-crystalline and having with low densities. Band gap energy of ZnO was found in the range of 3.33 to 3.17 eV and decreases with the increase of the annealing temperature.

Evolution of Structural and Optical Properties of ZnO Nanorods Grown on Vacuum Annealed Seed Crystallites

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Waqar Khan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, the ambient condition for the as-coated seed layer (SL annealing at 350 °C is varied from air or nitrogen to vacuum to examine the evolution of structural and optical properties of ZnO nanorods (NRs. The NR crystals of high surface density (~240 rods/μm2 and aspect ratio (~20.3 show greatly enhanced (002 degree of orientation and crystalline quality, when grown on the SLs annealed in vacuum, compared to those annealed in air or nitrogen ambient. This is due to the vacuum-annealed SL crystals of a highly preferred orientation toward (002 and large grain sizes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy also reveals that the highest O/Zn atomic ratio of 0.89 is obtained in the case of vacuum-annealed SL crystals, which is due to the effective desorption of hydroxyl groups and other contaminants adsorbed on the surface formed during aqueous solution-based growth process. Near band edge emission (ultra violet range of 360–400 nm of the vacuum-annealed SLs is also enhanced by 44% and 33% as compared to those annealed in air and nitrogen ambient, respectively, in photoluminescence with significant suppression of visible light emission associated with deep level transition. Due to this improvement of SL optical crystalline quality, the NR crystals grown on the vacuum-annealed SLs produce ~3 times higher ultra violet emission intensity than the other samples. In summary, it is shown that the ZnO NRs preferentially grow along the wurtzite c-axis direction, thereby producing the high crystalline quality of nanostructures when they grow on the vacuum-annealed SLs of high crystalline quality with minimized impurities and excellent preferred orientation. The ZnO nanostructures of high crystalline quality achieved in this study can be utilized for a wide range of potential device applications such as laser diodes, light-emitting diodes, piezoelectric transducers and generators, gas sensors, and ultraviolet detectors.

Study of the thermal conductivity of ZnO nanowires/PMMA composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Igamberdiev, Kh. T.; Yuldashev, Sh. U.; Cho, H. D.; Kang, T. W.; Rakhimova, Sh. M.; Akhmedov, T. Kh.

2012-01-01

From thermal conductivity measurements on ZnO nanowires (NWs)/poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA composites, the thermal conductivities of the ZnO nanowires were determined. The thermal conductivity of a ZnO NW decreases considerably with decreasing nanowire diameter, and for a ZnO nanowire with a diameter of 250 nm, the thermal conductivity at room temperature is approximately two times lower than that of bulk ZnO at the same temperature. The results of this study show that the thermal conductivity of a ZnO NW is mainly determined by increased phonon-surface boundary scattering. These results could be useful for the design of ZnO-nanowire-based devices.

Void Structures in Regularly Patterned ZnO Nanorods Grown with the Hydrothermal Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Feng Yao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The void structures and related optical properties after thermal annealing with ambient oxygen in regularly patterned ZnO nanrorod (NR arrays grown with the hydrothermal method are studied. In increasing the thermal annealing temperature, void distribution starts from the bottom and extends to the top of an NR in the vertical (c-axis growth region. When the annealing temperature is higher than 400°C, void distribution spreads into the lateral (m-axis growth region. Photoluminescence measurement shows that the ZnO band-edge emission, in contrast to defect emission in the yellow-red range, is the strongest under the n-ZnO NR process conditions of 0.003 M in Ga-doping concentration and 300°C in thermal annealing temperature with ambient oxygen. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy data indicate that the concentration of hydroxyl groups in the vertical growth region is significantly higher than that in the lateral growth region. During thermal annealing, hydroxyl groups are desorbed from the NR leaving anion vacancies for reacting with cation vacancies to form voids.

Electrical and structural characterization of as-grown and annealed hydrothermal bulk ZnO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kassier, G. H.; Hayes, M.; Auret, F. D.; Mamor, M.; Bouziane, K.

2007-01-01

Hall effect measurements in the range 20-370 K on as-grown and annealed hydrothermal bulk ZnO have been performed. The bulk conductivity in the highly resistive as-grown sample was found to decrease and then increase after annealing at 550 deg. C and 930 deg. C, respectively. The conduction in the as-grown material is attributed to a deep donor which is replaced by a much shallower donor after annealing at 930 deg. C. Annealing at both temperatures also produced strong surface conduction effects. Nondegenerate low-mobility surface conduction dominated the electrical properties of the sample annealed at 550 deg. C, while a degenerate surface channel was formed after annealing at 930 deg. C. In addition, Rutherford backscattering and channeling spectrometry (RBS/C) was used to assess the effect of annealing on the crystalline quality of the samples. RBS/C measurements reveal that annealing at 930 deg. C leads to significant improvement of the crystalline quality of the material, while annealing at 550 deg. C results in the segregation of a nonchanneling impurity at the surface

Photocatalytic Activity and Stability of Porous Polycrystalline ZnO Thin-Films Grown via a Two-Step Thermal Oxidation Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James C. Moore

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The photocatalytic activity and stability of thin, polycrystalline ZnO films was studied. The oxidative degradation of organic compounds at the ZnO surface results from the ultraviolet (UV photo-induced creation of highly oxidizing holes and reducing electrons, which combine with surface water to form hydroxyl radicals and reactive oxygen species. Therefore, the efficiency of the electron-hole pair formation is of critical importance for self-cleaning and antimicrobial applications with these metal-oxide catalyst systems. In this study, ZnO thin films were fabricated on sapphire substrates via direct current sputter deposition of Zn-metal films followed by thermal oxidation at several annealing temperatures (300–1200 °C. Due to the ease with which they can be recovered, stabilized films are preferable to nanoparticles or colloidal suspensions for some applications. Characterization of the resulting ZnO thin films through atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence indicated that decreasing annealing temperature leads to smaller crystal grain size and increased UV excitonic emission. The photocatalytic activities were characterized by UV-visible absorption measurements of Rhodamine B dye concentrations. The films oxidized at lower annealing temperatures exhibited higher photocatalytic activity, which is attributed to the increased optical quality. Photocatalytic activity was also found to depend on film thickness, with lower activity observed for thinner films. Decreasing activity with use was found to be the result of decreasing film thickness due to surface etching.

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence analysis of ZnO nanowire array annealed in air

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yanan; Gu, Xiuquan; Zhao, Yulong; Wang, Linmeng; Qiang, Yinghuai

2018-05-01

ZnO nanowire arrays (NWAs) were prepared on transparent conducting fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates through a facile hydrothermal method, followed by a 500 °C annealing to improve their crystalline qualities and photoelectrochemical (PEC) activities. It was found that the annealing didn't change the morphology, but resulted in a significant reduction of the donor concentration. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) was carried out for a comprehensive analysis of the effect from annealing. Noteworthy, four dominant peaks were identified from the 10 K spectrum of a 500 °C annealed sample, and they were assigned to FX, D0X, (e, D0) and (e, D0) -1LO, respectively. Of them, the FX emission was only existed below 130 K, while the room-temperature (RT) PL spectrum was dominated by the D0X emission.

Post-annealing effects on pulsed laser deposition-grown GaN thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Yu-Wen; Wu, Hao-Yu; Lin, Yu-Zhong; Lee, Cheng-Che; Lin, Ching-Fuh

2015-01-01

In this work, the post-annealing effects on gallium nitride (GaN) thin films grown from pulsed laser deposition (PLD) are investigated. The as-deposited GaN thin films grown from PLD are annealed at different temperatures in nitrogen ambient. Significant changes of the GaN crystal properties are observed. Raman spectroscopy is used to observe the crystallinity, the change of residual stress, and the thermal decomposition of the annealed GaN thin films. X-ray diffraction is also applied to identify the crystal phase of GaN thin films, and the surface morphology of GaN thin films annealed at different temperatures is observed by scanning electron microscopy. Through the above analyses, the GaN thin films grown by PLD undergo three stages: phase transition, stress alteration, and thermal decomposition. At a low annealing temperature, the rock salt GaN in GaN films is transformed into wurtzite. The rock salt GaN diminishes with increasing annealing temperature. At a medium annealing temperature, the residual stress of the film changes significantly from compressive strain to tensile strain. As the annealing temperature further increases, the GaN undergoes thermal decomposition and the surface becomes granular. By investigating the annealing temperature effects and controlling the optimized annealing temperature of the GaN thin films, we are able to obtain highly crystalline and strain-free GaN thin films by PLD. - Highlights: • The GaN thin film is grown on sapphire by pulsed laser deposition. • The GaN film undergoes three stages with increasing annealing temperature. • In the first stage, the film transfers from rock salt to wurtzite phase. • In the second stage, the stress in film changes from compressive to tensile. • In the final stage, the film thermally decomposes and becomes granular

Evaluation of vacancy-type defects in ZnO by the positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, R.; Togimitsu, T.; Sato, W.

2015-01-01

Thermal behavior of vacancy-type defects in polycrystalline ZnO was studied by the positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. Two-component analysis of the PALS spectra revealed that the defect-related longer-lifetime component decreases as the annealing temperature is raised, and almost disappears within 15 min when annealed at 1,273 K. We also found that the intensity of this component decreases with increasing density of the annealed ZnO pellets; however, little density dependence was seen in its lifetime. These observations evidently suggest that this component having long lifetime of about 400 ps corresponds to the positrons trapped in grain boundaries in the polycrystalline ZnO. (author)

Two different mechanisms on UV emission enhancement in Ag-doped ZnO thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Linhua; Zheng, Gaige; Zhao, Lilong; Pei, Shixin

2015-01-01

Ag-doped ZnO thin films were prepared by a sol–gel method. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis and photoluminescence spectra. The results show that the Ag in the ZnO thin films annealed at 500 °C for 1 h substitutes for Zn and exists in the form of Ag + ion (Ag Zn ) while the Ag in the ZnO thin films without a post-annealing mainly exists in the form of simple substance (Ag 0 ). The incorporation of Ag indeed can improve the ultraviolet emission of ZnO thin films and suppress the visible emissions at the same time. However, the mechanisms on the ultraviolet emission enhancement in the annealed and unannealed Ag-doped ZnO thin films are very different. As for the post-annealed Ag-doped ZnO thin films, the UV emission enhancement maybe mainly results from more electron–hole pairs (excitons) due to Ag-doping while for the unannealed Ag-doped ZnO thin films; the UV emission enhancement is attributed to the resonant coupling between exciton emission in ZnO and localized surface plasmon in Ag nanoparticles. - Highlights: • Ag-doped ZnO thin films have been prepared by the sol–gel method. • Ag-doping can enhance ultraviolet emission of ZnO thin films and depress the visible emissions at the same time. • There are two different mechanisms on UV emission enhancement in Ag-doped ZnO thin films. • The UV emission enhancement from the resonant coupling between excitonic emissions and localized surface plasmon in Ag nanoparticle is very attractive

Anomalous diffusion of Ga and As from semi-insulating GaAs substrate into MOCVD grown ZnO films as a function of annealing temperature and its effect on charge compensation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pranab Biswas

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The diffusion behavior of arsenic (As and gallium (Ga atoms from semi-insulating GaAs (SI-GaAs into ZnO films upon post-growth annealing vis-à-vis the resulting charge compensation was investigated with the help of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The films, annealed at 600 ºC and 700 ºC showed p-type conductivity with a hole concentration of 1.1 × 1018 cm−3 and 2.8 × 1019 cm−3 respectively, whereas those annealed at 800 ºC showed n-type conductivity with a carrier concentration of 6.5 × 1016 cm−3. It is observed that at lower temperatures, large fraction of As atoms diffused from the SI-GaAs substrates into ZnO and formed acceptor related complex, (AsZn–2VZn, by substituting Zn atoms (AsZn and thereby creating two zinc vacancies (VZn. Thus as-grown ZnO which was supposed to be n-type due to nonstoichiometric nature showed p-type behavior. On further increasing the annealing temperature to 800 ºC, Ga atoms diffused more than As atoms and substitute Zn atoms thereby forming shallow donor complex, GaZn. Electrons from donor levels then compensate the p-type carriers and the material reverts back to n-type. Thus the conversion of carrier type took place due to charge compensation between the donors and acceptors in ZnO and this compensation is the possible origin of anomalous conduction in wide band gap materials.

Zinc Vacancy-Induced Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism in Undoped ZnO Thin Films

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Hongtao Ren

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Undoped ZnO thin films are prepared by polymer-assisted deposition (PAD and treated by postannealing at different temperatures in oxygen or forming gases (95%  Ar+5% H2. All the samples exhibit ferromagnetism at room temperature (RT. SQUID and positron annihilation measurements show that post-annealing treatments greatly enhance the magnetizations in undoped ZnO samples, and there is a positive correlation between the magnetization and zinc vacancies in the ZnO thin films. XPS measurements indicate that annealing also induces oxygen vacancies that have no direct relationship with ferromagnetism. Further analysis of the results suggests that the ferromagnetism in undoped ZnO is induced by Zn vacancies.

Effects of annealing atmosphere on ZnO{sup -} ions-implanted silica glass: synthesis of Zn and ZnO nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuiri, P K [Department of Physics, Achhruram Memorial College, P.O. Jhalda, Purulia 723202 (India); Mahapatra, D P, E-mail: kuiripk@gmail.co [Institute of Physics, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar 751005 (India)

2010-10-06

The effects of annealing atmosphere (argon or oxygen) on Zn nanoparticles (NPs), embedded in silica glass, synthesized by implanting 50 keV ZnO{sup -} ions to a fluence of 7 x 10{sup 16} cm{sup -2} have been studied. Optical absorption (OA) measurements carried out on the as-implanted samples have been found to result in a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band centred at {approx}255 nm due to the presence of Zn NPs in the silica glass. An increase in SPR peak intensity with a corresponding reduction of its full width at half maximum have been seen in the OA spectrum taken from the as-implanted sample following annealing in Ar ambient at 700 {sup 0}C for 2 h, indicating a growth in the size of Zn NPs. However, annealing the as-implanted sample in O{sub 2} gas at 700 {sup 0}C for 2 h has been found to result in a steep absorption edge at {approx}364 nm in the OA spectrum which indicates the formation of ZnO NPs. These ZnO NPs show quantum confinement effects due to their small sizes. No observable photoluminescence (PL) emission has been seen from Zn NPs, whereas an excitonic band at {approx}368 nm and three deep-level PL emission bands at {approx}453 nm, {approx}521 nm and {approx}650 nm, respectively, have been seen from ZnO NPs. It was argued that the deep-level PLs were due to the singly ionized oxygen vacancies located at ZnO NPs' surfaces. These observations suggest that ZnO NPs were formed due to oxidation of Zn NPs via interaction with the indiffusing O{sub 2} molecules during annealing in O{sub 2} ambient, but not with the interaction of the implanted oxygen in silica glass.

Effect of annealing temperature on surface morphology and work function of ZnO nanorod arrays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Hainan [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China); Xue, Mingshan, E-mail: xuems04@mails.ucas.ac.cn [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China); Ou, Junfei [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China); Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solar Cell Materials and Technology, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164 (China); Wang, Fajun [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China); Li, Wen, E-mail: wenl@ualberta.ca [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China)

2013-07-15

Highlights: •The 600°C and 450°C isothermal sections of the Zn-Fe-B system are determined. •The solubility of Zn in Fe{sub 2}B and FeB at 600°C is 1.8 at.% and 2.5 at.%, respectively. •The solubility of Zn in Fe{sub 2}B and FeB at 450°C is 1.7 at.% and 2.1 at.%, respectively. •All Fe-Zn compounds can be in equilibrium with Fe{sub 2}B at 450°C. •Both FeB and Fe{sub 2}B are in equilibrium with the liquid phase at 600°C. -- Abstract: A simple and effective method of fabricating nanomaterials and the understanding of their electronic structures are significant for designing novel nanodevices. In this study, ZnO nanorod arrays on ITO substrate were synthesized by electrochemical deposition, and the effect of annealing temperature on surface morphology and especially work function was investigated using various techniques. The results indicated that the formation of hexagonal ZnO nanorod arrays with (0 0 0 1) orientation was strongly associated with the annealing temperature. The work function of well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays is 4.84 eV, which shows an obvious dependence on the arrangement of ZnO nanorod arrays. These changes in work function of ZnO nanorod arrays (e.g., used as the photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cells) are important to understand the electron transport of related nanodevices.

Annealing effect on the photoluminescence properties of ZnO nanorod array prepared by a PLD-assistant wet chemical method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Sufeng; Lian Jianshe; Wu Hua

2010-01-01

Well-aligned ZnO nanorod arrays were synthesized by a wet chemical method on the glass substrate with ZnO thin film as seed layer prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The effect of annealing temperature on the luminescence characteristics was investigated. As the annealing temperature increased, the photoluminescence properties show a general enhancing tendency. The nanorod array with high ultraviolet emission and negligible visible light emission (designated by the photoluminescence intensity ratio of ultraviolet to visible emission of 66.4) is obtained by annealing the sample at 700 deg. C for 1 h. Based on the results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectra, the mechanisms of visible emission were discussed. - Research Highlights: → ZnO nanorod array with good crystallography, low defects concentration and good optical property was obtained after annealed at 700 deg. C for 1 h. → The transition from the conduction band to the O i level may be responsible for the yellow-green emission. → The yellow emission may originate from the presence of Zn(OH) 2 on the surface or the band transition from conduction band to V o Zn i level. → The transition from the Zn i level to the level should produce an orange emission or an orange-red emission.

Surface modification of cellulose acetate membrane using thermal annealing to enhance produced water treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kusworo, T. D., E-mail: tdkusworo@che.undip.ac.id; Aryanti, N., E-mail: nita.aryanti@gmail.com; Firdaus, M. M. H.; Sukmawati, H. [Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University Prof. Soedarto Street, Tembalang, Semarang, 50239, Phone/Fax : (024)7460058 (Indonesia)

2015-12-29

This study is performed primarily to investigate the effect of surface modification of cellulose acetate using thermal annealing on the enhancement of membrane performance for produced water treatment. In this study, Cellulose Acetate membranes were casted using dry/wet phase inversion technique. The effect of additive and post-treatment using thermal annealing on the membrane surface were examined for produced water treatment. Therma annealing was subjected to membrane surface at 60 and 70 °C for 5, 10 and 15 second, respectively. Membrane characterizations were done using membrane flux and rejection with produced water as a feed, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) analysis. Experimental results showed that asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane can be made by dry/wet phase inversion technique. The results from the Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) analysis was also confirmed that polyethylene glycol as additivie in dope solution and thermal annealing was affected the morphology and membrane performance for produced water treatment, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed that the selective layer and the substructure of membrane became denser and more compact after the thermal annealing processes. Therefore, membrane rejection was significantly increased while the flux was slighty decreased, respectively. The best membrane performance is obtained on the composition of 18 wt % cellulose acetate, poly ethylene glycol 5 wt% with thermal annealing at 70° C for 15 second.

Surface modification of cellulose acetate membrane using thermal annealing to enhance produced water treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kusworo, T. D.; Aryanti, N.; Firdaus, M. M. H.; Sukmawati, H.

2015-01-01

This study is performed primarily to investigate the effect of surface modification of cellulose acetate using thermal annealing on the enhancement of membrane performance for produced water treatment. In this study, Cellulose Acetate membranes were casted using dry/wet phase inversion technique. The effect of additive and post-treatment using thermal annealing on the membrane surface were examined for produced water treatment. Therma annealing was subjected to membrane surface at 60 and 70 °C for 5, 10 and 15 second, respectively. Membrane characterizations were done using membrane flux and rejection with produced water as a feed, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) analysis. Experimental results showed that asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane can be made by dry/wet phase inversion technique. The results from the Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) analysis was also confirmed that polyethylene glycol as additivie in dope solution and thermal annealing was affected the morphology and membrane performance for produced water treatment, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed that the selective layer and the substructure of membrane became denser and more compact after the thermal annealing processes. Therefore, membrane rejection was significantly increased while the flux was slighty decreased, respectively. The best membrane performance is obtained on the composition of 18 wt % cellulose acetate, poly ethylene glycol 5 wt% with thermal annealing at 70° C for 15 second

Oxygen vacancy-induced ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Peng; Wang, Weipeng; Liu, Can; Hu, Yang; Li, Zhengcao; Zhang, Zhengjun; Zhang, Peng; Wang, Baoyi; Cao, Xingzhong

2012-02-01

ZnO films became ferromagnetic when defects were introduced by thermal-annealing in flowing argon. This ferromagnetism, as shown by the photoluminescence measurement and positron annihilation analysis, was induced by the singly occupied oxygen vacancy with a saturated magnetization dependent positively on the amount of this vacancy. This study clarified the origin of the ferromagnetism of un-doped ZnO thin films and provides possibly an alternative way to prepare ferromagnetic ZnO films.

Process dependence of H passivation and doping in H-implanted ZnO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Z; Brillson, L J; Look, D C; Schifano, R; Johansen, K M; Svensson, B G

2013-01-01

We used depth-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy (DRCLS), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and temperature-dependent Hall-effect (TDHE) measurements to describe the strong dependence of H passivation and doping in H-implanted ZnO on thermal treatment. Increasing H implantation dose increases passivation of Zn and oxygen vacancy-related defects, while reducing deep level emissions. Over annealing temperatures of 100-400 °C at different times, 1 h annealing at 200 °C yielded the lowest DRCLS deep level emissions, highest TDHE carrier mobility, and highest near band-edge PL emission. These results describe the systematics of dopant implantation and thermal activation on H incorporation in ZnO and their effects on its electrical properties.

Rapid thermal melted TiO2 nano-particles into ZnO nano-rod and its application for dye sensitized solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao, Ching-Hsun; Chang, Chi-Lung; Chan, Chien-Hung; Lien, Shui-Yang; Weng, Ko-Wei; Yao, Kuo-Shan

2010-01-01

TiO 2 nano-particles with an anchored ZnO nano-rod structure were synthesized using the hydrothermal method to grow ZnO nano-rods and coated TiO 2 nano-particles on ZnO nano-rods using the rapid thermal annealing method on ITO conducting glass pre-coated with nano porous TiO 2 film. The XRD study showed that there was little difference in crystal composition for various types of TiO 2 nano-particles anchored to ZnO nano-rods. The as-prepared architecture was characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Films with TiO 2 nano-particles anchored to ZnO nano-rods were used as electrode materials to fabricate dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The best solar energy conversion efficiency of 2.397% was obtained by modified electrode material, under AM 1.5 illumination, achieved up to J sc = 15.382 mA/cm 2 , V oc = 0.479 V and fill factor = 32.8%.

Superhydrophobic and anti-reflective ZnO nanorod-coated FTO transparent conductive thin films prepared by a three-step method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Bao-jia, E-mail: li_bjia@126.com [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013 (China); Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Center for Photon Manufacturing Science and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013 (China); Huang, Li-jing; Ren, Nai-fei [Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Center for Photon Manufacturing Science and Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013 (China); School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013 (China); Kong, Xia; Cai, Yun-long; Zhang, Jie-lu [Jiangsu Tailong Reduction Box Co. Ltd., Taixing, 225400 (China)

2016-07-25

A ZnO nanorod-coated FTO film was prepared by sputtering an AZO layer on FTO glass, thermal annealing of the AZO/FTO film, and hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods at 70 °C on the annealed AZO/FTO film using zinc foils as zinc source. Two other ZnO nanorod-coated FTO films were also prepared by hydrothermal growths of ZnO nanorods on the FTO glass and the unannealed AZO/FTO film respectively for comparison purpose. The results were observed in detail using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, water contact/sliding angle measurement, spectrophotometry and four-point probe measurement. The ZnO nanorods on the annealed AZO/FTO film were found to exhibit denser distribution and better orientation than those on the FTO glass and the unannealed AZO/FTO film. As a result, the ZnO nanorod-coated annealed AZO/FTO film demonstrated superhydrophobicity, high transparency and low reflectance in the visible range. Also this film had the lowest sheet resistance of 4.0 Ω/sq, implying its good electrical conductivity. This investigation provides a valuable reference for developing multifunctional transparent conductive films. - Highlights: • ZnO nanorod-coated annealed AZO/FTO film was obtained by a three-step method. • FTO and unannealed AZO/FTO films were also used as substrates for comparison. • ZnO nanorods on the annealed AZO/FTO film were denser and more vertically-oriented. • The ZnO nanorod-coated annealed AZO/FTO film (Z/TA-FTO) had superhydrophobicity. • The Z/TA-FTO exhibited high transparency, low reflectance and good conductivity.

Thermally and optically stimulated luminescence of new ZnO nano phosphors exposed to beta radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cruz V, C.; Burruel I, S.E.; Grijalva M, H.; Chernov, V.; Bernal, R.

2006-01-01

In this work, we report the thermoluminescence (TL) and the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of ZnO nano phosphors obtained by thermal annealing of ZnS powders synthesized by precipitation in a chemical bath deposition reaction. To obtain nanocrystalline ZnO, ZnS pellet-shaped samples were subjected to a sintering process at 700 C during 24 under air atmosphere. Some samples were exposed to beta particles in the 0.15-10.15 kGy dose range and the integrated thermoluminescence as a function of dose increased as dose increased, with no saturation clue for the tested doses. Computerized glow-curve deconvolution of the experimental TL curves in individual peaks revealed a second order kinetics. In order to test the BOSL (Blue Optically Stimulated Luminescence) response, samples were beta irradiated with doses up to 600 Gy, showing an increasing OSL intensity as dose increases. From the experimental results that we have obtained, we conclude that the new ZnO phosphors under investigation are good candidates to be used as dosimetric materials. (Author)

Evolution of interface and surface structures of ZnO/Al2 O3 multilayers upon rapid thermal annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, H. H.; Chen, Q. Y.; Chang, C. F.; Hsieh, W. C.; Wadekar, P. V.; Huang, H. C.; Liao, H. H.; Seo, H. W.; Chu, W. K.

2015-03-01

ZnO ∖Al2O3 multilayers were deposited on sapphires by atomic layer deposition at 85°C. This low substrate temperature ensures good interface smoothness useful for study of interfacial reaction or interdiffusion. Our study aimed at the effects of rapid thermal annealing at different annealing temperatures, times and PAr:PO2. XRR and XRD techniques were used to investigate the kinetics from which various terms of the activation energies could be determined. HR-TEM and electron diffraction were carried out to correlate the microstructures and interfacial alignments as a result of the reactions. AFM were used to assist SEM profiling of the surface morphological evolution in association with the TEM observations.

Annealing and surface conduction on Hydrogen peroxide treated bulk melt-grown, single crystal ZnO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mtangi, W.; Nel, J.M.; Auret, F.D.; Chawanda, A.; Diale, M.; Nyamhere, C.

2012-01-01

We report on the studies carried out on hydrogen peroxide treated melt-grown, bulk single crystal ZnO samples. Results show the existence of two shallow donors in the as-received ZnO samples with energy levels (37.8±0.3) meV that has been suggested as Zn i related and possibly H-complex related and (54.5±0.9) meV, which has been assigned to an Al-related donor. Annealing studies performed on the hydrogen peroxide treated samples reveal the existence of a conductive channel in the samples in which new energy levels have been observed, Zn vacancies, related to the Group I elements, X Zn . The surface donor volume concentration of the conductive channel was calculated from a theory developed by Look (2007) . Results indicate an increase in the surface volume concentration with increasing annealing temperature from 60×10 17 cm −3 at 200 °C to 4.37×10 18 cm -3 at 800 °C.

Nanostructured Zn and ZnO nanowire thin films for mechanical and self-cleaning applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaik, Ummar Pasha [Advanced Centre of Research in High Energy Materials, University of Hyderabad, Prof. C R Rao Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046 (India); Purkayastha, Debarun Dhar, E-mail: ddebarun@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology Nagaland, Chumukedima, Dimapur 797103 (India); Krishna, M. Ghanashyam [Advanced Centre of Research in High Energy Materials, University of Hyderabad, Prof. C R Rao Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046 (India); School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, Prof. C R Rao Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046 (India); Madhurima, V. [Department of Physics, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur 610004 (India)

2015-03-01

Highlights: • Zn metal films were deposited by thermal evaporation, on various substrates. • Upon annealing Zn there is transformation of the Zn nanosheets into ZnO nanowires. • ZnO nanowires are superhydrophobic and exhibit wetting transition on UV exposure. • ZnO will be useful in self-cleaning, mechanical and oxidation resistance surfaces. - Abstract: Nanostructured Zn metal films were deposited by thermal evaporation, on borosilicate glass, Quartz, sapphire, lanthanum aluminate and yttria stabilized zirconia substrates. The as-deposited films are nanocrystalline and show a morphology that consists of triangular nanosheets. The films are hydrophobic with contact angles between 102° and 120° with hardness and Young's modulus between 0.15–0.8 GPa and 18–300 GPa, respectively. Thermal annealing of the films at 500 °C results only in partial oxidation of Zn to ZnO, which indicates good oxidation resistance. Annealing also causes transformation of the Zn nanosheets into ZnO nanowires that are polycrystalline in nature. The ZnO nanowires are superhydrophobic with contact angles between 159° and 162°, contact angle hysteresis between 5° and 10° and exhibit a reversible superhydrophobic–hydrophilic transition under UV irradiation. The nanowires are much softer than the as-deposited Zn metal films, with hardness between 0.02 and 0.4 GPa and Young's modulus between 3 and 35 GPa. The current study thus demonstrates a simple process for fabrication of nanostructured Zn metal films followed by a one-step transformation to nanowires with properties that will be very attractive for mechanical and self-cleaning applications.

Effect of annealing and In content on the properties of electron beam evaporated ZnO films

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamed, S. H.; Ali, H. M.; Mohamed, H. A.; Salem, A. M.

2005-08-01

The effect of both annealing and In content on the properties of ZnO films prepared by electron beam evaporation were investigated. The evaporation was carried out at room temperature from bulk samples prepared by sintering technique. X-ray diffraction showed that the structure of ZnO-In{2}O{3} films depends on both the In content and annealing temperature. Amorphous, highly transparent and relatively low resistive films which can be suitable for the usage as transparent electrode of organic light-emitting diode were obtained upon annealing at 300 circC. Partially crystalline, highly transparent and highly resistive films which can be used in piezoelectric applications were obtained upon annealing at 500 circC. For each composition the refractive index has no monotonic variation upon increasing annealing temperature.

ZnO - Wide Bandgap Semiconductor and Possibilities of Its Application in Optical Waveguide Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Struk Przemysław

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the results of investigations concerning the application of zinc oxide - a wideband gap semiconductor in optical planar waveguide structures. ZnO is a promising semiconducting material thanks to its attractive optical properties. The investigations were focused on the determination of the technology of depositions and the annealing of ZnO layers concerning their optical properties. Special attention was paid to the determination of characteristics of the refractive index of ZnO layers and their coefficients of spectral transmission within the UV-VIS-NIR range. Besides that, also the mode characteristics and the attenuation coefficients of light in the obtained waveguide structures have been investigated. In the case of planar waveguides, in which the ZnO layers have not been annealed after their deposition, the values of the attenuation coefficient of light modes amount to a~ 30 dB/cm. The ZnO layers deposited on the heated substrate and annealed by rapid thermal annealing in an N2 and O2 atmosphere, are characterized by much lower values of the attenuation coefficients: a~ 3 dB/cm (TE0 and TM0 modes. The ZnO optical waveguides obtained according to our technology are characterized by the lowest values of the attenuation coefficients a encountered in world literature concerning the problem of optical waveguides based on ZnO. Studies have shown that ZnO layers elaborated by us can be used in integrated optic systems, waveguides, optical modulators and light sources.

Isothermal and isochronal annealing methodology to study post-irradiation temperature activated phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chabrerie, C.; Autran, J.L.; Paillet, P.; Flament, O.; Leray, J.L.; Boudenot, J.C.

1997-01-01

In this work, the evolution of the oxide trapped charge has been modeled, to predict post-irradiation behavior for arbitrary anneal conditions (i.e., arbitrary temperature-time profiles). Using experimental data obtained from a single isochronal anneal, the method consists of calculating the evolution of the energy distribution of the oxide trapped charge, in the framework of a thermally activated charge detrapping model. This methodology is illustrated in this paper by the prediction of experimental isothermal data from isochronal measurements. The implications of these results to hardness assurance test methods are discussed

Vacuum-annealing induced enhancements in the transparent conducting properties of Mo  +  F doped ZnO thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Dineshbabu, N.; Ravichandran, K.

2017-09-01

The decisive aim of the present study is to enhance the transparent conducting properties of Mo  +  F co-doped ZnO films through annealing. In this work, Mo  +  F co-doped ZnO (MFZO) films were deposited on glass substrates at a deposition temperature of 350 °C using a home-made nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique and the prepared samples were annealed under air and vacuum atmosphere at 400 °C for 2 h. The structural, electrical, optical, surface morphological and elemental properties of as-deposited, air-annealed and vacuum-annealed samples were compared using various analytical techniques. The vacuum-annealed sample shows lowest resistivity of 1.364  ×  10-3 Ω cm and high transmittance of 90% in the visible region with high ohmic conducting nature. The optical bandgap of the sample was found to be increased to 3.36 eV after vacuum annealing treatment. The XRD patterns of the films confirmed the polycrystalline nature. The PL measurements show the defect levels of the deposited films. The FESEM and AFM studies show an increase in the grain size and roughness of the films, respectively, after vacuum-annealing treatment. The presence of the elements before and after annealing treatment was confirmed using XPS analysis.

Self-Healing Thermal Annealing: Surface Morphological Restructuring Control of GaN Nanorods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conroy, Michele; Li, Haoning; Zubialevich, Vitaly Z.; Kusch, Gunnar; Schmidt, Michael; Collins, Timothy; Glynn, Colm; Martin, Robert W.; O’Dwyer, Colm; Morris, Michael D.; Holmes, Justin D.; Parbrook, Peter J.

2016-12-07

With advances in nanolithography and dry etching, top-down methods of nanostructuring have become a widely used tool for improving the efficiency of optoelectronics. These nano dimensions can offer various benefits to the device performance in terms of light extraction and efficiency, but often at the expense of emission color quality. Broadening of the target emission peak and unwanted yellow luminescence are characteristic defect-related effects due to the ion beam etching damage, particularly for III–N based materials. In this article we focus on GaN based nanorods, showing that through thermal annealing the surface roughness and deformities of the crystal structure can be “self-healed”. Correlative electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy show the change from spherical nanorods to faceted hexagonal structures, revealing the temperature-dependent surface morphology faceting evolution. The faceted nanorods were shown to be strain- and defect-free by cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging, micro-Raman, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In-situ TEM thermal annealing experiments allowed for real time observation of dislocation movements and surface restructuring observed in ex-situ annealing TEM sampling. This thermal annealing investigation gives new insight into the redistribution path of GaN material and dislocation movement post growth, allowing for improved understanding and in turn advances in optoelectronic device processing of compound semiconductors.

Annealed Ce{sup 3+}-doped ZnO flower-like morphology synthesized by chemical bath deposition method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koao, Lehlohonolo F., E-mail: koaolf@ufs.ac.za [Department of Physics, University of the Free State (Qwa Qwa campus), Private Bag X13, Phuthaditjhaba 9866 (South Africa); Dejene, Francis B.; Tsega, Moges [Department of Physics, University of the Free State (Qwa Qwa campus), Private Bag X13, Phuthaditjhaba 9866 (South Africa); Swart, Hendrik C. [Department of Physics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300 (South Africa)

2016-01-01

We have successfully synthesized ZnO:xmol% Ce{sup 3+} (0≤x≤10 mol%) doped nanopowders via the chemical bath deposition method (CBD) technique at low temperature (80 °C) and annealed in air at 700 °C. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that all the undoped and Ce-doped ZnO nanopowders have a hexagonal wurtzite polycrystalline structure with an average crystallite size of about 46 nm. Weak diffraction peaks related mainly to cerium oxide were also detected at higher concentrations of Ce{sup 3+} (x=5–10 mol%). The scanning electron microscopy study revealed that the nanopowder samples were assembled in flower-shaped undoped ZnO and pyramid-shaped Ce{sup 3+}-doped ZnO nanostructures. The UV–vis spectra showed that the absorption edges shifted slightly to the longer wavelengths with the increase in the Ce{sup 3+} ions concentration. Moreover, the photoluminescence (PL) results showed a relative weak visible emission for the Ce{sup 3+}-doped ZnO nanoparticles compared to the undoped ZnO. The effects of Ce{sup 3+}-doping on the structure and PL of ZnO nanopowders are discussed in detail.

Engineering of the photoluminescence of ZnO nanowires by different growth and annealing environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandes Cauduro, André Luis; Sombrio, C I L; Franzen, P L

2015-01-01

Optical properties of ZnO nanowires were investigated through photoluminescence (PL) at room and low temperatures. An excitonic structure was observed in the UV band emission and we are able to distinguish between free excitons, bound excitons and donor acceptor pairs. The PL spectra shows deep...... level emissions ranging from 1.4 eV up to 2.8 eV, strongly depending on surface defects whereas the red emission (1.7 eV) is activated at cryogenic temperatures. We attribute the green luminescence (2.4 eV) emission to the presence of zinc vacancies into ZnO nanowires. Further evidences that confirm...... the mechanism are observed in the PL emission spectra after annealing in O2 or Ar environments....

Electrosynthesis and characterization of ZnO nanoparticles as inorganic component in organic thin-film transistor active layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Picca, Rosaria Anna; Sportelli, Maria Chiara; Hötger, Diana; Manoli, Kyriaki; Kranz, Christine; Mizaikoff, Boris; Torsi, Luisa; Cioffi, Nicola

2015-01-01

Highlights: • PSS-capped ZnO NPs were synthesized via a green electrochemical-thermal method • The influence of electrochemical conditions and temperature was studied • Spectroscopic data show that PSS functionalities are retained in the annealed NPs • Nanostructured ZnO improved the performance of P3HT-based thin film transistors - Abstract: ZnO nanoparticles have been prepared via a green electrochemical synthesis method in the presence of a polymeric anionic stabilizer (poly-sodium-4-styrenesulfonate, PSS), and then applied as inorganic component in poly-3-hexyl-thiophene thin-film transistor active layers. Different parameters (i.e. current density, electrolytic media, PSS concentration, and temperature) influencing nanoparticle synthesis have been studied. The resulting nanomaterials have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and spectroscopic techniques (UV-Vis, infrared, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopies), assessing the most suitable conditions for the synthesis and thermal annealing of nanostructured ZnO. The proposed ZnO nanoparticles have been successfully coupled with a poly-3-hexyl-thiophene thin-film resulting in thin-film transistors with improved performance.

Annealing and surface conduction on Hydrogen peroxide treated bulk melt-grown, single crystal ZnO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mtangi, W., E-mail: wilbert.mtangi@up.ac.za [University of Pretoria, Physics Department, Pretoria 0002 (South Africa); Nel, J.M.; Auret, F.D.; Chawanda, A.; Diale, M. [University of Pretoria, Physics Department, Pretoria 0002 (South Africa); Nyamhere, C. [Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Physics Department, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa)

2012-05-15

We report on the studies carried out on hydrogen peroxide treated melt-grown, bulk single crystal ZnO samples. Results show the existence of two shallow donors in the as-received ZnO samples with energy levels (37.8{+-}0.3) meV that has been suggested as Zn{sub i} related and possibly H-complex related and (54.5{+-}0.9) meV, which has been assigned to an Al-related donor. Annealing studies performed on the hydrogen peroxide treated samples reveal the existence of a conductive channel in the samples in which new energy levels have been observed, Zn vacancies, related to the Group I elements, X{sub Zn}. The surface donor volume concentration of the conductive channel was calculated from a theory developed by Look (2007) . Results indicate an increase in the surface volume concentration with increasing annealing temperature from 60 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 17} cm{sup -3} at 200 Degree-Sign C to 4.37 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} at 800 Degree-Sign C.

Evolution of the radiation-induced defect structure in 316 type stainless steel after post-irradiation annealing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Renterghem, W., E-mail: wvrenter@sckcen.be; Konstantinović, M.J., E-mail: mkonstan@sckcen.be; Vankeerberghen, M., E-mail: mvankeer@sckcen.be

2014-09-15

Highlights: • TEM study of irradiated CW316 steel after post-irradiation annealing. • Frank loops were removed after annealing at 550 °C, by unfaulting and growing. • The cavity density decreases after annealing at 550 °C, but not completely removed. • Frank loop and cavity removal is controlled by the annealing temperature. • The dissolution of γ' precipitates is controlled by the iron diffusion length. - Abstract: The thermal stability of Frank loops, black dots, cavities and γ′ precipitates in an irradiated 316 stainless steel was studied by transmission electron microscopy. The samples were retrieved from a thimble tube irradiated at around 320 °C up to 80 dpa in a commercial nuclear power reactor, and thermally annealed, varying both annealing temperature and time. With increasing annealing temperature the density of all defects gradually decreased, resulting in the complete removal of Frank loops at 550 °C. In contrast to other defects, the density of the γ′ precipitates sharply decreased with increasing annealing time, which indicates that the dissolution of the γ′ precipitates is governed by the iron diffusion length.

Paramagnetism and antiferromagnetic interactions in single-phase Fe-implanted ZnO

CERN Document Server

Pereira, Lino Miguel da Costa; Correia, João Guilherme; Van Bael, M J; Temst, Kristiaan; Vantomme, André; Araújo, João Pedro

2013-01-01

As the intrinsic origin of the high temperature ferromagnetism often observed in wide-gap dilute magnetic semiconductors becomes increasingly debated, there is a growing need for comprehensive studies on the single-phase region of the phase diagram of these materials. Here we report on the magnetic and structural properties of Fe-doped ZnO prepared by ion implantation of ZnO single crystals. A detailed structural characterization shows that the Fe impurities substitute for Zn in ZnO in a wurtzite Zn$_{1−x}$Fe$_{x}$O phase which is coherent with the ZnO host. In addition, the density of beam-induced defects is progressively decreased by thermal annealing up to 900$^{\\circ}$C, from highly disordered after implantation to highly crystalline upon subsequent annealing. Based on a detailed analysis of the magnetometry data, we demonstrate that isolated Fe impurities occupying Zn substitutional sites behave as localized paramagnetic moments down to 2$^{\\circ}$K, irrespective of the Fe concentration and the density...

Rapid thermal annealing of phosphorus implanted silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Y.H.; Pogany, A.; Harrison, H.B.; Williams, J.S.

1985-01-01

Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of phosphorus-implanted silicon has been investigated by four point probe, Van der Pauw methods and transmission electron microscopy. The results have been compared to furnace annealing. Experiments show that RTA, even at temperatures as low as 605 deg C, results in good electrical properties with little remnant damage and compares favourably with furnace annealing

Study of photoluminescence from annealed bulk-ZnO single crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoneta, M.; Ohishi, M.; Saito, H. [Department of Applied Physics, Okayama University of Science, 1-1 Ridai-cho, Okayama 700-0005 (Japan); Yoshino, K. [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Miyazaki University, 1-1 Gakuen Kibanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192 (Japan); Honda, M. [Faculty of Science, Naruto University of Education, 748 Nakajima, Takashima, Naruto-cho, Naruto-shi 772-8502 (Japan)

2006-03-15

We have investigated the influence of rapid thermal annealing on the photoluminescence of bulk-ZnO single crystal. As-grown ZnO wafer, illuminated by 325 nm ultraviolet light at 4.2 K, emitted the visible luminescence of pale green centered of 2.29 eV. The luminescence was observed by the anneal at the temperature range between 400 C and 1000 C, however, its intensity decreased with anneal temperature. The free-exciton and the 2.18 eV emission line were obtained by the anneal at 1200 C for 60 sec. From the X-ray diffraction and the surface morphology measurements, the improvement of the crystallinity of bulk-ZnO crystal were confirmed. We suggest that a rapid thermal annealing technique is convenience to improve the the quality of bul-ZnO single crystals. (copyright 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Defect studies in electron-irradiated ZnO and GaN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuomisto, F.; Look, D.C.; Farlow, G.C.

2007-01-01

We present experimental results obtained with positron annihilation spectroscopy in room-temperature electron-irradiated n-type ZnO and GaN. The cation vacancies act as important compensating centers in 2 MeV electron-irradiated samples, even though their introduction rates are different by 2 orders of magnitude. In addition, negatively charged non-open volume defects that also compensate the n-type conductivity are produced together with the cation vacancies at similar introduction rates. The low introduction rates of compensating defects in ZnO demonstrate the radiation hardness of the material. Isochronal thermal annealings were performed to study the dynamics of the irradiation-induced defects. In 2 MeV electron-irradiated ZnO, all the defects introduced in the irradiation disappear already at 600 K, while 1100 K is needed in GaN. Several separate annealing stages of the defects are observed in both materials, the first at 400 K

Defect studies in electron-irradiated ZnO and GaN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tuomisto, F. [Laboratory of Physics, Helsinki University of Technology, 02015 TKK Espoo (Finland)], E-mail: filip.tuomisto@tkk.fi; Look, D.C. [Semiconductor Research Center, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435 (United States); Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433 (United States); Farlow, G.C. [Physics Department, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435 (United States)

2007-12-15

We present experimental results obtained with positron annihilation spectroscopy in room-temperature electron-irradiated n-type ZnO and GaN. The cation vacancies act as important compensating centers in 2 MeV electron-irradiated samples, even though their introduction rates are different by 2 orders of magnitude. In addition, negatively charged non-open volume defects that also compensate the n-type conductivity are produced together with the cation vacancies at similar introduction rates. The low introduction rates of compensating defects in ZnO demonstrate the radiation hardness of the material. Isochronal thermal annealings were performed to study the dynamics of the irradiation-induced defects. In 2 MeV electron-irradiated ZnO, all the defects introduced in the irradiation disappear already at 600 K, while 1100 K is needed in GaN. Several separate annealing stages of the defects are observed in both materials, the first at 400 K.

Identifying the influence of the intrinsic defects in Gd-doped ZnO thin-films

KAUST Repository

Flemban, Tahani H.; Sequeira, M. C.; Zhang, Z.; Venkatesh, S.; Alves, E.; Lorenz, K.; Roqan, Iman S.

2016-01-01

Gd-doped ZnO thin films were prepared using pulsed laser deposition at different oxygen pressures and varied Gd concentrations. The effects of oxygen deficiency-related defects on the Gd incorporation, optical and structural properties, were explored by studying the impact of oxygen pressure during deposition and post-growth thermal annealing in vacuum. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry revealed that the Gd concentration increases with increasing oxygen pressure for samples grown with the same Gd-doped ZnO target. Unexpectedly, the c-lattice parameter of the samples tends to decrease with increasing Gd concentration, suggesting that Gd-defect complexes play an important role in the structural properties. Using low-temperature photoluminescence(PL), Raman measurements and density functional theory calculations, we identified oxygen vacancies as the dominant intrinsic point defects. PL spectra show a defect band related to oxygen vacancies for samples grown at oxygen deficiency.

Identifying the influence of the intrinsic defects in Gd-doped ZnO thin-films

KAUST Repository

Flemban, Tahani H.

2016-02-08

Gd-doped ZnO thin films were prepared using pulsed laser deposition at different oxygen pressures and varied Gd concentrations. The effects of oxygen deficiency-related defects on the Gd incorporation, optical and structural properties, were explored by studying the impact of oxygen pressure during deposition and post-growth thermal annealing in vacuum. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry revealed that the Gd concentration increases with increasing oxygen pressure for samples grown with the same Gd-doped ZnO target. Unexpectedly, the c-lattice parameter of the samples tends to decrease with increasing Gd concentration, suggesting that Gd-defect complexes play an important role in the structural properties. Using low-temperature photoluminescence(PL), Raman measurements and density functional theory calculations, we identified oxygen vacancies as the dominant intrinsic point defects. PL spectra show a defect band related to oxygen vacancies for samples grown at oxygen deficiency.

Decreased Charge Transport Barrier and Recombination of Organic Solar Cells by Constructing Interfacial Nanojunction with Annealing-Free ZnO and Al Layers.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chunyu; Zhang, Dezhong; Li, Zhiqi; Zhang, Xinyuan; Guo, Wenbin; Zhang, Liu; Ruan, Shengping; Long, Yongbing

2017-07-05

To overcome drawbacks of the electron transport layer, such as complex surface defects and unmatched energy levels, we successfully employed a smart semiconductor-metal interfacial nanojunciton in organic solar cells by evaporating an ultrathin Al interlayer onto annealing-free ZnO electron transport layer, resulting in a high fill factor of 73.68% and power conversion efficiency of 9.81%. The construction of ZnO-Al nanojunction could effectively fill the surface defects of ZnO and reduce its work function because of the electron transfer from Al to ZnO by Fermi level equilibrium. The filling of surface defects decreased the interfacial carrier recombination in midgap trap states. The reduced surface work function of ZnO-Al remodulated the interfacial characteristics between ZnO and [6,6]-phenyl C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM), decreasing or even eliminating the interfacial barrier against the electron transport, which is beneficial to improve the electron extraction capacity. The filled surface defects and reduced interfacial barrier were realistically observed by photoluminescence measurements of ZnO film and the performance of electron injection devices, respectively. This work provides a simple and effective method to simultaneously solve the problems of surface defects and unmatched energy level for the annealing-free ZnO or other metal oxide semiconductors, paving a way for the future popularization in photovoltaic devices.

Annealing effects of Ga2O3-ZnO core-shell heteronanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyoun Woo; Lee, Jong Woo; Kebede, Mesfin Abayneh; Kim, Hyo Sung; Lee, Chongmu

2009-01-01

We prepared ZnO-coated Ga 2 O 3 nanowires and investigated changes in the morphological, structural, and photoluminescence (PL) characteristics resulting from application of a thermal annealing process. With the thermal annealing at 800 deg. C, defect-associated PL peaks (2.2 and 2.6 eV) have been intensified with respect to the UV peak, and a new 2.8 eV-peak has been generated. Possible emission mechanisms are also discussed.

Effect of rapid thermal annealing on InP1−xBix grown by molecular beam epitaxy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, X Y; Wang, K; Pan, W W; Wang, P; Li, Y Y; Song, Y X; Gu, Y; Yue, L; Xu, H; Zhang, Z P; Cui, J; Gong, Q; Wang, S M

2015-01-01

The effect of post-growth rapid thermal annealing on structural and optical properties of InP 1−x Bi x thin films was investigated. InPBi shows good thermal stability up to 500 °C and a modest improvement in photoluminescence (PL) intensity with an unchanged PL spectral feature. Bismuth outdiffusion from InPBi and strain relaxation are observed at about 600 °C. The InPBi sample annealed at 800 °C shows an unexpected PL spectrum with different energy transitions. (paper)

Thermal annealing studies in muscovite and in quartz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, J.H.; Gold, R.; Ruddy, F.H.

1979-06-01

In order to use Solid State Track Recorders (SSTR) in environments at elevated temperatures, it is necessary to know the thermal annealing characteristics of various types of SSTR. For applications in the nuclear energy program, the principal interest is focused upon the annealing of fission tracks in muscovite mica and in quartz. Data showing correlations between changes in track diameters and track densities as a function of annealing time and temperature will be presented for Amersil quartz glass. Similar data showing changes in track lengths and in track densities will be presented for mica. Time-temperature regions will be defined where muscovite mica can be accurately applied with negligible correction for thermal annealing

Annealing effects on the optical and morphological properties of ZnO nanorods on AZO substrate by using aqueous solution method at low temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Hang, Da-Ren; Islam, Sk Emdadul; Sharma, Krishna Hari; Kuo, Shiao-Wei; Zhang, Cheng-Zu; Wang, Jun-Jie

2014-01-01

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods (NRs) on aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) substrates were fabricated by a single-step aqueous solution method at low temperature. In order to optimize optical quality, the effects of annealing on optical and structural properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence (PL), and Raman spectroscopy. We found that the annealing temperature strongly affects both the near-band-edge (NBE) and visible (defect-related) emissions. The best characteristics have been obtained by employing annealing at 400°C in air for 2 h, bringing about a sharp and intense NBE emission. The defect-related recombinations were also suppressed effectively. However, the enhancement decreases with higher annealing temperature and prolonged annealing. PL study indicates that the NBE emission is dominated by radiative recombination associated with hydrogen donors. Thus, the enhancement of NBE is due to the activation of radiative recombinations associated with hydrogen donors. On the other hand, the reduction of visible emission is mainly attributed to the annihilation of OH groups. Our results provide insight to comprehend annealing effects and an effective way to improve optical properties of low-temperature-grown ZnO NRs for future facile device applications.

Post-irradiation annealing of coarse-grained model alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ray, P H.N.; Wilson, C; McElroy, R J [AEA Reactor Services, Harwell (United Kingdom)

1994-12-31

Thermal ageing and irradiation studies have been carried out on three model alloys (JPC, JPB, JPG) that have identical compositions except for different levels of phosphorus and/or copper. They have been irradiated in three conditions, as-received, heat treated to produce a coarse grained microstructure (similar to heat-affected-zone), and in this condition further aged at 450 C to produce a temper embrittled condition. One of the alloy have been subject to a post-irradiation anneal. The effect of these treatments on mechanical property changes has been characterized by Charpy testing and Vickers hardness measurements; the phosphorus segregation has been studied by a combination of STEM and Auger techniques.

Low temperature thermal annealing in fast neutron-irradiated potassium permanganate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Owens, C W; Lecington, W C [New Hampshire Univ., Durham (USA). Dept. of Chemistry

1975-01-01

The effect of thermal annealing on the retention of recoil /sup 54/Mn as permanganate in crystalline KMnO/sub 4/ irradiated with fast neutrons at liquid nitrogen temperature has been studied. The retention after 4 hrs of annealing increases from about 8% at -196/sup 0/ to a maximum of 61% at 180/sup 0/, then decreases at higher temperatures. A single activation energy (approximately 0.01 eV) applies to the thermal annealing process between -196/sup 0/ and -40/sup 0/. Extrapolation of the data suggests that below -229/sup 0/ no thermal annealing would occur.

Effects of Thermal Annealing Conditions on Cupric Oxide Thin Film

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyo Seon; Oh, Hee-bong; Ryu, Hyukhyun [Inje University, Gimhae (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Won-Jae [Dong-Eui University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2015-07-15

In this study, cupric oxide (CuO) thin films were grown on fluorine doped tin oxide(FTO) substrate by using spin coating method. We investigated the effects of thermal annealing temperature and thermal annealing duration on the morphological, structural, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the CuO film. From the results, we could find that the morphologies, grain sizes, crystallinity and photoelectrochemical properties were dependent on the annealing conditions. As a result, the maximum photocurrent density of -1.47 mA/cm{sup 2} (vs. SCE) was obtained from the sample with the thermal annealing conditions of 500 ℃ and 40 min.

Improved silicon surface passivation of APCVD Al2O3 by rapid thermal annealing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Black, L.E.; Allen, T.; McIntosh, K.R.; Cuévas, A.

2016-01-01

Short-duration post-deposition thermal treatments at temperatures above those normally used for annealing activation have the potential to further improve the already excellent passivation of crystalline silicon (c-Si) achieved by Al2O3, but have so far received little attention. In this work we

Reduction of thermal quenching of biotite mineral due to annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalita, J.M.; Wary, G.

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Thermoluminescence of X-ray irradiate biotite was studied at various heating rates. • Thermal quenching was found to decrease with increase in annealing temperature. • Due to annealing one trap level was vanished and a new shallow trap level generated. • The new trap level contributes low thermally quenched thermoluminescence signal. - Abstract: Thermoluminescence (TL) of X-ray irradiated natural biotite annealed at 473, 573, 673 and 773 K were studied within 290–480 K at various linear heating rates (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 K/s). A Computerized Glow Curve Deconvolution technique was used to study various TL parameters. Thermal quenching was found to be very high for un-annealed sample, however it decreased significantly with increase in annealing temperature. For un-annealed sample thermal quenching activation energy (W) and pre-exponential frequency factor (C) were found to be W = (2.71 ± 0.05) eV and C = (2.38 ± 0.05) × 10 12 s −1 respectively. However for 773 K annealed sample, these parameters were found to be W = (0.63 ± 0.03) eV, C = (1.75 ± 0.27) × 10 14 s −1 . Due to annealing, the initially present trap level at depth 1.04 eV was vanished and a new shallow trap state was generated at depth of 0.78 eV which contributes very low thermally quenched TL signal

Effects of annealing on the recombination dynamics of low-temperature grown ZnO nanorods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hilker, B.; Bekeny, C.; Voss, T.; Gutowski, J. [IFP, Universitaet Bremen, 28334 Bremen (Germany); Hauschild, R.; Kalt, H. [Universitaet Karlsruhe, 76128 Karlsruhe (Germany); Postels, B.; Bakin, Andrey; Waag, A. [IHT, TU Braunschweig, 38023 Braunschweig (Germany)

2007-07-01

We present systematic temperature and excitation density dependent time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements of as-grown and annealed ZnO nanorods fabricated by an aqueous chemical growth (ACG) technique at {proportional_to}90 C. The as-grown nanorods show strong nearband-edge and rather weak deep-level emission indicating their already good optical quality. At 4K, we find a broad emission line at 3.36 eV (line width 30 meV) which we attribute to recombination from a donor band formed through the high donor concentration. After annealing in oxygen and nitrogen atmospheres at 600-800 C well-resolved and sharper excitonic transitions are observed. To understand the recombination dynamics in the nanorods we carried out TRPL measurements using a frequency-doubled femtosecond laser and a streak camera. The as-grown sample shows a very fast monoexponential decay time of {proportional_to}10ps independent of temperature and excitation density. In contrast, the annealed samples exhibit a biexponential decay. Each a fast {tau}1 and a slow {tau}2 time constant have been determined for all annealed samples both of them significantly varying depending on the annealing atmosphere and temperature. This will be discussed on the basis of a phenomenological rate-equation model.

Effects of Post- Heat Treatment of Nanocrystalline ZnO Thin Films deposited on Zn-Deposited FTO Substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Ikhyun; Kim, Younggyu; Nam, Giwoong; Leem, Jae-Young [Inje University, Gimhae (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

The effects of heat-treatment temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films were investigated with field-effect scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis, and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The ZnO thin films were grown on Zn-deposited fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates by sol-gel spin coating. The SEM images of the samples showed that their surfaces had a mountain-chain-like structure. The film annealed at 400 ℃ had the highest degree of alignment along the c-axis, and its residual stress was close to zero. The PL spectra of the ZnO thin films consisted of sharp near-band-edge emissions (NBE) and broad deep-level emissions (DLE) in the visible range. The DLE peaks exhibited a green-to-red shift with an increase in the temperature. The highest INBE/IDLE ratio was observed in the film annealed at 400 ℃. Thus, the optimal temperature for growing high-quality ZnO thin films on Zn-deposited FTO substrates is 400 ℃.

Low thermal budget annealing technique for high performance amorphous In-Ga-ZnO thin film transistors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joong-Won Shin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate a low thermal budget post-deposition-annealing (PDA process for amorphous In-Ga-ZnO (a-IGZO oxide semiconductor thin-film-transistors (TFTs. To evaluate the electrical characteristics and reliability of the TFTs after the PDA process, microwave annealing (MWA and rapid thermal annealing (RTA methods were applied, and the results were compared with those of the conventional annealing (CTA method. The a-IGZO TFTs fabricated with as-deposited films exhibited poor electrical characteristics; however, their characteristics were improved by the proposed PDA process. The CTA-treated TFTs had excellent electrical properties and stability, but the CTA method required high temperatures and long processing times. In contrast, the fabricated RTA-treated TFTs benefited from the lower thermal budget due to the short process time; however, they exhibited poor stability. The MWA method uses a low temperature (100 °C and short annealing time (2 min because microwaves transfer energy directly to the substrate, and this method effectively removed the defects in the a-IGZO TFTs. Consequently, they had a higher mobility, higher on-off current ratio, lower hysteresis voltage, lower subthreshold swing, and higher interface trap density than TFTs treated with CTA or RTA, and exhibited excellent stability. Based on these results, low thermal budget MWA is a promising technology for use on various substrates in next generation displays.

Low thermal budget annealing technique for high performance amorphous In-Ga-ZnO thin film transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Joong-Won; Cho, Won-Ju

2017-07-01

In this paper, we investigate a low thermal budget post-deposition-annealing (PDA) process for amorphous In-Ga-ZnO (a-IGZO) oxide semiconductor thin-film-transistors (TFTs). To evaluate the electrical characteristics and reliability of the TFTs after the PDA process, microwave annealing (MWA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) methods were applied, and the results were compared with those of the conventional annealing (CTA) method. The a-IGZO TFTs fabricated with as-deposited films exhibited poor electrical characteristics; however, their characteristics were improved by the proposed PDA process. The CTA-treated TFTs had excellent electrical properties and stability, but the CTA method required high temperatures and long processing times. In contrast, the fabricated RTA-treated TFTs benefited from the lower thermal budget due to the short process time; however, they exhibited poor stability. The MWA method uses a low temperature (100 °C) and short annealing time (2 min) because microwaves transfer energy directly to the substrate, and this method effectively removed the defects in the a-IGZO TFTs. Consequently, they had a higher mobility, higher on-off current ratio, lower hysteresis voltage, lower subthreshold swing, and higher interface trap density than TFTs treated with CTA or RTA, and exhibited excellent stability. Based on these results, low thermal budget MWA is a promising technology for use on various substrates in next generation displays.

Influence of annealing time on pH sensitivity of ZnO sensing membrane for EGFET sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Zulkefle, M. A.; Rahman, R. A.; Yusoff, K. A.; Abdullah, W. F. H.; Rusop, M.; Herman, S. H.

2018-05-01

Solid-state materials have becomes essential in recent technological advancements. This study also utilized solid-state material but in form of thin films to sense hydrogen ions in solutions. Fabrication of ZnO thin film was done using sol-gel spin coating technique. In an attempt to increase the pH sensitivity of the produced film, prolonging of annealing time was done. It was found that the increase in annealing time from 15 minutes to 30 minutes had managed to improve the sensitivity by 4.35%. The optimum pH sensitivity and linearity obtained in this study is 50.40 mV/pH and 0.9911 respectively.

Thermal annealing of tilted fiber Bragg gratings

Science.gov (United States)

González-Vila, Á.; Rodríguez-Cobo, L.; Mégret, P.; Caucheteur, C.; López-Higuera, J. M.

2016-05-01

We report a practical study of the thermal decay of cladding mode resonances in tilted fiber Bragg gratings, establishing an analogy with the "power law" evolution previously observed on uniform gratings. We examine how this process contributes to a great thermal stability, even improving it by means of a second cycle slightly increasing the annealing temperature. In addition, we show an improvement of the grating spectrum after annealing, with respect to the one just after inscription, which suggests the application of this method to be employed to improve saturation issues during the photo-inscription process.

Mass production and photoelectric performances of P and Al Co-doped ZnO nanocrystals under different cooling post-processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, Ya-Juan; Lu, Yi; Liu, Jin-Ku; Yang, Xiao-Hong

2015-01-01

The phosphorus and aluminum co-doped in zinc oxide (ZnO) called PAZO nano-crystals (NCs) have been mass synthesized by a combustion method, which shows a preferable photocatalytic capability and conductive ability. This article focuses on the properties of PAZO NCs experienced by three cooling-down aftertreatments, which were the normalizing, quenching and annealing process, respectively. The influences of different cooling processes on the photocatalytic and conductive performances are discussed in details. From the research, we found the quenched-PAZO NCs showed the most unappealing photocatalysis and conductivity, because excessive defects as the recombination center of electron–hole pairs were generated in the quenching process. - Graphical abstract: This research focuses on the PAZO NCs experienced by different cooling-down aftertreatments, which were the normalizing, quenching and annealing process, respectively. The quenched-PAZO NCs had the most unappealing photocatalysis and conductivity, because of generating excessive defects as the recombination center of electron–hole pairs in the quenching process. - Highlights: • We presented a method to mass synthesize co-doped P and Al in ZnO nanocrystals. • The PAZO NCs have novel photoelectric performances. • The cooling post-process influence on the photoelectric properties was studied. • The excessive defects decline the photocatalytic and conductive activities

Evaluation of gas-sensing properties of ZnO nanostructures electrochemically doped with Au nanophases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Dilonardo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A one-step electrochemical method based on sacrificial anode electrolysis (SAE was used to deposit stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au NPs directly on the surface of nanostructured ZnO powders, previously synthesized through a sol–gel process. The effect of thermal annealing temperatures (300 and 550 °C on chemical, morphological, and structural properties of pristine and Au-doped ZnO nancomposites (Au@ZnO was investigated. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM, as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, revealed the successful deposition of nanoscale gold on the surface of spherical and rod-like ZnO nanostructures, obtained after annealing at 300 and 550 °C, respectively. The pristine ZnO and Au@ZnO nanocomposites are proposed as active layer in chemiresistive gas sensors for low-cost processing. Gas-sensing measurements towards NO2 were collected at 300 °C, evaluating not only the Au-doping effect, but also the influence of the different ZnO nanostructures on the gas-sensing properties.

Hydro- and solvothermally-prepared ZnO and its catalytic effect on photodegradation of reactive orange 16 dye

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simović Bojana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, zinc oxide powders were obtained by two different techniques: hydro- and solvothermal synthesis starting from Zn(NO32 and Zn(CH3COO2, respectively. The influence of synthetic procedure on the structural, microstructural, thermal and photocatalytic properties of the prepared ZnO powders was investigated. Both ZnO samples were further annealed at moderate conditions (300°C to avoid grain growth and to remove traces of impurities. In all four cases a single-phase hexagonal ZnO was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction. The morphology of prepared ZnO powders was different and it varied from rounded nanograins to microrods. All prepared samples showed higher photocatalytic efficiency in degradation of textile azo-dye Reactive Orange 16(RO16 than the commercial ZnO. In addition, the non-annealed samples had better photocatalytic properties than the commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 powder. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III45007, br. ON171032 i br. ON172013

P-type single-crystalline ZnO films obtained by (N,O) dual implantation through dynamic annealing process

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiyuan; Huang, Jingyun; Chen, Shanshan; Pan, Xinhua; Chen, Lingxiang; Ye, Zhizhen

2016-12-01

Single-crystalline ZnO films were grown on a-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy technique. The films have been implanted with fixed fluence of 120 keV N and 130 keV O ions at 460 °C. Hall measurements show that the dually-implanted single-crystalline ZnO films exhibit p-type characteristics with hole concentration in the range of 2.1 × 1018-1.1 × 1019 cm-3, hole mobilities between 1.6 and 1.9 cm2 V-1 s-1, and resistivities in the range of 0.353-1.555 Ω cm. The ZnO films exhibit (002) (c-plane) orientation as identified by the X-ray diffraction pattern. It is confirmed that N ions were effectively implanted by SIMS results. Raman spectra, polarized Raman spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results reflect that the concentration of oxygen vacancies is reduced, which is attributed to O ion implantation. It is concluded that N and O implantation and dynamic annealing play a critical role in forming p-type single-crystalline ZnO films.

Improving Nanofiber Membrane Characteristics and Membrane Distillation Performance of Heat-Pressed Membranes via Annealing Post-Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minwei Yao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Electrospun membranes are gaining interest for use in membrane distillation (MD due to their high porosity and interconnected pore structure; however, they are still susceptible to wetting during MD operation because of their relatively low liquid entry pressure (LEP. In this study, post-treatment had been applied to improve the LEP, as well as its permeation and salt rejection efficiency. The post-treatment included two continuous procedures: heat-pressing and annealing. In this study, annealing was applied on the membranes that had been heat-pressed. It was found that annealing improved the MD performance as the average flux reached 35 L/m2·h or LMH (>10% improvement of the ones without annealing while still maintaining 99.99% salt rejection. Further tests on LEP, contact angle, and pore size distribution explain the improvement due to annealing well. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses of the membranes showed that there was an increase in the crystallinity of the polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP membrane; also, peaks indicating the α phase of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF became noticeable after annealing, indicating some β and amorphous states of polymer were converted into the α phase. The changes were favorable for membrane distillation as the non-polar α phase of PVDF reduces the dipolar attraction force between the membrane and water molecules, and the increase in crystallinity would result in higher thermal stability. The present results indicate the positive effect of the heat-press followed by an annealing post-treatment on the membrane characteristics and MD performance.

Effects of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of strain-free quantum ring solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Strain-free GaAs/Al0.33Ga0.67As quantum rings are fabricated by droplet epitaxy. Both photoresponse and photoluminescence spectra confirm optical transitions in quantum rings, suggesting that droplet epitaxial nanomaterials are applicable to intermediate band solar cells. The effects of post-growth annealing on the quantum ring solar cells are investigated, and the optical properties of the solar cells with and without thermal treatment are characterized by photoluminescence technique. Rapid thermal annealing treatment has resulted in the significant improvement of material quality, which can be served as a standard process for quantum structure solar cells grown by droplet epitaxy. PMID:23281811

The influence of post-annealing treatment on the wettability of Ag+/Na+ ion-exchanged soda-lime glasses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Razzaghi, Ahmad; Maleki, Maniya; Azizian-Kalandaragh, Yashar

2013-01-01

In this paper, the effect of thermal annealing and the duration of ion-exchange on the wetting parameters of the Ag + /Na + ion-exchanged glasses have been reported. The analysis of wetting angle in different post-annealing temperatures shows that the wetting angle is increased by increasing the annealing temperature. The wetting parameters of Ag + /Na + ion-exchanged glasses at different ion-exchanged periods of time have been also investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–Visible spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy have been used for determination of surface morphology and composition analysis of the prepared samples. The results of SEM show changes in the surface of the samples for different post-annealing temperatures. The optical characterization using UV–Vis spectroscopy shows an increase in the intensity of the absorption peak with increasing the ion-exchange duration. The FTIR spectroscopy confirms the formation of silver oxide material on the surface of Ag + /Na + ion-exchanged glasses.

Role of substrate and annealing temperature on the structure of ZnO and Al{sub x}Zn{sub 1−x}O thin films for solar cell applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nambala, Fred Joe [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Department of Physics, University of Zambia, PO Box 32379, Great East Road Campus, Lusaka (Zambia); Nel, Jacqueline M.; Machatine, Augusto G.J. [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Mwakikunga, Bonex W. [DST/CSIR National Centre for Nano-Structured Materials, PO Box 395, Pretoria (South Africa); Njoroge, Eric G. [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Maabong, Kelebogile [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Physics Department, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone (Botswana); Das, Arran G.M. [Monash University, Private Bag X60, Roodepoort 1725 (South Africa); Diale, Mmantsae, E-mail: mmantsae.diale@up.ac.za [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa)

2016-01-01

This paper reports on the deposition of pure and 5 at% Al doped ZnO (AZO) prepared by sol–gel and applied to the substrates by spin-coating, and the role of annealing temperature on the crystallinity of these layers. It is found that both ZnO and AZO are largely amorphous when coated on glass compared to n-Si(111), as substrates. On both substrates, X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the crystallinity improves as annealing temperature is raised from 200 to 600 °C with better crystallinity on Si substrates. The thickness of the films on substrates was determined as 120 nm by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). Specular ultra-violet visible (UV–vis) gives the direct transition optical band gaps (E{sub g}) for AZO as-deposited films are 2.60 and 3.35 eV while that of 600 °C annealed films are 3.00 and 3.60 eV. The E{sub g} calculated from diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) UV–vis are more diverse in ZnO- and AZO-Si than the ZnO- and AZO-glass samples, although in both sets the E{sub g} tend to converge after annealing 600 °C. The Raman spectra of samples show multiphonon processes of higher order from the AZO and substrates. It is found that residual stresses are related to E{sub 2} Raman mode.

Influence of post-annealing on the electrical properties of metal/oxide/silicon nitride/oxide/silicon capacitors for flash memories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hee Dong; An, Ho-Myoung; Kim, Kyoung Chan; Seo, Yu Jeong; Kim, Tae Geun

2008-01-01

We report the effect of post-annealing on the electrical properties of metal/oxide/silicon nitride/oxide/silicon (MONOS) capacitors. Four samples, namely as-deposited and annealed at 750, 850 and 950 °C for 30 s in nitrogen ambient by a rapid thermal process, were prepared and characterized for comparison. The best performance with the largest memory window of 4.4 V and the fastest program speed of 10 ms was observed for the sample annealed at 850 °C. In addition, the highest traps density of 6.84 × 10 18 cm −3 was observed with ideal trap distributions for the same sample by capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurement. These results indicate that the memory traps in the ONO structure can be engineered by post-annealing to improve the electrical properties of the MONOS device

Preparation and Thermal Characterization of Annealed Gold Coated Porous Silicon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afarin Bahrami

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Porous silicon (PSi layers were formed on a p-type Si wafer. Six samples were anodised electrically with a 30 mA/cm2 fixed current density for different etching times. The samples were coated with a 50–60 nm gold layer and annealed at different temperatures under Ar flow. The morphology of the layers, before and after annealing, formed by this method was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM. Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS measurements were carried out to measure the thermal diffusivity (TD of the PSi and Au/PSi samples. For the Au/PSi samples, the thermal diffusivity was measured before and after annealing to study the effect of annealing. Also to study the aging effect, a comparison was made between freshly annealed samples and samples 30 days after annealing.

Post-annealing effects on shallow-junction characteristics caused by 20 keV BGe molecular ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, J.H.; Sang, Y.J.; Wang, C.-H.; Wang, T.W.; Hsu, J.Y.; Niu, H.; Tseng, M.S.

2005-01-01

This study examines the post-annealing-dependent behaviors of the shallow junction produced by implanting 10 15 cm -2 20 keV BGe ions into n-type silicon specimens. Post-annealing treatments consisted of one- and two-step annealing including both furnace annealing (FA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Comparison of the one-step FA at 550 deg. C and the one-step RTA at 1050 deg. C revealed that boron depth profiles were slightly diffused in the former but exhibited considerable transient-enhanced diffusion (TED) in the latter. However, both the one-step FA- and RTA-annealed germanium depth profiles barely diffused, while the latter diffusing slightly deeper than the former. The optimum value of junction depth (x j ) times sheet resistance (R s ) was obtained with one-step FA at 550 deg. C for 1 h. The two-step annealing (FA at 550 deg. C and RTA at 1050 deg. C) results showed that the RTA-induced TED in the boron depth profiles could be effectively retarded only when FA took place for more than 3 h. Again, germanium depth profiles are also barely diffused while the corresponding TEDs were larger than those in one-step FA but smaller than those in one-step RTA. Furthermore, the two-step annealing of FA at 550 deg. C for 3 h followed by RTA at 1050 deg. C for 30 s is suggested when attempting to obtain an optimum value of x j R s

Effects of Substrate and Post-Growth Treatments on the Microstructure and Properties of ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Haseman, Micah; Saadatkia, P.; Winarski, D. J.; Selim, F. A.; Leedy, K. D.; Tetlak, S.; Look, D. C.; Anwand, W.; Wagner, A.

2016-12-01

Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films were synthesized by atomic layer deposition on silicon, quartz and sapphire substrates and characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, optical spectroscopy, conductivity mapping, Hall effect measurements and positron annihilation spectroscopy. XRD showed that the as-grown films are of single-phase ZnO wurtzite structure and do not contain any secondary or impurity phases. The type of substrate was found to affect the orientation and degree of crystallinity of the films but had no effect on the defect structure or the transport properties of the films. High conductivity of 10-3 Ω cm, electron mobility of 20 cm2/Vs and carrier density of 1020 cm-3 were measured in most films. Thermal treatments in various atmospheres induced a large effect on the thickness, structure and electrical properties of the films. Annealing in a Zn and nitrogen environment at 400°C for 1 h led to a 16% increase in the thickness of the film; this indicates that Zn extracts oxygen atoms from the matrix and forms new layers of ZnO. On the other hand, annealing in a hydrogen atmosphere led to the emergence of an Al2O3 peak in the XRD pattern, which implies that hydrogen and Al atoms compete to occupy Zn sites in the ZnO lattice. Only ambient air annealing had an effect on film defect density and electrical properties, generating reductions in conductivity and electron mobility. Depth-resolved measurements of positron annihilation spectroscopy revealed short positron diffusion lengths and high concentrations of defects in all as-grown films. However, these defects did not diminish the electrical conductivity in the films.

Thermal annealing behaviour of Pd Schottky contacts on melt-grown single crystal ZnO studied by IV and CV measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mtangi, W.; Auret, F.D.; Chawanda, A.; Janse van Rensburg, P.J.; Coelho, S.M.M.; Nel, J.M.; Diale, M.; Schalkwyk, L. van; Nyamhere, C.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Highly rectifying Pd/ZnO contacts have been fabricated. ► The rectification behaviour decrease with annealing temperature. ► The surface donor concentration increases with increase in annealing temperature. ► The depletion layer width at a specific reverse voltage decreases with increase in annealing temperature. - Abstract: Current–voltage (IV) and capacitance–voltage (CV) measurement techniques have successfully been employed to study the effects of annealing highly rectifying Pd/ZnO Schottky contacts. IV results reveal a decrease in the contact quality with increasing annealing temperature as confirmed by a decrease in the zero bias barrier height and an increase in the reverse current measured at −1.5 V. An average barrier height of (0.77 ± 0.02) eV has been calculated by assuming pure thermionic emission for the as-deposited material and as (0.56 ± 0.03) eV after annealing at 550 °C. The reverse current has been measured as (2.10 ± 0.01) × 10 −10 A for the as-deposited and increases by 5 orders of magnitude after annealing at 550 °C to (1.56 ± 0.01) × 10 −5 A. The depletion layer width measured at −2.0 V has shown a strong dependence on thermal annealing as it decreases from 1.09 μm after annealing at 200 °C to 0.24 μm after annealing at 500 °C, resulting in the modification of the dopant concentration within the depletion region and hence the current flowing through the interface from pure thermionic emission to thermionic field emission with the donor concentrations increasing from 6.90 × 10 15 cm −3 at 200 °C to 6.06 × 10 16 cm −3 after annealing at 550 °C. This increase in the volume concentration has been explained as an effect of a conductive channel that shifts closer to the surface after sample annealing. The series resistance has been observed to decrease with increase in annealing temperature. The Pd contacts have shown high stability up to an annealing temperature of 250 °C as revealed by the IV

Thermal annealing behaviour of Pd Schottky contacts on melt-grown single crystal ZnO studied by IV and CV measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mtangi, W., E-mail: wilbert.mtangi@up.ac.za [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Auret, F.D.; Chawanda, A.; Janse van Rensburg, P.J.; Coelho, S.M.M.; Nel, J.M.; Diale, M.; Schalkwyk, L. van [Department of Physics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028 (South Africa); Nyamhere, C. [Department of Physics, P.O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa)

2012-02-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Highly rectifying Pd/ZnO contacts have been fabricated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The rectification behaviour decrease with annealing temperature. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The surface donor concentration increases with increase in annealing temperature. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The depletion layer width at a specific reverse voltage decreases with increase in annealing temperature. - Abstract: Current-voltage (IV) and capacitance-voltage (CV) measurement techniques have successfully been employed to study the effects of annealing highly rectifying Pd/ZnO Schottky contacts. IV results reveal a decrease in the contact quality with increasing annealing temperature as confirmed by a decrease in the zero bias barrier height and an increase in the reverse current measured at -1.5 V. An average barrier height of (0.77 {+-} 0.02) eV has been calculated by assuming pure thermionic emission for the as-deposited material and as (0.56 {+-} 0.03) eV after annealing at 550 Degree-Sign C. The reverse current has been measured as (2.10 {+-} 0.01) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -10} A for the as-deposited and increases by 5 orders of magnitude after annealing at 550 Degree-Sign C to (1.56 {+-} 0.01) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} A. The depletion layer width measured at -2.0 V has shown a strong dependence on thermal annealing as it decreases from 1.09 {mu}m after annealing at 200 Degree-Sign C to 0.24 {mu}m after annealing at 500 Degree-Sign C, resulting in the modification of the dopant concentration within the depletion region and hence the current flowing through the interface from pure thermionic emission to thermionic field emission with the donor concentrations increasing from 6.90 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} cm{sup -3} at 200 Degree-Sign C to 6.06 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 16} cm{sup -3} after annealing at 550 Degree-Sign C. This increase in the volume concentration has been explained as an effect of a conductive channel

Thermal evolution of defects in undoped zinc oxide grown by pulsed laser deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Zilan; Su, Shichen; Ling, Francis Chi-Chung, E-mail: ccling@hku.hk [Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (China); Anwand, W.; Wagner, A. [Institute of Radiation Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstr. 400, 01328 Dresden (Germany)

2014-07-21

Undoped ZnO films are grown by pulsed laser deposition on c-plane sapphire with different oxygen pressures. Thermal evolutions of defects in the ZnO films are studied by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), Raman spectroscopy, and positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), and with the electrical properties characterized by the room temperature Hall measurement. Oxygen deficient defect related Raman lines 560 cm{sup −1} and 584 cm{sup −1} are identified and their origins are discussed. Thermal annealing induces extensive Zn out-diffusion at the ZnO/sapphire interface and leaves out Zn-vacancy in the ZnO film. Two types of Zn-vacancy related defects with different microstructures are identified in the films. One of them dominates in the samples grown without oxygen. Annealing the sample grown without oxygen or growing the samples in oxygen would favor the Zn-vacancy with another microstructure, and this Zn-vacancy defect persists after 1100 °C annealing.

Thermal evolution of defects in undoped zinc oxide grown by pulsed laser deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zilan; Su, Shichen; Ling, Francis Chi-Chung; Anwand, W.; Wagner, A.

2014-07-01

Undoped ZnO films are grown by pulsed laser deposition on c-plane sapphire with different oxygen pressures. Thermal evolutions of defects in the ZnO films are studied by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), Raman spectroscopy, and positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), and with the electrical properties characterized by the room temperature Hall measurement. Oxygen deficient defect related Raman lines 560 cm-1 and 584 cm-1 are identified and their origins are discussed. Thermal annealing induces extensive Zn out-diffusion at the ZnO/sapphire interface and leaves out Zn-vacancy in the ZnO film. Two types of Zn-vacancy related defects with different microstructures are identified in the films. One of them dominates in the samples grown without oxygen. Annealing the sample grown without oxygen or growing the samples in oxygen would favor the Zn-vacancy with another microstructure, and this Zn-vacancy defect persists after 1100 °C annealing.

Thermal evolution of defects in undoped zinc oxide grown by pulsed laser deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Zilan; Su, Shichen; Ling, Francis Chi-Chung; Anwand, W.; Wagner, A.

2014-01-01

Undoped ZnO films are grown by pulsed laser deposition on c-plane sapphire with different oxygen pressures. Thermal evolutions of defects in the ZnO films are studied by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), Raman spectroscopy, and positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS), and with the electrical properties characterized by the room temperature Hall measurement. Oxygen deficient defect related Raman lines 560 cm −1 and 584 cm −1 are identified and their origins are discussed. Thermal annealing induces extensive Zn out-diffusion at the ZnO/sapphire interface and leaves out Zn-vacancy in the ZnO film. Two types of Zn-vacancy related defects with different microstructures are identified in the films. One of them dominates in the samples grown without oxygen. Annealing the sample grown without oxygen or growing the samples in oxygen would favor the Zn-vacancy with another microstructure, and this Zn-vacancy defect persists after 1100 °C annealing.

Growth and characterization of ZnO films deposited by chemical bath and annealed by microwaves (CBD-A{mu}W)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DIaz-Reyes, J [CIBA-IPN, Ex-Hacienda de San Juan Molino, Km. 1.5, Tepetitla, Tlaxcala, 90700 (Mexico); Martinez-Juarez, J; Garcia, M L; Galeazzi, R [CIDS-ICUAP, BUAP, 14 Sur y San Claudio S/N, CU. Edif. No. 137, Col. San Manuel, Puebla, Puebla 72570 (Mexico); Juarez, G, E-mail: jdiazr2001@yahoo.com [DIE-SEES, CINVESTAV-IPN, A. P. 14-740, Mexico, D. F. 07000 (Mexico)

2010-06-15

A study of the growth and the physical properties of ZnO films deposited by chemical bath technique and annealed by microwave are presented. For the deposition solution the molar ratio between zinc nitrate and urea is varied in a range of 1:1... 1:10. By X-ray obtains that layers have hexagonal polycrystalline wurtzite type unitary cell. The Raman spectra show the first order experimental Raman spectra of ZnO. The first order Raman modes are identified in the ZnO Raman spectra. The 300K photoluminescence shows radiative bands labelled by red, yellow, green and violet bands, which are associated to defects of oxygen and zinc vacancies. By EDS measurements determined their stoichiometry, which allows relating it with the intensity of radiative bands associated to oxygen and zinc vacancies.

Surfactant-assisted carbon doping in ZnO nanowires using Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amanullah, Malik; Javed, Qurat-ul-Ain, E-mail: Quratulain@sns.nust.edu.pk; Rizwan, Syed

2016-09-01

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) provides unique properties owing to its wide bandgap, large resistivity range and possibility to tune the physical properties. The surfactant assisted carbon doping was made possible due to the lowering of surface energy. The ZnO and carbon doped ZnO (C-ZnO) nanowires fabricated by hydrothermal process, Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) is used as surfactant in hydrothermal synthesis followed by post growth annealing treatment at 600 °C–700 °C. At 5%–10% of diluted PEG carbon is doped in ZnO. The crystallinity, structural morphology and elemental composition analysis for ZnO and C-ZnO nanowires were carried out using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques respectively. Carbon doping in ZnO nanowires in the presence of different percentage of surfactant is explained by calculating the change in surface energy with respect to change in PEG molecule concentration. It was found that the surface energy per molecule modulates from 3.92 × 10{sup −8} J/m{sup 2} to 8.16 × 10{sup −7} J/m{sup 2} in the PEG concentration range between 5% and 10%. Our results provides a new theoretical calculations, implemented on real system, to observe the details of PEG-assisted Carbon doping in II-VI semiconductor nanowires. - Highlights: • ZnO and C-ZnO was synthesized by PEG assisted post growth annealing process. • At 5% and 10% of PEG successful synthesis of C-ZnO was found. • XRD, SEM and EDX characterizations confirm the successful synthesis of ZnO and C-ZnO. • Change in surface energy with respect to PEG molecule concentration was calculated.

Microwave assisted synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles for lighting and dye removal application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Vijay, E-mail: vijays_phy@rediffmail.com [Department of Physics, University of Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, ZA 9300 (South Africa); Gohain, M. [Department of Chemistry, University of Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, ZA 9300 (South Africa); Som, S.; Kumar, Vinod [Department of Physics, University of Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, ZA 9300 (South Africa); Bezuindenhoudt, B.C.B. [Department of Chemistry, University of Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, ZA 9300 (South Africa); Swart, Hendrik C., E-mail: swarthc@ufs.ac.za [Department of Physics, University of Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein, ZA 9300 (South Africa)

2016-01-01

In this study, we report on the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) via the microwave-assisted technique. The as-synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were annealed at 500 °C for three hours. The ZnO NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopic techniques. XRD results confirmed the formation of as-synthesized ZnO powder oriented along the (101) direction. The Kubelka–Munk function has been employed to determine the band gap of the ZnO powder. ZnO powder has been studied by photoluminescence (PL) before and after annealing to identify the emission of defects in the visible range. The intensity of the PL emission has decreased after annealing. The synthesized ZnO samples were also studied for methyl orange dye removal from waste water. It has been found that the as-synthesized ZnO shows better adsorption behaviour as compared to the annealed sample.

Enhanced native acceptor-related blue emission of ZnO thin films annealed in an oxygen ambient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shim, Eunhee; Lee, Choeun; Jung, Eiwhan; Lee, Jinyong; Kim, Doosoo; Lee, Youngmin; Kim, Deukyoung; Lee, Sejoon

2012-01-01

The thermodynamic behaviors of charged point defects in unintentionally-doped ZnO thin films were investigated. The as-grown sample displayed two different types of blue-emission bands: one at ∼2.95 eV from native-donor zinc interstitial (Zn i ) and the other at ∼3.17 eV from native acceptor zinc vacancies (V Zn ). In the samples annealed at oxygen ambience, V Zn -related emission was dramatically enhanced, and Zn i -related emission was drastically reduced. The behavior was observed to become more apparent when the annealing temperature was increased. The results can be explained by both the increased generation probability and the lowered formation enthalpy of V Zn in an oxygen-rich environment, particularly at higher temperatures.

Enhanced native acceptor-related blue emission of ZnO thin films annealed in an oxygen ambient

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shim, Eunhee; Lee, Choeun; Jung, Eiwhan; Lee, Jinyong; Kim, Doosoo; Lee, Youngmin; Kim, Deukyoung; Lee, Sejoon [Dongguk University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2012-06-15

The thermodynamic behaviors of charged point defects in unintentionally-doped ZnO thin films were investigated. The as-grown sample displayed two different types of blue-emission bands: one at ∼2.95 eV from native-donor zinc interstitial (Zn{sub i}) and the other at ∼3.17 eV from native acceptor zinc vacancies (V{sub Zn}). In the samples annealed at oxygen ambience, V{sub Zn}-related emission was dramatically enhanced, and Zn{sub i}-related emission was drastically reduced. The behavior was observed to become more apparent when the annealing temperature was increased. The results can be explained by both the increased generation probability and the lowered formation enthalpy of V{sub Zn} in an oxygen-rich environment, particularly at higher temperatures.

Strain relaxation near high-k/Si interface by post-deposition annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emoto, T.; Akimoto, K.; Yoshida, Y.; Ichimiya, A.; Nabatame, T.; Toriumi, A.

2005-01-01

We studied the effect of post-deposition annealing on a HfO 2 /Si interface of by extremely asymmetric X-ray diffraction. Comparing the rocking curves before annealing the sample with those of the annealed sample, it is found that an interfacial layer with a density of 3 g/cm 3 grows at the interface between the HfO 2 layer and the substrate during post-deposition annealing. The wavelength dependency of the integrated intensities of the rocking curve for the as-deposited sample fluctuated with the observation position. This fluctuation was suppressed by annealing. From these results we concluded that the strain introduced into the substrate becomes homogeneous by annealing. Moreover, a quantitative estimation of the strain by curve fitting reveals the existence of compressive strain under the HfO 2 layer

ZnO nanostructures with tunable visible luminescence: Effects of kinetics of chemical reduction and annealing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Raji

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Highly crystalline ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using a co-precipitation method. The morphology and optical properties of these nanoparticles are found to be highly sensitive to the growth parameters such as the concentration of reducing agent and annealing temperature. Indeed, the concentration of the reducing agent can alter the morphology of nanoparticles from quasi-spherical to rod-like and then to flower-like structures. Attempts were made to tune the emission wavelength over the visible region by varying the kinetics of chemical reduction and annealing. The possibility of tuning the emission in a visible range from orange to red and then to green by changing the nature of defects by annealing is also reported. Analysis of the Raman spectrum, with its intensity observed at 580 cm−1 corresponding to E1 (LO mode, revealed that the kinetics and thermodynamics of formation and growth of these nanoparticles determined the nature and density of the probable defects such as oxygen vacancies, interstitial zinc atoms and their complexes.

Study on thermal annealing of cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, G.; Bolotnikov, A.E.; Fochuk, P.M.; Camarda, G.S.; Cui, Y.; Hossain, A.; Kim, K.; Horace, J.; McCall, B.; Gul, R.; Xu, L.; Kopach, O.V.; James, R.B.

2010-01-01

Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) has attracted increasing interest with its promising potential as a room-temperature nuclear-radiation-detector material. However, different defects in CZT crystals, especially Te inclusions and dislocations, can degrade the performance of CZT detectors. Post-growth annealing is a good approach potentially to eliminate the deleterious influence of these defects. At Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), we built up different facilities for investigating post-growth annealing of CZT. Here, we report our latest experimental results. Cd-vapor annealing reduces the density of Te inclusions, while large temperature gradient promotes the migration of small-size Te inclusions. Simultaneously, the annealing lowers the density of dislocations. However, only-Cd-vapor annealing decreases the resistivity, possibly reflecting the introduction of extra Cd in the lattice. Subsequent Te-vapor annealing is needed to ensure the recovery of the resistivity after removing the Te inclusions.

Vacancy-induced ferromagnetism in ZnO probed by spin-polarized positron annihilation spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Maekawa, Masaki; Abe, Hiroshi; Miyashita, Atsumi; Sakai, Seiji; Yamamoto, Shunya; Kawasuso, Atsuo

2017-04-01

We investigated the ferromagnetism of ZnO induced by oxygen implantation by using spin-polarized positron annihilation spectroscopy together with magnetization measurements. The magnetization measurements showed the appearance of ferromagnetism after oxygen implantation and its disappearance during post-implantation annealing at temperatures above 573 K. The Doppler broadening of annihilation radiation (DBAR) spectrum showed asymmetry upon field reversal after oxygen implantation. The obtained differential DBAR spectrum between positive and negative magnetic fields was well-explained with a theoretical calculation considering zinc vacancies. The disappearance of the field-reversal asymmetry of the DBAR spectrum as a result of annealing agreed with the observations of ferromagnetism by magnetization measurements. These results suggest the radiation-induced zinc vacancies to be the source of the observed ferromagnetism of ZnO.

Effects of high-dose hydrogen implantation on defect formation and dopant diffusion in silver implanted ZnO crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yaqoob, Faisal [Department of Physics, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York 12222 (United States); Huang, Mengbing, E-mail: mhuang@sunypoly.edu [College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203 (United States)

2016-07-28

This work reports on the effects of a deep high-dose hydrogen ion implant on damage accumulation, defect retention, and silver diffusion in silver implanted ZnO crystals. Single-crystal ZnO samples were implanted with Ag ions in a region ∼150 nm within the surface, and some of these samples were additionally implanted with hydrogen ions to a dose of 2 × 10{sup 16 }cm{sup −2}, close to the depth ∼250 nm. Rutherford backscattering/ion channeling measurements show that crystal damage caused by Ag ion implantation and the amount of defects retained in the near surface region following post-implantation annealing were found to diminish in the case with the H implantation. On the other hand, the additional H ion implantation resulted in a reduction of substitutional Ag atoms upon post-implantation annealing. Furthermore, the presence of H also modified the diffusion properties of Ag atoms in ZnO. We discuss these findings in the context of the effects of nano-cavities on formation and annihilation of point defects as well as on impurity diffusion and trapping in ZnO crystals.

Characterization of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) piezoelectric properties for Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) device

Science.gov (United States)

Rosydi Zakaria, Mohd; Johari, Shazlina; Hafiz Ismail, Mohd; Hashim, Uda

2017-11-01

In fabricating Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) biosensors device, the substrate is one of important factors that affected to performance device. there are many types of piezoelectric substrate in the markets and the cheapest is zinc Oxide substrate. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) with its unique properties can be used as piezoelectric substrate along with SAW devices for detection of DNA in this research. In this project, ZnO thin film is deposited onto silicon oxide substrate using electron beam evaporation (E-beam) and Sol-Gel technique. Different material structure is used to compare the roughness and best piezoelectric substrate of ZnO thin film. Two different structures of ZnO target which are pellet and granular are used for e-beam deposition and one sol-gel liquid were synthesize and compared. Parameter for thickness of ZnO e-beam deposition is fixed to a 0.1kÅ for both materials structure and sol-gel was coat using spin coat technique. After the process is done, samples are annealed at temperature of 500°C for 2 hours. The structural properties of effect of post annealing using different material structure of ZnO are studied using Atomic Force Microscopic (AFM) for surface morphology and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) for phase structure.

Characterization of Hf/Mg co-doped ZnO thin films after thermal treatments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Chih-Hung; Chung, Hantsun [Graduate Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China); Chen, Jian-Zhang, E-mail: jchen@ntu.edu.tw [Graduate Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China); Cheng, I-Chun, E-mail: iccheng@ntu.edu.tw [Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)

2014-11-03

Rf-sputtered Mg{sub 0.05}Zn{sub 0.95}O thin films become amorphous/nanocrystalline with the addition of hafnium oxide. All films (thickness: ∼ 100 nm) sputter-deposited from Hf{sub x}Mg{sub 0.05}Zn{sub 0.95−x}O targets are highly transparent (> 80%) from 400 to 800 nm. The Tauc bandgap ΔE (eV) increases with the Hf content. However, the bandgap decreases after thermal treatment. The reduction in the bandgap is positively correlated with the Hf content and annealing temperature. The residual stresses of films sputtered from Mg{sub 0.05}Zn{sub 0.95}O and Hf{sub 0.025}Mg{sub 0.05}Zn{sub 0.925}O targets are determined based on X-ray diffraction (XRD) data using a bi-axial stress model. The residual stresses of as-deposited films are compressive. As the annealing temperature increases, the residual stresses are relaxed and even become tensile. The bandgap narrowing after thermal treatment is attributed to the stress relaxation that changes the repulsion between the oxygen 2p and zinc 4s bands. Slight grain growth may also result in bandgap reduction because bandgap modification caused by the quantum confinement effect becomes significant in amorphous/nanocrystalline materials. The amorphous thin films reveal good thermal stability after 600 °C annealing for up to 2 h, as evidenced by the XRD and transmission spectra. - Highlights: • Thin films are sputtered from Hf{sub x}Mg{sub 0.05}Zn{sub 0.95−x}O targets at room temperature. • Bandgap increases with Hf content but decreases with post-annealing temperature. • Bandgap narrowing after annealing partly results from the relaxation of stresses. • Bandgap narrowing partly results from quantum confinement effect by nanomaterials. • Hf doping increases resistivity due to the lattice disorder and enlarged bandgap.

Development of a supplemental surveillance program for reactor pressure vessel thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Server, W.L.; Rosinski, S.T.

1997-01-01

The technical decision to thermally anneal a nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) depends upon the level of embrittlement in the RPV steels, the amount of recovery of fracture toughness properties expected from the anneal, and the rate of re-embrittlement after the vessel is placed back into service. The recovery of Charpy impact toughness properties after annealing can be estimated initially by using a recovery model developed using experimental measurements of recovery (such as that developed by Eason et al. for U.S. vessel materials). However, actual validation measurements on plant-specific archived vessel materials (hopefully in the existing surveillance program) are needed; otherwise, irradiated surrogate materials, essentially the same as the RPV steels or bounding in expected behavior, must be utilized. The efficient use of any of these materials requires a supplemental surveillance program focused at both recovery and reirradiation embrittlement. Reconstituted Charpy specimens and new surveillance capsules will most likely be needed as part of this supplemental surveillance program. A new version of ASTM E 509 has recently been approved which provides guidance on thermal annealing in general and specifically for the development of an annealing supplemental surveillance program. The post-anneal re-embrittlement properties are crucial for continued plant operation, and the use of a re-embrittlement model, such as the lateral shift approach, may be overly conservative. This paper illustrates the new ASTM E 509 Standard Guide methodology for an annealing supplemental surveillance program. As an example, the proposed program for the Palisades RPV beltline steels is presented which covers the time from annealing to the end of operating license and beyond, if license renewal is pursued. The Palisades nuclear power plant RPV was planned to be annealed in 1998, but that plant is currently being re-evaluated. The proposed anneal was planned to be conducted at a

Annealing effect on the electrical and optical properties of Au/n-ZnO NWs Schottky diodes white LEDs

Science.gov (United States)

Soomro, M. Y.; Hussain, I.; Bano, N.; Nur, O.; Willander, M.

2013-10-01

We report the post-growth heat treatment effect on the electrical and the optical properties of hydrothermally grown zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) Schottky white light emitting diodes (LEDs). It was found that there is a changed in the electroluminescence (EL) spectrum when post growth annealing process was performed at 600 °C under nitrogen, oxygen and argon ambients. The EL spectrum for LEDs based on the as grown NWs show three bands red, green and blue centered at 724, 518 and 450 nm respectively. All devices based on ZnO NWs annealed in oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2) and argon (Ar) ambient show blue shift in the violet and the red emissions whereas a red shift is observed in the green emission compared to the as grown NWs based device. The color rendering index (CRI) and the correlated color temperature (CCT) of all LEDs were calculated to be in the range 78-91 and 2753-5122 K, respectively. These results indicate that light from the LEDs can be tuned from cold white light to warm white light by post growth annealing.

Synthesis and characterization of ZnO and Ni doped ZnO nanorods by thermal decomposition method for spintronics application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saravanan, R.; Santhi, Kalavathy; Sivakumar, N.; Narayanan, V.; Stephen, A.

2012-01-01

Zinc oxide nanorods and diluted magnetic semiconducting Ni doped ZnO nanorods were prepared by thermal decomposition method. This method is simple and cost effective. The decomposition temperature of acetate and formation of oxide were determined by TGA before the actual synthesis process. The X-ray diffraction result indicates the single phase hexagonal structure of zinc oxide. The transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images show rod like structure of ZnO and Ni doped ZnO samples with the diameter ∼ 35 nm and the length in few micrometers. The surface analysis was performed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies. The Ni doped ZnO exhibits room temperature ferromagnetism. This diluted magnetic semiconducting Ni doped ZnO nanorods finds its application in spintronics. - Highlights: ► The method used is very simple and cost effective compared to all other methods for the preparation DMS materials. ► ZnO and Ni doped ZnO nanorods ► Ferromagnetism at room temperature

Dominant ultraviolet-blue photoluminescence of ZnO embedded into synthetic opal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abrarov, S.M.; Yuldashev, Sh.U.; Kim, T.W.; Lee, S.B.; Kwon, H.Y.; Kang, T.W.

2005-01-01

The temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) embedded into the voids of synthetic opal were studied. ZnO was infiltrated into opal from aqueous solution with zinc nitrate precursor followed by thermal annealing. The PL spectra of the ZnO powder exhibit very high and broad emission peaks in the green region due to crystal defects, such as oxygen vacancies and zinc ion interstitials. In contrast to the PL spectra of ZnO powder, nanocrystals of ZnO embedded into the voids of FCC packed opal matrix exhibit dominant ultraviolet (UV)-blue and rapidly decreasing green PL emissions with decreasing temperature. The temperature-dependent PL characteristics show that the green band suppression in the ZnO nanocrystals is due to the influence of photonic crystal. The infiltration of nanoparticles into synthetic opal may be used for the fabrication of polycrystalline ZnO with dominant UV-blue PL. These results indicate that the luminescent materials embedded into photonic crystal may be promising for the fabrication of the RGB pixels in full-color displays

Significant improvement in the thermal annealing process of optical resonators

Science.gov (United States)

Salzenstein, Patrice; Zarubin, Mikhail

2017-05-01

Thermal annealing performed during process improves the quality of the roughness of optical resonators reducing stresses at the periphery of their surface thus allowing higher Q-factors. After a preliminary realization, the design of the oven and the electronic method were significantly improved thanks to nichrome resistant alloy wires and chopped basalt fibers for thermal isolation during the annealing process. Q-factors can then be improved.

Fabrication and thermal oxidation of ZnO nano fibers prepared via electro spinning technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baek, Jeongha; Park, Juyun; Kim, Don; Kang, Yongcheol; Koh, Sungwi; Kang, Jisoo

2012-01-01

Materials on the scale of nano scale have widely been used as research topics because of their interesting characteristics and aspects they bring into the field. Out of the many metal oxides, zinc oxide (ZnO) was chosen to be fabricated as nano fibers using the electro spinning method for potential uses of solar cells and sensors. After ZnO nano fibers were obtained, calcination temperature effects on the ZnO nano fibers were studied and reported here. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the aggregation of the ZnO nano fibers progressed by calcination. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study showed the hcp ZnO structure was enhanced by calcination at 873 and 1173 K. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the crystallinity of the calcined ZnO nano fibers. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) verified the thermal oxidation of Zn species by calcination in the nano fibers. These techniques have helped US deduce the facts that the diameter of ZnO increases as the calcination temperature was raised; the process of calcination affects the crystallinity of ZnO nano fibers, and the thermal oxidation of Zn species was observed as the calcination temperature was raised

Structural evolution of tunneling oxide passivating contact upon thermal annealing.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sungjin; Min, Kwan Hong; Jeong, Myeong Sang; Lee, Jeong In; Kang, Min Gu; Song, Hee-Eun; Kang, Yoonmook; Lee, Hae-Seok; Kim, Donghwan; Kim, Ka-Hyun

2017-10-16

We report on the structural evolution of tunneling oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) for high efficient solar cells upon thermal annealing. The evolution of doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) into polycrystalline-silicon (poly-Si) by thermal annealing was accompanied with significant structural changes. Annealing at 600 °C for one minute introduced an increase in the implied open circuit voltage (V oc ) due to the hydrogen motion, but the implied V oc decreased again at 600 °C for five minutes. At annealing temperature above 800 °C, a-Si:H crystallized and formed poly-Si and thickness of tunneling oxide slightly decreased. The thickness of the interface tunneling oxide gradually decreased and the pinholes are formed through the tunneling oxide at a higher annealing temperature up to 1000 °C, which introduced the deteriorated carrier selectivity of the TOPCon structure. Our results indicate a correlation between the structural evolution of the TOPCon passivating contact and its passivation property at different stages of structural transition from the a-Si:H to the poly-Si as well as changes in the thickness profile of the tunneling oxide upon thermal annealing. Our result suggests that there is an optimum thickness of the tunneling oxide for passivating electron contact, in a range between 1.2 to 1.5 nm.

Catalytic growth of ZnO nanostructures by r.f. magnetron sputtering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arroyo-Hernández María

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract The catalytic effect of gold seed particles deposited on a substrate prior to zinc oxide (ZnO thin film growth by magnetron sputtering was investigated. For this purpose, selected ultra thin gold layers, with thicknesses close to the percolation threshold, are deposited by thermal evaporation in ultra high vacuum (UHV conditions and subsequently annealed to form gold nanodroplets. The ZnO structures are subsequently deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering in a UHV chamber, and possible morphological differences between the ZnO grown on top of the substrate and on the gold are investigated. The results indicate a moderate catalytic effect for a deposited gold underlayer of 4 nm, quite close to the gold thin film percolation thickness.

Oxidation phase growth diagram of vanadium oxides film fabricated by rapid thermal annealing

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Tamura KOZO; Zheng-cao LI; Yu-quan WANG; Jie NI; Yin HU; Zheng-jun ZHANG

2009-01-01

Thermal evaporation deposited vanadium oxide films were annealed in air by rapid thermal annealing (RTP). By adjusting the annealing temperature and time, a series of vanadium oxide films with various oxidation phases and surface morphologies were fabricated, and an oxidation phase growth diagram was established. It was observed that different oxidation phases appear at a limited and continuous annealing condition range, and the morphologic changes are related to the oxidation process.

Formation and characterization of ZnO : Tm+ optical waveguides fabricated by Tm+ and O+ ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ming Xianbing; Lu Fei; Liu Hanping; Chen Ming; Wang Lei

2009-01-01

Planar optical waveguides were formed in ZnO crystal by Tm + and O + ion implantation. The distributions of Tm + in as-implanted and annealed ZnO samples were investigated by the RBS technique. A shift of the Tm + peak towards the sample surface and out diffusion were observed after thermal treatment and subsequent O + ion implantation. Waveguide formation was determined after O + implantation in Tm + -implanted ZnO crystal. By using the prism-coupling method two guided modes were detected. The refractive index profile in the implanted waveguide was reconstructed according to the SRIM and RCM simulation. The RBS/channelling measurements show that the lattice structure of ZnO did not suffer detectable damage after O + implantation.

Thermal engineering of FAPbI3 perovskite material via radiative thermal annealing and in situ XRD

Science.gov (United States)

Pool, Vanessa L.; Dou, Benjia; Van Campen, Douglas G.; Klein-Stockert, Talysa R.; Barnes, Frank S.; Shaheen, Sean E.; Ahmad, Md I.; van Hest, Maikel F. A. M.; Toney, Michael F.

2017-01-01

Lead halide perovskites have emerged as successful optoelectronic materials with high photovoltaic power conversion efficiencies and low material cost. However, substantial challenges remain in the scalability, stability and fundamental understanding of the materials. Here we present the application of radiative thermal annealing, an easily scalable processing method for synthesizing formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3) perovskite solar absorbers. Devices fabricated from films formed via radiative thermal annealing have equivalent efficiencies to those annealed using a conventional hotplate. By coupling results from in situ X-ray diffraction using a radiative thermal annealing system with device performances, we mapped the processing phase space of FAPbI3 and corresponding device efficiencies. Our map of processing-structure-performance space suggests the commonly used FAPbI3 annealing time, 10 min at 170 °C, can be significantly reduced to 40 s at 170 °C without affecting the photovoltaic performance. The Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model was used to determine the activation energy for decomposition of FAPbI3 into PbI2. PMID:28094249

Defect evolution and its impact on the ferromagnetism of Cu-doped ZnO nanocrystals upon thermal treatment: A positron annihilation study

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhi-Yuan; Chen, Yuqian; Zhang, Q. K.; Qi, N.; Chen, Z. Q.; Wang, S. J.; Li, P. H.; Mascher, P.

2017-01-01

CuO/ZnO nanocomposites with 4 at. % CuO were annealed in air at various temperatures between 100 and 1200 °C to produce Cu-doped ZnO nanocrystals. X-ray diffraction shows that a CuO phase can be observed in the CuO/ZnO nanocomposites annealed at different temperatures, and the Cu-doped ZnO nanocrystals are identified to be of wurtzite structure. The main peak (101) appears at slightly lower diffraction angles with increasing annealing temperature from 400 up to 1200 °C, which confirms the successful doping of Cu into the ZnO lattice above 400 °C. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that most particles in the CuO/ZnO nanocomposites are isolated when annealing at 100-400 °C, but these particles have a tendency to form clusters or aggregates as the annealing temperature increases from 700 to 1000 °C. Positron annihilation measurements reveal a large number of vacancy defects in the interface region of the nanocomposites, and they are gradually recovered with increasing annealing temperature up to 1000 °C. Room-temperature ferromagnetism can be observed in the CuO/ZnO nanocomposites, and the magnetization decreases continuously with increasing annealing temperature. However, there may be several different origins of ferromagnetism in the CuO/ZnO nanocomposites. At low annealing temperatures, the ferromagnetism originates from the CuO nanograins, and the ferromagnetism of CuO nanograins decreases with an increase in the grain size after subsequent higher temperature annealing, which leads to the weakening of ferromagnetism in the CuO/ZnO nanocomposites. After annealing from 400 to 1000 °C, the ferromagnetism gradually vanishes. The ferromagnetism is probably induced by Cu substitution but is mediated by vacancy defects in the CuO/ZnO nanocomposites. The disappearance of ferromagnetism coincides well with the recovery of vacancy defects. It can be inferred that the ferromagnetism is mediated by vacancy defects that are distributed in the interface region.

Synthesis of ZnO nanopowders by DC thermal plasma for dye-sensitized solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Soo-Jung; Choi, Jinsub [Department of Chemical Engineering, Inha University, 253 Yonghyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Dong-Wha, E-mail: dwpark@inha.ac.kr [Department of Chemical Engineering, Inha University, 253 Yonghyun-dong, Nam-gu, Incheon 402-751 (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-01

Highlights: ► ZnO nanopowders were synthesized using DC thermal plasma process. ► Type and flow rate of reaction gas were controlled as experimental variables. ► Various morphologies were identified by changing the reaction gas. ► The photovoltaic performances were promoted by removing the unreacted precursors. ► DSSCs based on 1D nanostructure ZnO show the enhanced energy conversion efficiency. -- Abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanopowders were synthesized from commercially available micro-sized zinc powders (Aldrich Co., 98%, 10 μm) by a DC thermal plasma process at atmospheric pressure. The micro-sized zinc powders were vaporized in the plasma region, after which the plasma processing equipment was rapidly quenched, resulting in the formation of ZnO nanopowders with a size of less than 300 nm. Two different reaction gases of oxygen and carbon dioxide were used as the oxygen source and each gas flow rate was controlled as a process variable. The obtained ZnO nanopowders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All synthesized ZnO nanopowders showed high crystalline wurtzite structures and the differences in their morphologies were strongly dependent on the operating variables. The photocurrent–voltage (J–V) curve of the ZnO nanopowders with a dye of ruthenium (II) 535 bis-TBA (N719, Solaronix) in redox electrolyte showed an overall energy conversion efficiency (η) of 2.54%, demonstrating that the application of the mass-producible ZnO nanopowders by thermal plasma processing to DSSC was feasible.

Performance improvement for solution-processed high-mobility ZnO thin-film transistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Chensha; Loutfy, Rafik O; Li Yuning; Wu Yiliang; Ong, Beng S

2008-01-01

The fabrication technology of stable, non-toxic, transparent, high performance zinc oxide (ZnO) thin-film semiconductors via the solution process was investigated. Two methods, which were, respectively, annealing a spin-coated precursor solution and annealing a drop-coated precursor solution, were compared. The prepared ZnO thin-film semiconductor transistors have well-controlled, preferential crystal orientation and exhibit superior field-effect performance characteristics. But the ZnO thin-film transistor (TFT) fabricated by annealing a drop-coated precursor solution has a distinctly elevated linear mobility, which further approaches the saturated mobility, compared with that fabricated by annealing a spin-coated precursor solution. The performance of the solution-processed ZnO TFT was further improved when substituting the spin-coating process by the drop-coating process

Performance improvement for solution-processed high-mobility ZnO thin-film transistors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Chensha; Loutfy, Rafik O [Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L7 (Canada); Li Yuning; Wu Yiliang; Ong, Beng S [Materials Design and Integration Laboratory, Xerox Research Centre of Canada, 2660 Speakman Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5K 2L1 (Canada)], E-mail: lichnsa@163.com

2008-06-21

The fabrication technology of stable, non-toxic, transparent, high performance zinc oxide (ZnO) thin-film semiconductors via the solution process was investigated. Two methods, which were, respectively, annealing a spin-coated precursor solution and annealing a drop-coated precursor solution, were compared. The prepared ZnO thin-film semiconductor transistors have well-controlled, preferential crystal orientation and exhibit superior field-effect performance characteristics. But the ZnO thin-film transistor (TFT) fabricated by annealing a drop-coated precursor solution has a distinctly elevated linear mobility, which further approaches the saturated mobility, compared with that fabricated by annealing a spin-coated precursor solution. The performance of the solution-processed ZnO TFT was further improved when substituting the spin-coating process by the drop-coating process.

The influence of annealing on manganese implanted GaAs films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buerger, Danilo; Zhou, Shengqiang; Grenzer, Joerg; Reuther, Helfried; Anwand, Wolfgang; Gottschalch, Volker; Helm, Manfred; Schmidt, Heidemarie

2009-01-01

Besides low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy, ion implantation provides an alternative route to incorporate Mn into GaAs above the equilibrium solubility limit. Recently, Mn implanted GaAs diluted magnetic semiconductor was obtained by pulsed laser annealing. However, post-implantation annealing can lead to the formation of secondary phases. In order to compare the post-annealing effect, we investigate GaMnAs by implanting up to 6 at% Mn followed by rapid thermal and flashlamp annealing. The structural properties were probed by high resolution X-ray diffraction. The magnetic properties were determined by SQUID measurements. Auger electron spectroscopy has been used to profile the depth distribution of Mn in GaAs after implantation and annealing. We elucidate after implantation a loss of As and that during rapid thermal annealing most of the Mn diffuses towards the surface. Flash lamp annealing prevents out-diffusion, but the recrystallisation efficiency is low. Only the flash lamp annealed samples reveal weak ferromagnetism.

Rapid magnetic hardening by rapid thermal annealing in NdFeB-based nanocomposites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chu, K.-T.; Jin, Z Q; Chakka, Vamsi M; Liu, J P [Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019 (United States)

2005-11-21

A systematic study of heat treatments and magnetic hardening of NdFeB-based melt-spun nanocomposite ribbons have been carried out. Comparison was made between samples treated by rapid thermal annealing and by conventional furnace annealing. Heating rates up to 200 K s{sup -1} were adopted in the rapid thermal processing. It was observed that magnetic hardening can be realized in an annealing time as short as 1 s. Coercivity of 10.2 kOe in the nanocomposites has been obtained by rapid thermal annealing for 1 s, and prolonged annealing did not give any increase in coercivity. Detailed results on the effects of annealing time, temperature and heating rate have been obtained. The dependence of magnetic properties on the annealing parameters has been investigated. Structural characterization revealed that there is a close correlation between magnetic hardening and nanostructured morphology. The coercivity mechanism was also studied by analysing the magnetization minor loops.

Tunable metal-insulator transitions in bilayer graphene by thermal annealing

OpenAIRE

Kalon, Gopinadhan; Shin, Young Jun; Yang, Hyunsoo

2012-01-01

Tunable and highly reproducible metal-insulator transitions have been observed in bilayer graphene upon thermal annealing at 400 K under high vacuum conditions. Before annealing, the sample is metallic in the whole temperature regime of study. Upon annealing, the conductivity changes from metallic to that of an insulator and the transition temperature is a function of annealing time. The pristine metallic state can be reinstated by exposing to air thereby inducing changes in the electronic pr...

Thermally induced growth of ZnO nanocrystals on mixed metal oxide surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Inayat, Alexandra; Makky, Ayman; Giraldo, Jose; Kuhnt, Andreas; Busse, Corinna; Schwieger, Wilhelm

2014-06-23

An in situ method for the growth of ZnO nanocrystals on Zn/Al mixed metal oxide (MMO) surfaces is presented. The key to this method is the thermal treatment of Zn/Al layered double hydroxides (Zn/Al LDHs) in the presence of nitrate anions, which results in partial demixing of the LDH/MMO structure and the subsequent crystallization of ZnO crystals on the surface of the forming MMO layers. In a first experimental series, thermal treatment of Zn/Al LDHs with different fractions of nitrate and carbonate in the interlayer space was examined by thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectrometry (TG-MS) and in situ XRD. In a second experimental series, Zn/Al LDHs with only carbonate in the interlayer space were thermally treated in the presence of different amounts of an external nitrate source (NH4NO3). All obtained Zn/Al MMO samples were analysed by electron microscopy, nitrogen physisorption and powder X-ray diffraction. The gas phase formed during nitrate decomposition turned out to be responsible for the formation of crystalline ZnO nanoparticles. Accordingly, both interlayer nitrate and the presence of ammonium nitrate led to the formation of supported ZnO nanocrystals with mean diameters between 100 and 400 nm, and both methods offer the possibility to tailor the amount and size of the ZnO crystals by means of the amount of nitrate. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Modulation of defect-mediated energy transfer from ZnO nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of bilirubin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanujjal Bora

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, nanotechnology has gained significant interest for applications in the medical field. In this regard, a utilization of the ZnO nanoparticles for the efficient degradation of bilirubin (BR through photocatalysis was explored. BR is a water insoluble byproduct of the heme catabolism that can cause jaundice when its excretion is impaired. The photocatalytic degradation of BR activated by ZnO nanoparticles through a non-radiative energy transfer pathway can be influenced by the surface defect-states (mainly the oxygen vacancies of the catalyst nanoparticles. These were modulated by applying a simple annealing in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The mechanism of the energy transfer process between the ZnO nanoparticles and the BR molecules adsorbed at the surface was studied by using steady-state and picosecond-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. A correlation of photocatalytic degradation and time-correlated single photon counting studies revealed that the defect-engineered ZnO nanoparticles that were obtained through post-annealing treatments led to an efficient decomposition of BR molecules that was enabled by Förster resonance energy transfer.

Control of crystal structure, morphology and optical properties of ceria films by post deposition annealing treatments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eltayeb, Asmaa; Vijayaraghavan, Rajani K.; McCoy, Anthony P.; Cullen, Joseph; Daniels, Stephen; McGlynn, Enda

2016-01-01

In this paper, the effects of post-deposition annealing temperature and atmosphere on the properties of pulsed DC magnetron sputtered ceria (CeO_2) thin films, including crystalline structure, grain size and shape and optical properties were investigated. Experimental results, obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD), showed that the prepared films crystallised predominantly in the CeO_2 cubic fluorite structure, although evidence of Ce_2O_3 was also seen and this was quantified by a Rietveld refinement. The anneal temperature and oxygen content of the Ar/O_2 annealing atmosphere both played important roles on the size and shape of the nanocrystals as determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The average grain size (determined by an AFM) as well as the out of plane coherence length (obtained from XRD) varied with increasing oxygen flow rate (OFR) in the annealing chamber. In addition, the shape of the grains seen in the AFM studies transformed from circular to triangular as the OFR was raised from 20 sccm to 30 sccm during an 800 °C thermal anneal. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to measure near-surface oxidation states of the thin-films with varying OFR in the annealing chamber. The bandgap energies were estimated from the ultra-violet and visible absorption spectra and low-temperature photoluminescence. An extracted bandgap value of 3.04 eV was determined for as-deposited CeO_2 films and this value increased with increasing annealing temperatures. However, no difference was observed in bandgap energies with variation of annealing atmosphere. - Highlights: • Deposition of ceria thin films by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering • Effect of annealing temperature and gas ambient on film crystalline structure • Evidence for control of the film roughness and grain size and shape is achieved. • Investigation of the effect of post-deposition annealing on the film stoichiometry • Films showed blue shifts in bandgap energies with increasing annealing

Thermal annealing of an embrittled reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mager, T.R.; Dragunov, Y.G.; Leitz, C.

1998-01-01

As a result of the popularity of the Agencies report 'Neutron Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels' of 1975, it was decided that another report on this broad subject would be of use. In this report, background and contemporary views on specially identified areas of the subject are considered as self-contained chapters, written by experts. Chapter 11 deals with thermal annealing of an embrittled reactor pressure vessel. Anneal procedures for vessels from both the US and the former USSR are mentioned schematically, wet anneals at lower temperature and dry anneals above RPV design temperatures are investigated. It is shown that heat treatment is a means of recovering mechanical properties which were degraded by neutron radiation exposure, thus assuring reactor pressure vessel compliance with regulatory requirements

Effects of Post Heat Treatments on ZnO Thin-Films Grown on Zn-coated Teflon Substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Ikhyun; Nam, Giwoong; Lee, Cheoleon; Kim, Dongwhan; Choi, Hyonkwang; Kim, Yangsoo; Leem, Jae-Young [Inje University, Gimhae (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jin Soo [Chonbuk National University, Jeonju (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jong Su [Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan (Korea, Republic of); Son, Jeong-Sik [Kyungwoon University, Gumi (Korea, Republic of)

2015-06-15

ZnO thin films were first grown on Zn-coated Teflon substrates using a spin-coating method, with various post-heating temperatures. The structural and optical properties of the ZnO thin films were then investigated using field-effect scanning-electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The surface morphology of these ZnO thin films exhibited dendritic structures. With increasing post-heating temperature, all samples preferentially exhibited preferential c-axis orientation and increased residual tensile stress. All of the films exhibited preferential c-axis orientation, and the residual tensile stress of those increased with increasing post-heating temperature. The near-band-edge emission (NBE) peaks were red-shifted after post-heating treatment at 400 ℃. The intensity of the deep-level emission (DLE) peaks gradually decreased with increasing post- heating temperature. Moreover, the narrowest ‘full width at half maximum’ (FWHM) and the highest intensity ratio of the NBE to the DLE for thin films, were observed after post-heating at 400 ℃. The ZnO thin films fabricated with the 400 ℃ post-heating process provided the highest crystallinity and optical properties.

MoO3 Thickness, Thermal Annealing and Solvent Annealing Effects on Inverted and Direct Polymer Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillaume Wantz

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Several parameters of the fabrication process of inverted polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells based on titanium oxide as an electron selective layer and molybdenum oxide as a hole selective layer were tested in order to achieve efficient organic photovoltaic solar cells. Thermal annealing treatment is a common process to achieve optimum morphology, but it proved to be damageable for the performance of this kind of inverted solar cells. We demonstrate using Auger analysis combined with argon etching that diffusion of species occurs from the MoO3/Ag top layers into the active layer upon thermal annealing. In order to achieve efficient devices, the morphology of the bulk heterojunction was then manipulated using the solvent annealing technique as an alternative to thermal annealing. The influence of the MoO3 thickness was studied on inverted, as well as direct, structure. It appeared that only 1 nm-thick MoO3 is enough to exhibit highly efficient devices (PCE = 3.8% and that increasing the thickness up to 15 nm does not change the device performance. 

Ambient Layer-by-Layer ZnO Assembly for Highly Efficient Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Eita, Mohamed Samir

2015-02-04

The use of metal oxide interlayers in polymer solar cells has great potential because metal oxides are abundant, thermally stable, and can be used in fl exible devices. Here, a layer-by-layer (LbL) protocol is reported as a facile, room-temperature, solution-processed method to prepare electron transport layers from commercial ZnO nanoparticles and polyacrylic acid (PAA) with a controlled and tunable porous structure, which provides large interfacial contacts with the active layer. Applying the LbL approach to bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells with an optimized ZnO layer thickness of H25 nm yields solar cell power-conversion effi ciencies (PCEs) of ≈6%, exceeding the effi ciency of amorphous ZnO interlayers formed by conventional sputtering methods. Interestingly, annealing the ZnO/PAA interlayers in nitrogen and air environments in the range of 60-300 ° C reduces the device PCEs by almost 20% to 50%, indicating the importance of conformational changes inherent to the PAA polymer in the LbL-deposited fi lms to solar cell performance. This protocol suggests a new fabrication method for solution-processed polymer solar cell devices that does not require postprocessing thermal annealing treatments and that is applicable to fl exible devices printed on plastic substrates.

Rapid Thermal annealing of silicon layers amorphized by ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasenack, C.M.

1986-01-01

The recrystallization behavior and the supression mechanisms of the residual defects of silicon layers amorphized by ion implantation, were investigated. The samples were annealed with the aid of a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) system at temperature range from 850 to 1200 0 C, and annealing time up to 120 s. Random and aligned Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy were used to analyse the samples. Similarities in the recrystallization behavior for layers implanted with ions of the same chemical groups such as As or Sb; Ge, Sn or Pb, In or Ga, are observed. The results show that the effective supression of resisual defects of the recrystallired layers is vinculated to the redistribution of impurities via thermal diffusion. (author) [pt

Fast vertical growth of ZnO nanorods using a modified chemical bath deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Tae-hyun [Department of Nano Systems Engineering, Center for Nano Manufacturing, Inje University, Obang-dong, Gimhae, Gyeongnam 621-749 (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, Hyukhyun, E-mail: hhryu@inje.ac.kr [Department of Nano Systems Engineering, Center for Nano Manufacturing, Inje University, Obang-dong, Gimhae, Gyeongnam 621-749 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Won-Jae [Department of Materials and Components Engineering, Dong-Eui University, 995 Eomgwangno, Busanjin-gu, Busan 614-714 (Korea, Republic of)

2014-06-01

Highlights: • We grew vertical ZnO nanorods by a modified CBD process with a fast growth rate. • We studied the effects of the CBD process by varying growth temperature, time, and concentration. • The ZnO nanorods grown by the modified CBD showed good morphological and structural properties. - Abstract: In this study, we grew vertical ZnO nanorods on seeded Si (1 0 0) substrates using a modified chemical bath deposition (CBD). We investigated the effects of the growth temperature, growth time and concentration on the morphological and structural properties of the ZnO nanorods using field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) and X-ray diffraction. This modified CBD method shows improved results over conventional CBD. ZnO nanorods with good structural XRD properties were grown with a very fast growth rate in a wide range of growth conditions and did not require post-growth annealing.

Response of neutron-irradiated RPV steels to thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iskander, S.K.; Sokolov, M.A.; Nanstad, R.K.

1997-01-01

One of the options to mitigate the effects of irradiation on reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) is to thermally anneal them to restore the fracture toughness properties that have been degraded by neutron irradiation. This paper summarizes experimental results of work performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to study the annealing response of several irradiated RPV steels

P-type single-crystalline ZnO films obtained by (Na,N) dual implantation through dynamic annealing process

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiyuan; Huang, Jingyun; Chen, Shanshan; Pan, Xinhua; Chen, Lingxiang; Ye, Zhizhen

2018-02-01

Single-crystalline ZnO films were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy technique on c-plane sapphire substrates. The films have been implanted with fixed fluence of 130 keV Na and 90 keV N ions at 460 °C. It is observed that dually-implanted single crystalline ZnO films exhibit p-type characteristics with hole concentration in the range of 1.24 × 1016-1.34 × 1017 cm-3, hole mobilities between 0.65 and 8.37 cm2 V-1 s-1, and resistivities in the range of 53.3-80.7 Ω cm by Hall-effect measurements. There are no other secondary phase appearing, with (0 0 2) (c-plane) orientation after ion implantation as identified by the X-ray diffraction pattern. It is obtained that Na and N ions were successfully implanted and activated as acceptors measured by XPS and SIMS results. Also compared to other similar studies, lower amount of Na and N ions make p-type characteristics excellent as others deposited by traditional techniques. It is concluded that Na and N ion implantation and dynamic annealing are essential in forming p-type single-crystalline ZnO films.

Refractive index engineering of poly (vinyl alcohol)/Li2ZnO2 nanocomposites: Effect of filler content and annealing temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Subramani, Nithin Kundachira; Shivanna, Sachhidananda; Nagaraj, Shilpa Kasargod; Siddaramaiah, Hatna

2018-04-01

Herein, we report the successful formulation and refractive index (RI) engineering of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films with varying amounts viz., 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 wt% lithium zincate (Li2ZnO2) nanoparticles. The as developed nanocomposite (NC) films were structurally characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD) studies, that validate the presence of Li2ZnO2 nanofillers in PVA host. While, Li2ZnO2 nanofiller induced changes in morphological behaviors were validated from scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies. The UV - visible transmittance studies narrate excellent UV ( 400 nm) transmittance. The transmittance intensity was found to exhibit a monotonic decrease with nanofiller content, especially in the UV regions. The absorption edges were found to be down-shifted towards lower energy values exhibiting a minimum of 4.42 eV for PVA/4 wt% Li2ZnO2 NC film. Further, the RI of the PVA films showed a gradual increase from 1.72 to 2.21 with an increase in filling levels (FLs) from 0 to 4 wt%. The effect of annealing on optical transmittance and RI of PVA films were also studied at different temperatures. The PVA/Li2ZnO2 NC films were also studied for their light emitting functionalities.

Polyelectrolyte-assisted preparation and characterization of nanostructured ZnO thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jia, Shijun

2005-05-15

The present work focuses on the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured ZnO thin films onto silicon wafers modified by self-assembled-monolayers via chemical bath deposition. Two precursor solutions were designed and used for the film deposition, in which two different polymers were introduced respectively to control the growth of the ZnO colloidal particles in solution. ZnO films were deposited from an aqueous solution containing zinc salt and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) in the presence of a graft-copolymer (P (MAA{sub 0.50}-co(MAA-EO{sub 20}){sub 0.50}){sub 70}). A film-formation-diagram was established based on the results obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), which describes the influence of the concentration of HMTA and copolymer on the ZnO film formation. According to the film morphology, film formation can be classified into three categories: (a) island-like films, (b) uniform films and (c) canyon-like films. The ZnO films annealed at temperatures of 450 C, 500 C, 600 C and 700 C were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). After annealing, the films are polycrystalline ZnO with wurtzite structure. XRD measurements indicate that with increasing annealing temperature, the average grain size increases accordingly and the crystallinity of the films is improved. Upon heating to 600 C, the ZnO films exhibit preferred orientation with c-axis normal to substrate, whereas the films annealed at 700 C even show a more explicit texture. By annealing at temperatures above 600 C the ZnO film reacts with the substrate to form an interfacial layer of Zn{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}, which grows thicker at elevated annealing temperatures. The ZnO films annealed at 600 C and 700 C show strong UV emission. Another non-aqueous solution system for ZnO thin film deposition was established, in which 2- propanol was used as a solvent and Zn(CH3COO){sub 2}.2H{sub 2}O as well as NaOH as reactants

Low-cost synthesis of pure ZnO nanowalls showing three-fold symmetry

Science.gov (United States)

Scuderi, Mario; Strano, Vincenzina; Spinella, Corrado; Nicotra, Giuseppe; Mirabella, Salvo

2018-04-01

ZnO nanowalls (NWLs) represent a non-toxic, Earth abundant, high surface-to-volume ratio, semiconducting nanostructure which has already showed potential applications in biosensing, environmental monitoring and energy. Low-cost synthesis of these nanostructures is extremely appealing for large scale upgrading of laboratory results, and its implementation has to be tested at the nanoscale, at least in terms of chemical purity and crystallographic orientation. Here, we have produced pure and texturized ZnO NWLs by using chemical bath deposition (CBD) synthesis followed by a thermal treatment at 300 °C. We examined the NWL formation process and the new obtained structure at the nanoscale, by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy in combination with x-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. We have shown that only after annealing at 300 °C in nitrogen does the as-grown material, composed of a mixture of Zn compounds NWLs, show its peculiar crystal arrangement. The resulting ZnO sheets are in fact made by ZnO wurtzite domains (4-5 nm) that show a particular kind of texturization; indeed, they are aligned with their own c-axis always perpendicular to the sheets forming the wall and rotated (around the c-axis) by multiples of 20° from each other. The presented data show that low-cost CBD, followed by an annealing process, gives pure ZnO with a peculiarly ordered nanostructure that shows three-fold symmetry. Such evidence at the nanoscale will have significant implications for realizing sensing or catalyst devices based on ZnO NWLs.

Preparation, structural and luminescent properties of nanocrystalline ZnO films doped Ag by close space sublimation method

Science.gov (United States)

Khomchenko, Viktoriya; Mazin, Mikhail; Sopinskyy, Mykola; Lytvyn, Oksana; Dan'ko, Viktor; Piryatinskii, Yurii; Demydiuk, Pavlo

2018-05-01

The simple way for silver doping of ZnO films is presented. The ZnO films were prepared by reactive rf-magnetron sputtering on silicon and sapphire substrates. Ag doping is carried out by sublimation of the Ag source located at close space at atmospheric pressure in air. Then the ZnO and ZnO-Ag films were annealed in wet media. The microstructure and optical properties of the films were compared and studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL). XRD results indicated that all the ZnO films have a polycrystalline hexagonal structure and a preferred orientation with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The annealing and Ag doping promote increasing grain's sizes and modification of grain size distribution. The effect of substrate temperature, substrate type, Ag doping and post-growth annealing of the films was studied by PL spectroscopy. The effect of Ag doping was obvious and identical for all the films, namely the wide visible bands of PL spectra are suppressed by Ag doping. The intensity of ultraviolet band increased 15 times as compared to their reference films on sapphire substrate. The ultraviolet/visible emission ratio was 20. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) for a 380 nm band was 14 nm, which is comparable with that of epitaxial ZnO. The data implies the high quality of ZnO-Ag films. Possible mechanisms to enhance UV emission are discussed.

Electrical and structural properties of ZnO synthesized via infiltration of lithographically defined polymer templates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, Chang-Yong; Stein, Aaron; Kisslinger, Kim; Black, Charles T.

2015-01-01

We investigate the electrical and structural properties of infiltration-synthesized ZnO. In-plane ZnO nanowire arrays with prescribed positional registrations are generated by infiltrating diethlyzinc and water vapor into lithographically defined SU-8 polymer templates and removing organic matrix by oxygen plasma ashing. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that homogeneously amorphous as-infiltrated polymer templates transform into highly nanocrystalline ZnO upon removal of organic matrix. Field-effect transistor device measurements show that the synthesized ZnO after thermal annealing displays a typical n-type behavior, ∼10 19  cm −3 carrier density, and ∼0.1 cm 2 V −1 s −1 electron mobility, reflecting highly nanocrystalline internal structure. The results demonstrate the potential application of infiltration synthesis in fabricating metal oxide electronic devices

Temper embrittlement, irradiation induced phosphorus segregation and implications for post-irradiation annealing of reactor pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McElroy, R.J.; English, C.A.; Foreman, A.J.; Gage, G.; Hyde, J.M.; Ray, P.H.N.; Vatter, I.A.

1999-01-01

Three steels designated JPB, JPC and JPG from the IAEA Phase 3 Programme containing two copper and phosphorus levels were pre- and post-irradiation Charpy and hardness tested in the as-received (AR), 1200 C/0.5h heat treated (HT) and heat treated and 450 C/2000h aged (HTA) conditions. The HT condition was designed to simulate coarse grained heat-affected zones (HAZ's) and showed a marked sensitivity to thermal ageing in all three alloys. Embrittlement after thermal ageing was greater in the higher phosphorus alloys JPB and JPG. Charpy shifts due to thermal ageing of between 118 and 209 C were observed and accompanied by pronounced intergranular fracture, due to phosphorus segregation. The irradiation embrittlement response was complex. The low copper alloys, JPC and JPB, in the HT and HTA condition exhibited significant irradiation induced Charpy shift but very low or even negative hardness changes indicating non-hardening embrittlement. The higher copper alloy, JPG, also exhibited irradiation hardening in line with its copper content. Fractographic and microchemical studies indicated irradiation induced phosphorus segregation and a transition from cleavage to intergranular failure at grain boundary phosphorus concentrations above a critical level. The enhanced grain boundary phosphorus level increased with dose in agreement with a kinetic segregation model developed at Harwell. The relevance of the thermal ageing studies to RPV Annealing for Plant-Life Extension was identified early in the program. It is of concern that annealing of RPV's has been performed, or is proposed, at temperatures in the range 425--475 C for periods of about 1 week (168h). Much attention has been given to the use of in-situ hardness measurements and machining miniature Charpy and tensile specimens from belt-line plate and weld materials. However, HAZ's, often containing higher phosphorus levels than the present materials, have largely been ignored. A post-irradiation annealing (PIA

Thermal annealing of gamma irradiated ammonium chloride (Preprint no. RC-37)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalkar, C.D.; Lala, Neeta

1991-01-01

Ammonium chloride produces N 2 H 4 + and Cl 2 as the main radiolytic products on gamma irradiation. Thermal annealing has a marked effect on the stability of N 2 H 4 + and Cl 2 . During the thermal annealing the chemical yield of nitrite and iodine was studied by dissolving irradiated ammonium chloride in aqueous sodium nitrate and potassium iodide respectively. The yield of iodine in isochronal annealing showed an exponential behaviour with temperature while that of nitrite showed a decrease and then increases at higher temperatures. The results are explained on the basis of dissociation and recombination of N 2 H 4 + with temperature. (author). 3 refs., 2 figs

Rapid thermal and swift heavy ion induced annealing of Co ion implanted GaN films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baranwal, V.; Pandey, A. C.; Gerlach, J. W.; Rauschenbach, B.; Karl, H.; Kanjilal, D.; Avasthi, D. K.

2008-01-01

Thin epitaxial GaN films grown on 6H-SiC(0001) substrates were implanted with 180 keV Co ions at three different fluences. As-implanted samples were characterized with secondary ion mass spectrometry and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry to obtain the Co depth profiles and the maximum Co concentrations. As-implanted samples were annealed applying two different techniques: rapid thermal annealing and annealing by swift heavy ion irradiation. Rapid thermal annealing was done at two temperatures: 1150 deg. C for 20 s and 700 deg. C for 5 min. 200 MeV Ag ions at two fluences were used for annealing by irradiation. Crystalline structure of the pristine, as-implanted, and annealed samples was investigated using x-ray diffraction, and the results were compared. Improvement of the crystalline quality was observed for rapid thermal annealed samples at the higher annealing temperature as confirmed with rocking curve measurements. The results indicate the presence of Co clusters in these annealed samples. Swift heavy ion irradiation with the parameters chosen for this study did not lead to a significant annealing

Enhanced bulk heterojunction devices prepared by thermal and solvent vapor annealing processes

Science.gov (United States)

Forrest, Stephen R.; Thompson, Mark E.; Wei, Guodan; Wang, Siyi

2017-09-19

A method of preparing a bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cell through combinations of thermal and solvent vapor annealing are described. Bulk heterojunction films may prepared by known methods such as spin coating, and then exposed to one or more vaporized solvents and thermally annealed in an effort to enhance the crystalline nature of the photoactive materials.

Inverse spinel ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles synthesized by ion implantation and post-annealing: An investigation using X-ray spectroscopy and magneto-transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Shengqiang; Potzger, K.; Buerger, D.; Kuepper, K.; Helm, M.; Fassbender, J.; Schmidt, H.

2009-01-01

Noncrystalline ZnFe 2 O 4 has been investigated intensively due to the drastic difference in cation distribution compared with bulk materials. We previously synthesized ZnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles by ion implantation and post-annealing [S. Zhou, K. Potzger, H. Reuther, G. Talut, F. Eichhorn, J. von Borany, W. Skorupa, M. Helm, J. Fassbender, J. Phys. D - Appl. Phys. 40 (2007) 964]. These ZnFe 2 O 4 nanocrystals are crystallographically oriented inside the ZnO matrix and show a hysteretic behavior upon magnetization reversal at 5 K. Their magnetic properties are explained by assuming that Fe 3+ ions partially occupy tetrahedral sites. In this paper an X-ray spectroscopic and magneto-transport investigation on ZnFe 2 O 4 nanocrystals in a ZnO matrix will be presented. The occupation of Fe 3+ at tetrahedral sites has been directly proved. A positive magnetoresistance (MR) effect is observed and is attributed to ordinary MR.

Synthesis and characterization of thermally oxidized ZnO films

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Administrator

Synthesis and characterization of thermally oxidized ZnO films. A P RAMBU1,* and N IFTIMIE2 .... R. −. Δ. = = (1) where Ra is the sensor resistance in the air and Rg is the .... ple, Aida and coworkers (2006) reported that the total oxidation is ...

Optimized Laser Thermal Annealing on Germanium for High Dopant Activation and Low Leakage Current

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shayesteh, Maryam; O' Connell, Dan; Gity, Farzan

2014-01-01

In this paper, state-of-the-art laser thermal annealing is used to fabricate Ge diodes. We compared the effect of laser thermal annealing (LTA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on dopant activation and electrical properties of phosphorus and Arsenic-doped n +/p junctions. Using LTA, high carrier...... implant conditions. On the other hand, RTA revealed very high I on/I off ratio ∼ 107 and n ∼ 1, at the cost of high dopant diffusion and lower carrier concentrations which would degrade scalability and access resistance....

Properties of In–N codoped p-type ZnO nanorods grown through a two-step chemical route

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duta, M.; Mihaiu, S.; Munteanu, C. [Institute of Physical Chemistry “Ilie Murgulescu”, Romanian Academy, 202 Splaiul Independentei, 060021 Bucharest (Romania); Anastasescu, M., E-mail: manastasescu@icf.ro [Institute of Physical Chemistry “Ilie Murgulescu”, Romanian Academy, 202 Splaiul Independentei, 060021 Bucharest (Romania); Osiceanu, P.; Marin, A.; Preda, S. [Institute of Physical Chemistry “Ilie Murgulescu”, Romanian Academy, 202 Splaiul Independentei, 060021 Bucharest (Romania); Nicolescu, M., E-mail: mnicolescu2006@yahoo.com [Institute of Physical Chemistry “Ilie Murgulescu”, Romanian Academy, 202 Splaiul Independentei, 060021 Bucharest (Romania); Modreanu, M. [Tyndall National Institute, University College, Cork (Ireland); Zaharescu, M.; Gartner, M. [Institute of Physical Chemistry “Ilie Murgulescu”, Romanian Academy, 202 Splaiul Independentei, 060021 Bucharest (Romania)

2015-07-30

Highlights: • p-Type ZnO film codoped with In, N on glass substrate was obtained. • The films were prepared by sol–gel followed by hydrothermal method. • Influence of annealing regimes on opto-electrical properties was studied. • Thin films morphology consists of interconnected, randomly oriented nanorods. • 3.31 × 10{sup 17} cm{sup −3}carrier concentration and 85% transmission were obtained at 500 °C. - Abstract: By codoping with a donor–acceptor pair through a two-step chemical method we have succeed to obtain p-type ZnO thin films on glass. Firstly, a thin undoped ZnO seed layer was deposited by sol–gel method followed by the deposition of In–N codoped ZnO film obtained through the hydrothermal technique. The influence of post-deposition annealing temperature (100 °C, 300 °C and 500 °C) on the samples was investigated from a structural, chemical, morphological and optoelectrical point of view. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), infrared ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses have confirmed the codoped nature of the ZnO thin films. The XRD pattern analysis has established the films have wurtzite nanocrystalline structure, the crystallite sizes varying between 10 nm and 13 nm with the annealing temperature. Continuous and homogenous films with nanorods surface morphology has been obtained, as visualized by scanning electron microscopy measurements. Hall Effect measurements have established that all samples, regardless of annealing temperature, showed p-type conduction due to the successful incorporation of nitrogen in the film, with the highest carrier concentration registered at 500 °C. This is in good correlation with the nitrogen content in the films as revealed from XPS. In all samples, the XPS depth profiling has shown a nitrogen gradient with higher elemental concentration at the surface.

Catalyst-free growth of ZnO nanowires on ITO seed/glass by thermal evaporation method: Effects of ITO seed layer thickness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alsultany, Forat H., E-mail: foratusm@gmail.com; Ahmed, Naser M. [School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Hassan, Z. [Institute of Nano-Optoelectronics Research and Technology Laboratory (INOR), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia)

2016-07-19

A seed/catalyst-free growth of ZnO nanowires (ZnO-NWs) on a glass substrate were successfully fabricated using thermal evaporation technique. These nanowires were grown on ITO seed layers of different thicknesses of 25 and 75 nm, which were deposited on glass substrates by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. Prior to synthesized ITO nanowires, the sputtered ITO seeds were annealed using the continuous wave (CW) CO2 laser at 450 °C in air for 15 min. The effect of seed layer thickness on the morphological, structural, and optical properties of ZnO-NWs were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

Rapid thermal pulse annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, M.G.; Koehn, B.W.; Chaplin, R.L.

1976-01-01

Characteristics of recovery processes have been investigated for cases of heating a sample to successively higher temperatures by means of isochronal annealing or by using a rapid pulse annealing. A recovery spectra shows the same features independent of which annealing procedure is used. In order to determine which technique provides the best resolution, a study was made of how two independent first-order processes are separated for different heating rates and time increments of the annealing pulses. It is shown that the pulse anneal method offers definite advantages over isochronal annealing when annealing for short time increments. Experimental data by means of the pulse anneal techniques are given for the various substages of stage I of aluminium. (author)

Gallium ion implantation greatly reduces thermal conductivity and enhances electronic one of ZnO nanowires

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minggang Xia

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The electrical and thermal conductivities are measured for individual zinc oxide (ZnO nanowires with and without gallium ion (Ga+ implantation at room temperature. Our results show that Ga+ implantation enhances electrical conductivity by one order of magnitude from 1.01 × 103 Ω−1m−1 to 1.46 × 104 Ω−1m−1 and reduces its thermal conductivity by one order of magnitude from 12.7 Wm−1K−1 to 1.22 Wm−1K−1 for ZnO nanowires of 100 nm in diameter. The measured thermal conductivities are in good agreement with those in theoretical simulation. The increase of electrical conductivity origins in electron donor doping by Ga+ implantation and the decrease of thermal conductivity is due to the longitudinal and transverse acoustic phonons scattering by Ga+ point scattering. For pristine ZnO nanowires, the thermal conductivity decreases only two times when its diameter reduces from 100 nm to 46 nm. Therefore, Ga+-implantation may be a more effective method than diameter reduction in improving thermoelectric performance.

The effects of addition of citric acid on the morphologies of ZnO nanorods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Zao; Liu Quanhui; Yang Lei

2007-01-01

ZnO nanorods of 25-100 nm in diameter and 0.2-1 μm in length were fabricated through citric acid assisted annealing process. The microstructure of ZnO nanorods was characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. As a result, it was found that ZnO nanorods were single crystalline and pure. The effects of the growth conditions such as addition of citric acid, annealing temperature on the morphologies of ZnO nanostructures have also been investigated. At the given temperature the length decreased but the diameter increased with addition of the mass of citric acid. With the rising of the calcining heat, the shape of ZnO changed from rod to granule for a given amount of citric acid. Finally, the mechanism for citric acid assisted annealing synthesis of the ZnO nanostructure is discussed

Rapid thermal annealing of FePt and FePt/Cu thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brombacher, Christoph

2011-01-10

Chemically ordered FePt is one of the most promising materials to reach the ultimate limitations in storage density of future magnetic recording devices due to its high uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy and a corrosion resistance superior to rare-earth based magnets. In this study, FePt and FePt/Cu bilayers have been sputter deposited at room temperature onto thermally oxidized silicon wafers, glass substrates and self-assembled arrays of spherical SiO{sub 2} particles with diameters down to 10 nm. Millisecond flash lamp annealing, as well as conventional rapid thermal annealing was employed to induce the phase transformation from the chemically disordered A1 phase into the chemically ordered L1{sub 0} phase. The influence of the annealing temperature, annealing time and the film thickness on the ordering transformation and (001) texture evolution of FePt films with near equiatomic composition was studied. Whereas flash lamp annealed FePt films exhibit a polycrystalline morphology with high chemical L1{sub 0} order, rapid thermal annealing can lead to the formation of chemically ordered FePt films with (001) texture on amorphous SiO{sub 2}/Si substrates. The resultant high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and large coercivities up to 40 kOe are demonstrated. Simultaneously to the ordering transformation, rapid thermal annealing to temperatures exceeding 600 C leads to a break up of the continuous FePt film into separated islands. This dewetting behavior was utilized to create regular arrays of FePt nanostructures on SiO{sub 2} particle templates with periods down to 50 nm. The addition of Cu improves the (001) texture formation and chemical ordering for annealing temperatures T{sub a} {<=}600 C. In addition, the magnetic anisotropy and the coercivity of the ternary FePtCu alloy can be effectively tailored by adjusting the Cu content. The prospects of FePtCu based exchange spring media, as well as the magnetic properties of FePtCu nanostructures fabricated

Susceptor and proximity rapid thermal annealing of InP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katz, A.; Pearton, S.J.; Geva, M.

1990-01-01

This paper presents a comparison between the efficiency of InP rapid thermal annealing within two types of SiC-coated graphite susceptors and by using the more conventional proximity approach, in providing degradation-free substrate surface morphology. The superiority of annealing within a susceptor was clearly demonstrated through the evaluation of AuGe contact performance to carbon-implanted InP substrates, which were annealed to activate the implants prior to the metallization. The susceptor annealing provided better protection against edge degradation, slip formation and better surface morphology, due to the elimination of P outdiffusion and pit formation. The two SiC-coated susceptors that were evaluated differ from each other in their geometry. The first type must be charged with the group V species prior to any annealing cycle. Under the optimum charging conditions, effective surface protection was provided only to one anneal (750 degrees C, 10s) of InP before charging was necessary. The second contained reservoirs for provision of the group V element partial pressure, enabled high temperature annealing at the InP without the need for continual recharging of the susceptor. Thus, one has the ability to subsequentially anneal a lot of InP wafers at high temperatures without inducing any surface deterioration

Thermal annealing of amorphous Ti-Si-O thin films

OpenAIRE

Hodroj , Abbas; Chaix-Pluchery , Odette; Audier , Marc; Gottlieb , Ulrich; Deschanvres , Jean-Luc

2008-01-01

International audience; Ti-Si-O thin films were deposited using an aerosol chemical vapor deposition process at atmospheric pressure. The film structure and microstructure were analysed using several techniques before and after thermal annealing. Diffraction results indicate that the films remain X-ray amorphous after annealing whereas Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy gives evidence of a phase segregation between amorphous SiO2 and well crystallized anatase TiO2. Crystallization of ana...

Processes in N-channel MOSFETs during postirradiation thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pejovic, M.; Jaksic, A.; Ristic, G.; Baljosevic, B.

1997-01-01

The processes during postirradiation thermal annealing of γ-ray irradiated n-channel MOSFETs with both wet and dry gate oxides are investigated. For both analysed technologies, a so-called ''latent'' interface trap buildup is observed, followed at very late annealing times by the decrease in the interface-trap density. A model is proposed that successfully accounts for the experimental results. Implications of observed effects for total dose hardness assurance test methods implementation are discussed. (author)

Device quality ZnO grown using a Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elzwawi, Salim; Kim, Hyung Suk; Heinhold, Robert; Lynam, Max; Turner, Gary; Partridge, Jim G.; McCulloch, Dougal G.

2012-01-01

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 (10 17 -10 19 cm -3 ), electron mobilities up to 30 cm 2 /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.

Photocatalytic properties of hierarchical ZnO flowers synthesized by a sucrose-assisted hydrothermal method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lv Wei [Key Laboratory of Photonic and Electric Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025 (China); Wei Bo [Center for Condensed Matter Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080 (China); Xu Lingling, E-mail: xulingling_hit@163.com [Key Laboratory of Photonic and Electric Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025 (China) and Center for Condensed Matter Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080 (China); Zhao Yan, E-mail: zhaoyan516@126.com [Department of Physics, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040 (China); Gao Hong; Liu Jia [Key Laboratory of Photonic and Electric Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025 (China)

2012-10-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Hierarchical ZnO flowers were synthesized via a sucrose-assisted urea hydrothermal method. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The sucrose added ZnO flowers showed improved activity mainly due to the improved crystallinity. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The effect of sucrose content was studied and optimized. - Abstract: In this work, hierarchical ZnO flowers were synthesized via a sucrose-assisted urea hydrothermal method. The thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA) and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) showed that sucrose acted as a complexing agent in the synthesis process and assisted combustion during annealing. Photocatalytic activity was evaluated using the degradation of organic dye methyl orange. The sucrose added ZnO flowers showed improved activity, which was mainly attributed to the better crystallinity as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The effect of sucrose amount on photocatalytic activity was also studied.

Characterization of thermal destruction behavior of hybrid composites based on polyoxymethylene, ethylene-octene copolymer impact modifier and ZnO nanofiller

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meri, Remo Merijs; Zicans, Janis; Abele, Agnese; Ivanova, Tatjana; Kalnins, Martins [Riga Technical University, Faculty of Materials Science and Applied Chemistry, Institute of Polymer Materials, Paula Valdena street 3/7, Riga, LV-1048 (Latvia)

2016-05-18

Hybrid polymer nanocomposites, composed of polyoxymethylene (POM), ethylene octene copolymer (EOC) and plasma synthesized tetrapod shaped zinc oxide (ZnO), were prepared by using melt compounding. The content of EOC in the POM based composites was varied between 10 and 50 mass %, while the content of ZnO was constant (2 mass %). Thermal behaviour of POM based systems was studied by using thermogravimetric analysis coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The influence of the elastomer content and/or ZnO addition on the thermal stability of POM based systems was evaluated. The influence of the α-octene content in the elastomer on the thermal decomposition behaviour of POM and its nanocomposites with ZnO was also evaluated. Results of thermogravimetric analysis showed that, by rising either the elastomer or ZnO content, thermal stability of the investigated POM composites was increased. The modifying effect of EOC17 in respect of thermal resistance was somewhat larger than that of EOC38 because of the smaller amount of tertiary carbon atoms in the macromolecular structure of the former elastomer. Improved thermal resistance of ZnO containing POM based composites was because of impermeable structure the inorganic nanofiller allowing decrease gas exchange rate and facilitating non-combustible gases, such as CO{sub 2}, stay in the zone of burning. Addition of ZnO have a potential to influence structure of the polymer blend matrix itself by improving its barrier characteristics.

Characterization for Ceramic-coated magnets using E-beam and thermal annealing methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyug Jong; Kim, Hee Gyu; Kang, In Gu; Kim, Min Wan; Yang, Ki Ho; Lee, Byung Cheol; Choi, Byung Ho

2009-01-01

Hard magnet was usually used by coating SiO 2 ceramic thick films followed by the thermal annealing process. In this work, the alternative annealing process for NdFeB magnets using e-beam sources(1∼2 MeV, 50∼400 kGy) was investigated. NdFeB magnets was coated with ceramic thick films using the spray method. The optimal annealing parameter for e-beam source reveals to be 1 MeV and 300 kGy. The sample prepared at 1 MeV and 300 kGy was characterized by the analysis of the surface morphology, film hardness, adhesion and chemical stability. The mechanical property of thick film, especially film hardness, is better than that of thermal annealed samples at 180 .deg. C. As a result, e-beam annealing process will be one of candidate and attractive heat treatment process. In future, manufacturing process will be carried out in cooperation with the magnet company

Micro-cutting of silicon implanted with hydrogen and post-implantation thermal treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Jelenković, Emil V.; To, Suet; Sundaravel, B.; Xiao, Gaobo; Huang, Hu

2016-07-01

It was reported that non-amorphizing implantation by hydrogen has a potential in improving silicon machining. Post-implantation high-temperature treatment will affect implantation-induced damage, which can have impact on silicon machining. In this article, a relation of a thermal annealing of hydrogen implanted in silicon to micro-cutting experiment is investigated. Hydrogen ions were implanted into 4″ silicon wafers with 175 keV, 150 keV, 125 keV and doses of 2 × 1016 cm-2, 2 × 1016 cm-2 and 3 × 1016 cm-2, respectively. In this way, low hydrogen atom-low defect concentration was created in the region less than ~0.8 μm deep and high hydrogen atom-high defect concentration was obtained at silicon depth of ~0.8-1.5 μm. The post-implantation annealing was carried out at 300 and 400 °C in nitrogen for 1 h. Physical and electrical properties of implanted and annealed samples were characterized by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and nanoindentation. Plunge cutting experiment was carried out in and silicon crystal direction. The critical depth of cut and cutting force were monitored and found to be influenced by the annealing. The limits of hydrogen implantation annealing contribution to the cutting characteristics of silicon are discussed in light of implantation process and redistribution of hydrogen and defects generation during annealing process.

Effects of Rapid Thermal Annealing on the Structural, Electrical, and Optical Properties of Zr-Doped ZnO Thin Films Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingjin Wu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The 4 at. % zirconium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Zr films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 350 to 950 °C. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of rapid thermal annealing (RTA treated ZnO:Zr films have been evaluated to find out the stability limit. It was found that the grain size increased at 350 °C and decreased between 350 and 850 °C, while creeping up again at 850 °C. UV–vis characterization shows that the optical band gap shifts towards larger wavelengths. The Hall measurement shows that the resistivity almost keeps constant at low annealing temperatures, and increases rapidly after treatment at 750 °C due to the effect of both the carrier concentration and the Hall mobility. The best annealing temperature is found in the range of 350–550 °C. The ZnO:Zr film-coated glass substrates show good optical and electrical performance up to 550 °C during superstrate thin film solar cell deposition.

Thermal post-deposition treatment effects on nanocrystalline hydrogenated silicon prepared by PECVD under different hydrogen flow rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amor, Sana Ben, E-mail: sana.benamor1@gmail.com [Photovoltaic Laboratory Research and Technology Centre of Energy, Borj-Cedria Science and Technology Park, BP 95, 2050 Hammam-Lif (Tunisia); University of Applied Medical Sciences of Hafr El Baten (Saudi Arabia); Meddeb, Hosny; Daik, Ridha; Othman, Afef Ben; Slama, Sonia Ben; Dimassi, Wissem; Ezzaouia, Hatem [Photovoltaic Laboratory Research and Technology Centre of Energy, Borj-Cedria Science and Technology Park, BP 95, 2050 Hammam-Lif (Tunisia)

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: At high annealing temperatures, many atoms do not suffer the attraction of surface species due to the thermal agitation and consequently few atoms are adsorbed. As the temperature is lowered the adsorption is more efficient to the point that is no more atoms in the gas phase. Indeed at relatively low temperatures, the atoms have too little energy to escape from the surface or even to vibrate against it. They lost their degree of freedom in the direction perpendicular to the surface. But this does not prevent the atoms to diffuse along the surface. As a result, the layer's thickness decrease with increasing the annealing temperature. - Highlights: The results extracted from this work are: • The post-deposition thermal treatment improves the crystallinity the film at moderate temperature (500 °C). • The higher annealing temperature can lead to decrease the silicon–hydrogen bonds and increase the Si–Si bonds. • Moderate annealing temperature (700 °C) seems to be crucial for obtaining high minority carrier life times. • Hydrogen effusion phenomenon start occurring at 500–550 °C and get worsen at 900 °C. - Abstract: In this paper, hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin films were deposited on mono-crystalline silicon substrate by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) under different hydrogen flow rates followed by a thermal treatment in an infrared furnace at different temperature ranging from 300 to 900 °C. The investigated structural, morphological and optoelectronic properties of samples were found to be strongly dependent on the annealing temperature. Raman spectroscopy revealed that nc-Si:H films contain crystalline, amorphous and mixed structures as well. We find that post-deposition thermal treatment may lead to a tendency for structural improvement and a decrease of the disorder in the film network at moderate temperature under 500 °C. As for annealing at higher temperature up to 900 �

Effect of ZnO on the Thermal Properties of Tellurite Glass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. A. A. Sidek

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Systematic series of binary zinc tellurite glasses in the form (ZnOx(TeO2 (where x=0 to 0.4 with an interval of 0.05 mole fraction have been successfully prepared via conventional melt cast-quenching technique. Their density was determined by Archimedes method with acetone as buoyant liquid. The thermal expansion coefficient of each zinc tellurite glasses was measured using L75D1250 dilatometer, while their glass transition temperature (Tg was determined by the SETARAM Labsys DTA/6 differential thermogravimetric analysis at a heating rate of 20 K min−1. The acoustic Debye temperature and the softening temperature (Ts were estimated based on the longitudinal (VL and shear ultrasonic (Vs wave velocities propagated in each glass sample. For ultrasonic velocity measurement of the glass sample, MATEC MBS 8000 Ultrasonic Data Acquisition System was used. All measurements were taken at 10 MHz frequency and at room temperature. All the thermal properties of such binary tellurite glasses were measured as a function of ZnO composition. The composition dependence was discussed in terms of ZnO modifiers that were expected to change the thermal properties of tellurite glasses. Experimental results show their density, and the thermal expansion coefficient increases as more ZnO content is added to the tellurite glass network, while their glass transition, Debye temperature, and the softening temperature decrease due to a change in the coordination number (CN of the network forming atoms and the destruction of the network structure brought about by the formation of some nonbridging oxygen (NBO atoms.

Room temperature growth of ZnO nanorods by hydrothermal synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Tateyama, Hiroki; Zhang, Qiyan; Ichikawa, Yo

2018-05-01

The effect of seed layer morphology on ZnO nanorod growth at room temperature was studied via hydrothermal synthesis on seed layers with different thicknesses and further annealed at different temperatures. The change in the thickness and annealing temperature enabled us to control over a diameter of ZnO nanorods which are attributed to the changing of crystallinity and roughness of the seed layers.

Negative thermal quenching of photoluminescence in ZnO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, M.; Sakai, M.; Shibata, H.; Satou, C.; Satou, S.; Shibayama, T.; Tampo, H.; Yamada, A.; Matsubara, K.; Sakurai, K.; Ishizuka, S.; Niki, S.; Maeda, K.; Niikura, I.

2006-01-01

We have studied photoluminescence (PL) spectra of ZnO single crystals at photon energies ranging between 2.1 and 3.4eV as a function of temperature to determine thermal quenching behavior in PL emission intensity. It appears that the deep level emissions, donor-acceptor pair emissions, and the bound excitonic emissions undergo negative thermal quenching (NTQ) at intermediate temperatures above ∼10K. By employing an NTQ formula expressed analytically as a function of temperature, we have obtained quantitative NTQ characteristics in terms of the activation energies associated with the intermediate states as well as nonradiative channels

Thermal annealing and ionic abrasion in ZnTe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bensahel, D.

1975-01-01

Thermal annealing of the ZnTe crystal is studied first in order to obtain information on the aspect of the penetration profile. Ionic abrasion is then investigated to find out whether it produces the same effects as ionic implantation, especially for luminescence [fr

Far-infrared spectroscopy of thermally annealed tungsten silicide films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amiotti, M.; Borghesi, A.; Guizzetti, G.; Nava, F.; Santoro, G.

1991-01-01

The far-infrared transmittance spectrum of tungsten silicide has been observed for the first time. WSi 2 polycrystalline films were prepared by coevaporation and chemical-vapour deposition on silicon wafers, and subsequently thermally annealed at different temperatures. The observed structures are interpreted, on the basis of the symmetry properties of the crystal, such as infrared-active vibrational modes. Moreover, the marked lineshape dependence on annealing temperature enables this technique to analyse the formation of the solid silicide phases

Proposed rule package on fracture toughness and thermal annealing requirements and guidance for light water reactor vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen Hiser, J.R.

1993-01-01

In the framework of updating and clarification of the fracture toughness and thermal annealing requirements and guidance for light water reactor pressure vessels, proposed revisions concerning the pressurized thermal shock rule, fracture toughness requirements and reactor vessel material surveillance program requirements, are described. A new rule concerning thermal annealing requirements and a draft regulatory guide on 'Format and Content of Application for Approval for Thermal Annealing of RPV' are also proposed

Proposed rule package on fracture toughness and thermal annealing requirements and guidance for light water reactor vessels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allen Hiser, J R [UKAEA Harwell Lab. (United Kingdom). Engineering Div.

1994-12-31

In the framework of updating and clarification of the fracture toughness and thermal annealing requirements and guidance for light water reactor pressure vessels, proposed revisions concerning the pressurized thermal shock rule, fracture toughness requirements and reactor vessel material surveillance program requirements, are described. A new rule concerning thermal annealing requirements and a draft regulatory guide on `Format and Content of Application for Approval for Thermal Annealing of RPV` are also proposed.

Effects of casting and post casting annealing on xylene isomer transport properties of Torlon® 4000T films

KAUST Repository

Chafin, Raymond; Lee, Jong Suk; Koros, William J.

2010-01-01

Procedures for Torlon® 4000T membrane formation were developed to provide attractive and repeatable xylene separation properties. Torlon® 4000T membrane films cast by our method were investigated in terms of thermally induced imidization, molecular weight enhancement, and solvent removal. After development of the Torlon® 4000T casting procedure, pervaporation of a xylene mixture (i.e. 30% para-xylene, 30% meta-xylene, 30% ortho-xylene, and 10% ethylbenzene) was performed in both Torlon® 4000T and post casting annealed Torlon® 4000T films. The xylene pervaporation in annealed Torlon® 4000T film at 200°C gave a permeability of 0.25 Barrer and a selectivity of 3.1 (para/ortho) and 2.1 (para/meta) respectively. A so-called " permeability collapse" reflecting an accelerated reduction in the free volume is consistent with significant temperature-induced changes in the films observed after thermal annealing at 300°C. This conditioning effect is induced by a combination of heat treatment and the presence of the interacting aromatic penetrants. Optical methods were used to verify that the density of annealed samples exposed to xylene for 5 days eventually increased, suggesting that the membrane is originally swollen upon initial xylene exposure, and then relaxes to a more densified, and more discriminating state. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Effects of casting and post casting annealing on xylene isomer transport properties of Torlon® 4000T films

KAUST Repository

Chafin, Raymond

2010-07-01

Procedures for Torlon® 4000T membrane formation were developed to provide attractive and repeatable xylene separation properties. Torlon® 4000T membrane films cast by our method were investigated in terms of thermally induced imidization, molecular weight enhancement, and solvent removal. After development of the Torlon® 4000T casting procedure, pervaporation of a xylene mixture (i.e. 30% para-xylene, 30% meta-xylene, 30% ortho-xylene, and 10% ethylbenzene) was performed in both Torlon® 4000T and post casting annealed Torlon® 4000T films. The xylene pervaporation in annealed Torlon® 4000T film at 200°C gave a permeability of 0.25 Barrer and a selectivity of 3.1 (para/ortho) and 2.1 (para/meta) respectively. A so-called " permeability collapse" reflecting an accelerated reduction in the free volume is consistent with significant temperature-induced changes in the films observed after thermal annealing at 300°C. This conditioning effect is induced by a combination of heat treatment and the presence of the interacting aromatic penetrants. Optical methods were used to verify that the density of annealed samples exposed to xylene for 5 days eventually increased, suggesting that the membrane is originally swollen upon initial xylene exposure, and then relaxes to a more densified, and more discriminating state. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Suppression of the green photoluminescence band in ZnO embedded into porous opal by spray pyrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abrarov, S.M.; Yuldashev, Sh.U.; Lee, S.B.; Kang, T.W.

2004-01-01

The photoluminescence (PL) and transmittance characteristics of the zinc oxide embedded into voids of FCC sub-micron packed silicon dioxide spheres by using technologically simple and inexpensive spray pyrolysis are reported. The uniform formation of ZnO nanocrystalline particles inside of the porous opal takes place after deposition in aqueous solution with zinc nitrite hexahydride precursor followed by thermal annealing. The decrease of green PL is observed due to the inhibition of spontaneous emission through oxygen vacancies in ZnO. The strong red shift of the transmittance characteristics signifies the essential filling of voids in the opal matrix

Effect of thermal annealing in vacuum on the photovoltaic properties of electrodeposited Cu2O-absorber solar cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimopoulos T.

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Heterojunction solar cells were fabricated by electrochemical deposition of p-type, cuprous oxide (Cu2O absorber on sputtered, n-type ZnO layer. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the as-deposited absorber consists mainly of Cu2O, but appreciable amounts of metallic Cu and cupric oxide (CuO are also present. These undesired oxidation states are incorporated during the deposition process and have a detrimental effect on the photovoltaic properties of the cells. The open circuit voltage (VOC, short circuit current density (jSC, fill factor (FF and power conversion efficiency (η of the as-deposited cells are 0.37 V, 3.71 mA/cm2, 35.7% and 0.49%, respectively, under AM1.5G illumination. We show that by thermal annealing in vacuum, at temperatures up to 300 °C, compositional purity of the Cu2O absorber could be obtained. A general improvement of the heterojunction and bulk materials quality is observed, reflected upon the smallest influence of the shunt and series resistance on the transport properties of the cells in dark and under illumination. Independent of the annealing temperature, transport is dominated by the space-charge layer generation-recombination current. After annealing at 300 °C the solar cell parameters could be significantly improved to the values of: VOC = 0.505 V, jSC = 4.67 mA/cm2, FF = 47.1% and η = 1.12%.

Thermodynamics of post-growth annealing of cadmium zinc telluride nuclear radiation detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Aaron Lee

Nuclear Radiation Detectors are used for detecting, tracking, and identifying radioactive materials which emit high-energy gamma and X-rays. The use of Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe) detectors is particularly attractive because of the detector's ability to operate at room temperature and measure the energy spectra of gamma-ray sources with a high resolution, typically less than 1% at 662 keV. While CdZnTe detectors are acceptable imperfections in the crystals limit their full market potential. One of the major imperfections are Tellurium inclusions generated during the crystal growth process by the retrograde solubility of Tellurium and Tellurium-rich melt trapped at the growth interface. Tellurium inclusions trap charge carriers generated by gamma and X-ray photons and thus reduce the portion of generated charge carriers that reach the electrodes for collection and conversion into a readable signal which is representative of the ionizing radiation's energy and intensity. One approach in resolving this problem is post-growth annealing which has the potential of removing the Tellurium inclusions and associated impurities. The goal of this project is to use experimental techniques to study the thermodynamics of Tellurium inclusion migration in post-growth annealing of CdZnTe nuclear detectors with the temperature gradient zone migration (TGZM) technique. Systematic experiments will be carried out to provide adequate thermodynamic data that will inform the engineering community of the optimum annealing parameters. Additionally, multivariable correlations that involve the Tellurium diffusion coefficient, annealing parameters, and CdZnTe properties will be analyzed. The experimental approach will involve systematic annealing experiments (in Cd vapor overpressure) on different sizes of CdZnTe crystals at varying temperature gradients ranging from 0 to 60°C/mm (used to migrate the Tellurium inclusion to one side of the crystal), and at annealing temperatures ranging

Repair effect on patterned CoFeB-based magnetic tunneling junction using rapid thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, K.-M.; Wang, Y.-H.; Chen, Wei-Chuan; Yang, S.-Y.; Shen, Kuei-Hung; Kao, M.-J.; Tsai, M.-J.; Kuo, C.-Y.; Wu, J.-C.; Horng, Lance

2007-01-01

Rapid thermal treatment without applying magnetic field reconstructing magnetic property of Co 60 Fe 20 B 20 was studied through magnetoresistance (R-H) measurement. In this paper, we report that the switching behaviors of CoFeB were obviously improved through rapid thermal annealing for only a brief 5 min. The squareness and reproduction of minor R-H loops were enhanced from 100 deg. C to 250 deg. C . Tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) that is about 35% in the as-etched cells increases up to 44% after 250 deg. C rapid annealing and still shows about 25% TMR even after 400 deg. C treating. Therefore, repair purpose annealing is some what different from crystallizing purpose annealing. Applying magnetic field during repair annealing was not necessary. Brief thermal treatment improves CoFeB switching behavior indeed, and causes less damage at high temperature

Microstructural changes in CdSe-coated ZnO nanowires evaluated by in situ annealing in transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majidi, Hasti; Baxter, Jason B; Winkler, Christopher R; Taheri, Mitra L

2012-01-01

We report on the crystallite growth and phase change of electrodeposited CdSe coatings on ZnO nanowires during annealing. Both in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) reveal that the nanocrystal size increases from ∼3 to ∼10 nm upon annealing at 350 °C for 1 h and then to more than 30 nm during another 1 h at 400 °C, exhibiting two distinct growth regimes. Nanocrystal growth occurs together with a structural change from zinc blende to wurtzite. The structural transition begins at 350 °C, which results in the formation of stacking faults. Increased crystallite size, comparable to the coating thickness, can improve charge separation in extremely thin absorber solar cells. We demonstrate a nearly two-fold improvement in power conversion efficiency upon annealing. (paper)

Microstructural changes in CdSe-coated ZnO nanowires evaluated by in situ annealing in transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction

Science.gov (United States)

Majidi, Hasti; Winkler, Christopher R.; Taheri, Mitra L.; Baxter, Jason B.

2012-07-01

We report on the crystallite growth and phase change of electrodeposited CdSe coatings on ZnO nanowires during annealing. Both in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) reveal that the nanocrystal size increases from ˜3 to ˜10 nm upon annealing at 350 °C for 1 h and then to more than 30 nm during another 1 h at 400 °C, exhibiting two distinct growth regimes. Nanocrystal growth occurs together with a structural change from zinc blende to wurtzite. The structural transition begins at 350 °C, which results in the formation of stacking faults. Increased crystallite size, comparable to the coating thickness, can improve charge separation in extremely thin absorber solar cells. We demonstrate a nearly two-fold improvement in power conversion efficiency upon annealing.

Synthesis of High Crystalline Al-Doped ZnO Nanopowders from Al2O3 and ZnO by Radio-Frequency Thermal Plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min-Kyeong Song

2015-01-01

Full Text Available High crystalline Al-doped ZnO (AZO nanopowders were prepared by in-flight treatment of ZnO and Al2O3 in Radio-Frequency (RF thermal plasma. Micron-sized (~1 μm ZnO and Al2O3 powders were mixed at Al/Zn ratios of 3.3 and 6.7 at.% and then injected into the RF thermal plasma torch along the centerline at a feeding rate of 6.6 g/min. The RF thermal plasma torch system was operated at the plate power level of ~140 kVA to evaporate the mixture oxides and the resultant vapor species were condensed into solid particles by the high flow rate of quenching gas (~7000 slpm. The FE-SEM images of the as-treated powders showed that the multipod shaped and the whisker type nanoparticles were mainly synthesized. In addition, these nanocrystalline structures were confirmed as the single phase AZO nanopowders with the hexagonal wurtzite ZnO structure by the XRD patterns and FE-TEM results with the SAED image. However, the composition changes of 0.3 and 1.0 at.% were checked for the as-synthesized AZO nanopowders at Al/Zn ratios of 3.3 and 6.7 at.%, respectively, by the XRF data, which can require the adjustment of Al/Zn in the mixture precursors for the applications of high Al doping concentrations.

Preparation of (Bi, Pb)-2223/Ag tapes by high temperature sintering and post-annealing process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hua, L.; Grivel, Jean-Claude; Andersen, L.G.

2002-01-01

A novel heat treatment process was developed to fabricate (Bi, Pb)-2223/Ag tapes with high critical current density (J(c)). The process can be divided into two parts: reformation and post-annealing. Tapes were first heated to the maximum temperature (830-860 degreesC) followed by slow cooling...... (reformation). Then, tape, were annealed between 760 and 820 degreesC (post-annealing). Reformation is expected to produce a large amount of liquid phase which may heat microcracks, decrease porosity, and improve grain growth. However, since the sintering temperature is beyond the Bi-2223 single-phase region......-energy synchrotron XRD and SEM/EDX. Some process parameters e.g. sintering temperature. cooling rate. and post-annealing time were optimised. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved....

An assessment of the economic consequences of thermal annealing of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griesbach, T.J.; Server, W.L.

1991-01-01

The use of a thermal heat treatment to recover mechanical properties which were degraded by neutron radiation exposure is a potential method for assuring reactor pressure vessel licensing life and possible license renewal. 'Wet anneals' at temperatures less than 343degC have been conducted on test reactors in Alaska (SM-1A) and Belgium (BR3). The Soviets have also performed 'dry anneals' at higher temperatures near or above 450degC on several commercial reactor vessels. Technical and economic uncertainties have made utilities in the United States reluctant to seriously consider thermal annealing of large commercial reactor vessels except as a last resort option. However, as a utility begins to experience significant radiation embrittlement or considers extending the operating license life of the vessel, thermal annealing can be a viable option depending upon many considerations. These considerations include other possible remedial measures that can be taken (i.e., flux reduction), economic issues with regard to utility finances, and corporate philosophy. A decision analysis model has been developed to analyze the thermal anneal option in comparison to other alternatives for a number of possible combinations and timing. The results for a postulated vessel and embrittlement condition are presented to show that thermal annealing can be a viable management option which should be taken seriously. (author)

Fabrication of nanostructured Al-doped ZnO thin film for methane sensing applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shafura, A. K., E-mail: shafura@ymail.com; Azhar, N. E. I.; Uzer, M.; Mamat, M. H. [NANO-ElecTronic Centre (NET), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor (Malaysia); Sin, N. D. Md. [NANO-ElecTronic Centre (NET), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor (Malaysia); Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Johor, Kampus Pasir Gudang, 81750 Masai, Johor (Malaysia); Saurdi, I. [NANO-ElecTronic Centre (NET), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor (Malaysia); Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak, Kampus Kota Samarahan Jalan Meranek, Sarawak (Malaysia); Shuhaimi, A. [Dimensional Materials Research Centre (LDMRC), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University ofMalaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Alrokayan, Salman A. H.; Khan, Haseeb A. [Research Chair of Targeting and Treatment Cancer Using Nanoparticles, Department Of Biochemistry, College Of Science, King Saud University, P.O: 2454 Riyadh 11451 (Saudi Arabia); Rusop, M., E-mail: nanouitm@gmail.com [NANO-ElecTronic Centre (NET), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor (Malaysia); NANO-SciTech Centre (NST), Institute of Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor (Malaysia)

2016-07-06

CH{sub 4} gas sensor was fabricated using spin-coating method of the nanostructured ZnO thin film. Effect of annealing temperature on the electrical and structural properties of the film was investigated. Dense nanostructured ZnO film are obtained at higher annealing temperature. The optimal condition of annealing temperature is 500°C which has conductivity and sensitivity value of 3.3 × 10{sup −3} S/cm and 11.5%, respectively.

Influence of the synthesis route and parameters on the thermoluminescence response of ZnO phosphors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orante B, V.; Bernal, R.; Brown, F.; Castano, V.M.; Cruz V, C.

2007-01-01

Full text: ZnO nano phosphors obtained by thermal annealing of chemically synthesized ZnS powder has been recently reported to exhibit striking properties to be used as thermoluminescence (TL) dosimeters for intermediate and high doses of ionizing radiation. Encouraged by these results, we began a research focused to improve the process of fabrication of ZnO phosphors, by varying the chemical route and parameters of synthesis in each route. We essayed three different chemical ways to obtain ZnO. In each case, different sintering processes were applied to the product obtained from the chemical reaction. TL is very sensitive to impurities traces, whose incorporation is influenced by the synthesis history, so that we obtain that general features of TL glow curves can be tuned by controlling the synthesis parameters. (Author)

Annealing Time Effect on Nanostructured n-ZnO/p-Si Heterojunction Photodetector Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Habubi, Nadir. F.; Ismail, Raid. A.; Hamoudi, Walid K.; Abid, Hassam. R.

2015-02-01

In this work, n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodetectors were prepared by drop casting of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on single crystal p-type silicon substrates, followed by (15-60) min; step-annealing at 600∘C. Structural, electrical, and optical properties of the ZnO NPs films deposited on quartz substrates were studied as a function of annealing time. X-ray diffraction studies showed a polycrystalline, hexagonal wurtizte nanostructured ZnO with preferential orientation along the (100) plane. Atomic force microscopy measurements showed an average ZnO grain size within the range of 75.9 nm-99.9 nm with a corresponding root mean square (RMS) surface roughness between 0.51 nm-2.16 nm. Dark and under illumination current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodetectors showed an improving rectification ratio and a decreasing saturation current at longer annealing time with an ideality factor of 3 obtained at 60 min annealing time. Capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of heterojunctions were investigated in order to estimate the built-in-voltage and junction type. The photodetectors, fabricated at optimum annealing time, exhibited good linearity characteristics. Maximum sensitivity was obtained when ZnO/Si heterojunctions were annealed at 60 min. Two peaks of response, located at 650 nm and 850 nm, were observed with sensitivities of 0.12-0.19 A/W and 0.18-0.39 A/W, respectively. Detectivity of the photodetectors as function of annealing time was estimated.

Effect of thermal annealing on property changes of neutron-irradiated non-graphitized carbon materials and nuclear graphite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuo, Hideto

1991-06-01

Changes in dimension of non-graphitized carbon materials and nuclear graphite, and the bulk density, electrical resistivity, Young's modulus and thermal expansivity of nuclear graphite were studied after neutron irradiation at 1128-1483 K and the successive thermal annealing up to 2573 K. Carbon materials showed larger and anisotropic dimensional shrinkage than that of nuclear graphite after the irradiation. The irradiation-induced dimensional shrinkage of carbon materials decreased during annealing at temperatures from 1773 to 2023 K, followed by a slight increase at higher temperatures. On the other hand, the irradiated nuclear graphite hardly showed the changes in length, density and thermal expansivity under the thermal annealing, but the electrical resistivity and Young's modulus showed a gradual decrease with annealing temperature. It has been clarified that there exists significant difference in the effect of thermal annealing on irradiation-induced dimensional shrinkage between graphitized nuclear graphite and non-graphitized carbon materials. (author)

Substrate effect on the room-temperature ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO films

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Peng; Wang, Weipeng; Xie, Zheng; Li, Zhengcao; Zhang, Zhengjun; Zhang, Peng; Wang, Baoyi; Cao, Xingzhong

2012-07-01

Room-temperature ferromagnetism was achieved in un-doped ZnO films on silicon and quartz substrates. Photoluminescence measurement and positron annihilation analysis suggested that the ferromagnetism was originated from singly occupied oxygen vacancies (roughly estimated as ˜0.55 μB/vacancy), created in ZnO films by annealing in argon. The saturated magnetization of ZnO films was enhanced from ˜0.44 emu/g (on quartz) to ˜1.18 emu/g (on silicon) after annealing at 600 °C, as silicon acted as oxygen getter and created more oxygen vacancies in ZnO films. This study clarified the origin of ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO and provides an idea to enhance the ferromagnetism.

Polarized Raman scattering of single ZnO nanorod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, J. L.; Lai, Y. F.; Wang, Y. Z.; Cheng, S. Y.; Chen, Y. H.

2014-01-01

Polarized Raman scattering measurement on single wurtzite c-plane (001) ZnO nanorod grown by hydrothermal method has been performed at room temperature. The polarization dependence of the intensity of the Raman scattering for the phonon modes A 1 (TO), E 1 (TO), and E 2 high in the ZnO nanorod are obtained. The deviations of polarization-dependent Raman spectroscopy from the prediction of Raman selection rules are observed, which can be attributed to the structure defects in the ZnO nanorod as confirmed by the comparison of the transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence spectra as well as the polarization dependent Raman signal of the annealed and unannealed ZnO nanorod. The Raman tensor elements of A 1 (TO) and E 1 (TO) phonon modes normalized to that of the E 2 high phonon mode are |a/d|=0.32±0.01, |b/d|=0.49±0.02, and |c/d|=0.23±0.01 for the unannealed ZnO nanorod, and |a/d|=0.33±0.01, |b/d|=0.45±0.01, and |c/d|=0.20±0.01 for the annealed ZnO nanorod, which shows strong anisotropy compared to that of bulk ZnO epilayer

Annealing-induced Fe oxide nanostructures on GaAs

OpenAIRE

Lu, Y X; Ahmad, E; Xu, Y B; Thompson, S M

2005-01-01

We report the evolution of Fe oxide nanostructures on GaAs(100) upon pre- and post-growth annealing conditions. GaAs nanoscale pyramids were formed on the GaAs surface due to wet etching and thermal annealing. An 8.0-nm epitaxial Fe film was grown, oxidized, and annealed using a gradient temperature method. During the process the nanostripes were formed, and the evolution has been demonstrated using transmission and reflection high energy electron diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy...

Influence of post-deposition annealing on structural, morphological and optical properties of copper (II) acetylacetonate thin films.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdel-Khalek, H; El-Samahi, M I; El-Mahalawy, Ahmed M

2018-05-21

In this study, the effect of thermal annealing under vacuum conditions on structural, morphological and optical properties of thermally evaporated copper (II) acetylacetonate, cu(acac) 2 , thin films were investigated. The copper (II) acetylacetonate thin films were deposited using thermal evaporation technique at vacuum pressure ~1 × 10 -5  mbar. The deposited films were thermally annealed at 323, 373, 423, and 473 K for 2 h in vacuum. The thermogravimetric analysis of cu(acac) 2 powder indicated a thermal stability of cu(acac) 2 up to 423 K. The effects of thermal annealing on the structural properties of cu(acac) 2 were evaluated employing X-ray diffraction method and the analysis showed a polycrystalline nature of the as-deposited and annealed films with a preferred orientation in [1¯01] direction. Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) technique was used to negate the decomposition of copper (II) acetylacetonate during preparation or/and annealing up to 423 K. The surface morphology of the prepared films was characterized by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). A significant enhancement of the morphological properties of cu(acac) 2 thin films was obtained till the annealing temperature reaches 423 K. The variation of optical constants that estimated from spectrophotometric measurements of the prepared thin films was investigated as a function of annealing temperature. The annealing process presented significantly impacted the nonlinear optical properties such as third-order optical susceptibility χ (3) and nonlinear refractive index n 2 of cu(acac) 2 thin films. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of radiation-induced defects in ZnO probed by positron annihilation spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunner, S.; Puff, W.; Balogh, A.G.; Mascher, P.

2001-01-01

In this study we discuss the microstructural changes after electron and proton irradiation and the thermal evolution of the radiation induced defects during isochronal annealing of single crystals irradiated either with 3 MeV protons or with 1 or 2 MeV electrons, respectively. The investigations were performed with positron lifetime and Doppler-broadening measurements. The differently grown ZnO single crystals show positron bulk lifetimes in the range of 159-173 ps. (orig.)

Characterization of radiation-induced defects in ZnO probed by positron annihilation spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brunner, S.; Puff, W. [Technische Univ. Graz (Austria). Inst. fuer Technische Physik; Balogh, A.G. [Technische Hochschule Darmstadt (Germany). FB Materialwissenschaft; Mascher, P. [McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). Dept. of Engineering Physics

2001-07-01

In this study we discuss the microstructural changes after electron and proton irradiation and the thermal evolution of the radiation induced defects during isochronal annealing of single crystals irradiated either with 3 MeV protons or with 1 or 2 MeV electrons, respectively. The investigations were performed with positron lifetime and Doppler-broadening measurements. The differently grown ZnO single crystals show positron bulk lifetimes in the range of 159-173 ps. (orig.)

X-ray diffraction study of thermal stress relaxation in ZnO films deposited by magnetron sputtering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conchon, F. [Institut P' , Universite de Poitiers-Ensma-UPR CNRS 3346, 86962 Futuroscope (France); Renault, P.O., E-mail: pierre.olivier.renault@univ-poitiers.f [Institut P' , Universite de Poitiers-Ensma-UPR CNRS 3346, 86962 Futuroscope (France); Le Bourhis, E.; Krauss, C.; Goudeau, P. [Institut P' , Universite de Poitiers-Ensma-UPR CNRS 3346, 86962 Futuroscope (France); Barthel, E.; Grachev, S. Yu.; Sondergard, E. [Lab. Surface du Verre et Interfaces (SVI), UMR 125, 93303 Aubervilliers (France); Rondeau, V.; Gy, R. [Lab. Recherche de Saint-Gobain (SGR), 93303 Aubervilliers (France); Lazzari, R.; Jupille, J. [Institut des Nanosciences de Paris (INSP), UMR 7588, 75015 Paris (France); Brun, N. [Lab. Physique des Solides (LPS), UMR 8502, 91405 Orsay (France)

2010-12-30

X-ray diffraction stress analyses have been performed on two different thin films deposited onto silicon substrate: ZnO and ZnO encapsulated into Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} layers. We showed that both as-deposited ZnO films are in a high compressive stress state. In situ X-ray diffraction measurements inside a furnace revealed a relaxation of the as-grown stresses at temperatures which vary with the atmosphere in the furnace and change with Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} encapsulation. The observations show that Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} films lying on both sides of the ZnO film play an important role in the mechanisms responsible for the stress relaxation during heat treatment. The different temperatures observed for relaxation in ambient and argon atmospheres suggest that the thermally activated stress relaxation may be attributed to a variation of the stoichiometry of the ZnO films. The present observations pave the way to fine tuning of the residual stresses through thermal treatment parameters.

Facile fabrication of porous ZnO by thermal treatment of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 and its photocatalytic activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Du, Y. [College of Environment, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Industrial Water-Conservation and Emission Reduction, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing 210009 (China); Chen, R.Z., E-mail: rizhichen@163.com [State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Industrial Water-Conservation and Emission Reduction, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing 210009 (China); Yao, J.F. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Vic 3800 (Australia); Wang, H.T., E-mail: huanting.wang@monash.edu [Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Vic 3800 (Australia)

2013-02-25

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Porous ZnO powders can be obtained by thermal decomposition of ZIF-8. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The morphology, structure and performance of porous ZnO can be controlled. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer ZnO-500-5 exhibits efficient photocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB. - Abstract: In this work, porous ZnO photocatalysts were attempted to be prepared by a facile method, i.e. the thermal treatment of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8, and then characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. It was found that the calcination temperature and time significantly influenced the morphology, composition and pore structure of ZnO. The photocatalytic activities of as-prepared ZnO powders were evaluated in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV light in comparison with commercial anatase TiO{sub 2} and Degussa P25 TiO{sub 2}. The surface area and crystallinity of porous ZnO obviously affected the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. The ZnO prepared at 500 Degree-Sign C for 5 h (ZnO-500-5) showed the highest photocatalytic activity, which was higher than that of the commercial anatase TiO{sub 2} and lower than that of Degussa P25 TiO{sub 2}.

Post annealing performance evaluation of printable interdigital capacitive sensors by principal component analysis

KAUST Repository

Zia, Asif Iqbal

2015-06-01

The surface roughness of thin-film gold electrodes induces instability in impedance spectroscopy measurements of capacitive interdigital printable sensors. Post-fabrication thermodynamic annealing was carried out at temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 210 °C in a vacuum oven and the variation in surface morphology of thin-film gold electrodes was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Impedance spectra obtained at different temperatures were translated into equivalent circuit models by applying complex nonlinear least square curve-fitting algorithm. Principal component analysis was applied to deduce the classification of the parameters affected due to the annealing process and to evaluate the performance stability using mathematical model. Physics of the thermodynamic annealing was discussed based on the surface activation energies. The post anneal testing of the sensors validated the achieved stability in impedance measurement. © 2001-2012 IEEE.

Post annealing performance evaluation of printable interdigital capacitive sensors by principal component analysis

KAUST Repository

Zia, Asif Iqbal; Mukhopadhyay, Subhas Chandra; Yu, Paklam; Al-Bahadly, Ibrahim H.; Gooneratne, Chinthaka Pasan; Kosel, Jü rgen

2015-01-01

The surface roughness of thin-film gold electrodes induces instability in impedance spectroscopy measurements of capacitive interdigital printable sensors. Post-fabrication thermodynamic annealing was carried out at temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 210 °C in a vacuum oven and the variation in surface morphology of thin-film gold electrodes was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Impedance spectra obtained at different temperatures were translated into equivalent circuit models by applying complex nonlinear least square curve-fitting algorithm. Principal component analysis was applied to deduce the classification of the parameters affected due to the annealing process and to evaluate the performance stability using mathematical model. Physics of the thermodynamic annealing was discussed based on the surface activation energies. The post anneal testing of the sensors validated the achieved stability in impedance measurement. © 2001-2012 IEEE.

Rapid Hydrothermal Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanowires by Annealing Methods on Seed Layers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jang Bo Shim

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Well-aligned zinc oxide (ZnO nanowire arrays were successfully synthesized on a glass substrate using the rapid microwave heating process. The ZnO seed layers were produced by spinning the precursor solutions onto the substrate. Among coatings, the ZnO seed layers were annealed at 100°C for 5 minutes to ensure particle adhesion to the glass surface in air, nitrogen, and vacuum atmospheres. The annealing treatment of the ZnO seed layer was most important for achieving the high quality of ZnO nanowire arrays as ZnO seed nanoparticles of larger than 30 nm in diameter evolve into ZnO nanowire arrays. Transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed a single-crystalline lattice of the ZnO nanowires. Because of their low power (140 W, low operating temperatures (90°C, easy fabrication (variable microwave sintering system, and low cost (90% cost reduction compared with gas condensation methods, high quality ZnO nanowires created with the rapid microwave heating process show great promise for use in flexible solar cells and flexible display devices.

Optical properties of thermally annealed CdZnSe/ZnSe quantum dots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Margapoti, Emanuela

2010-01-01

To analyse the diffusion characteristics, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy has been carried out in extensive detail on single, as well as, ensembles of thermally annealed (TA) CdSe/ZnSe QDs. For a series of QD-ensembles, each annealed for t A = 30 s at temperatures from T A = 300-550 C, the change in the QD-composition has been calculated from the blue-shift of the exciton ground-state PL-emission, using a concentration function based on Fick's laws of diffusion. The diffusion length (L D ) and the activation energy (E A ) have been determined thereof. For the studied QDs, E A has been evaluated to be 2.2 eV. Additionally, TA results also in an enhancement of the PL-intensity and reduction of the full-width-at-half maximum (FWHM) of the spectra. This point towards an increased homogeneity of the QD-size and composition, and decrease in the concentration of defects around the QDs. For single CdSe/ZnSe QDs, TA has been varied from 100-240 C, in steps for 20 C, with t A kept fixed at 30 s. Finally, the evolution of the magneto-optic response with post-growth thermal annealing has been studied for both individual QDs and QD-ensembles. An external magnetic field, applied perpendicular to the plane of the QDs (Faraday configuration), results in Zeeman spin splitting of the ground exciton state. The emissions from the Zeeman-split states are left and right circularly polarized and from the degree of circular polarization (DCP), as well as, the spectral separation of the PL-peaks, the g-factor can be estimated. For CdSe/ZnSe QD-ensembles, the g-factor has been observed to change sign with TA. (orig.).

Optical properties of thermally annealed CdZnSe/ZnSe quantum dots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Margapoti, Emanuela

2010-07-01

To analyse the diffusion characteristics, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy has been carried out in extensive detail on single, as well as, ensembles of thermally annealed (TA) CdSe/ZnSe QDs. For a series of QD-ensembles, each annealed for t{sub A} = 30 s at temperatures from T{sub A} = 300-550 C, the change in the QD-composition has been calculated from the blue-shift of the exciton ground-state PL-emission, using a concentration function based on Fick's laws of diffusion. The diffusion length (L{sub D}) and the activation energy (E{sub A}) have been determined thereof. For the studied QDs, E{sub A} has been evaluated to be 2.2 eV. Additionally, TA results also in an enhancement of the PL-intensity and reduction of the full-width-at-half maximum (FWHM) of the spectra. This point towards an increased homogeneity of the QD-size and composition, and decrease in the concentration of defects around the QDs. For single CdSe/ZnSe QDs, TA has been varied from 100-240 C, in steps for 20 C, with t{sub A} kept fixed at 30 s. Finally, the evolution of the magneto-optic response with post-growth thermal annealing has been studied for both individual QDs and QD-ensembles. An external magnetic field, applied perpendicular to the plane of the QDs (Faraday configuration), results in Zeeman spin splitting of the ground exciton state. The emissions from the Zeeman-split states are left and right circularly polarized and from the degree of circular polarization (DCP), as well as, the spectral separation of the PL-peaks, the g-factor can be estimated. For CdSe/ZnSe QD-ensembles, the g-factor has been observed to change sign with TA. (orig.).

In-place thermal annealing of nuclear reactor pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Server, W.L.

1985-04-01

Radiation embrittlement of ferritic pressure vessel steels increases the ductile-brittle transition temperature and decreases the upper shelf level of toughness as measured by Charpy impact tests. A thermal anneal cycle well above the normal operating temperature of the vessel can restore most of the original Charpy V-notch energy properties. The Amry SM-1A test reactor vessel was wet annealed in 1967 at less than 343 0 C (650 0 F), and wet annealing of the Belgian BR-3 reactor vessel at 343 0 C (650 0 F) has recently taken place. An industry survey indicates that dry annealing a reactor vessel in-place at temperatures as high as 454 0 C (850 0 F) is feasible, but solvable engineering problems do exist. Economic considerations have not been totally evaluated in assessing the cost-effectiveness of in-place annealing of commercial nuclear vessels. An American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) task group is upgrading and revising guide ASTM E 509-74 with emphasis on the materials and surveillance aspects of annealing rather than system engineering problems. System safety issues are the province of organizations other than ASTM (e.g., the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code body)

The growth of intra-granular bubbles in post-irradiation annealed UO2 fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, R.J.

2001-01-01

Post-irradiation examinations of low temperature irradiated UO 2 reveal large numbers of very small intra-granular bubbles, typically of around 1 nm diameter. During high temperature reactor transients these bubbles act as sinks for fission gas atoms and vacancies and can give rise to large volumetric swellings, sometimes of the order of 10%. Under irradiation conditions, the nucleation and growth of these bubbles is determined by a balance between irradiation-induced nucleation, diffusional growth and an irradiation induced re-solution mechanism. This conceptual picture is, however, incomplete because in the absence of irradiation the model predicts that the bubble population present from the pre-irradiation would act as the dominant sink for fission gas atoms resulting in large intra-granular swellings and little or no fission gas release. In practice, large fission gas releases are observed from post-irradiation annealed fuel. A recent series of experiments addressed the issue of fission gas release and swelling in post-irradiation annealed UO 2 originating from Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR) fuel which had been ramp tested in the Halden Test reactor. Specimens of fuel were subjected to transient heating at ramp rates of 0.5 deg. C/s and 20 deg. C/s to target temperatures between 1600 deg. C and 1900 deg. C. The release of fission gas was monitored during the tests. Subsequently, the fuel was subjected to post-irradiation examination involving detailed Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. Bubble-size distributions were obtained from seventeen specimens, which entailed the measurement of nearly 26,000 intra-granular bubbles. The analysis reveals that the bubble densities remain approximately invariant during the anneals and the bubble-size distributions exhibit long exponential tails in which the largest bubbles are present in concentrations of 10 4 or 10 5 lower than the concentrations of the average sized bubbles. Detailed modelling of the bubble

Fabrication of zinc indium oxide thin films and effect of post annealing on structural, chemical and electrical properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jain, Vipin Kumar, E-mail: vipinjain7678@gmail.com [Institute of Engineering and Technology, JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur 302026 (India); Kumar, Praveen [Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore 560064 (India); Srivastava, Subodh; Vijay, Y.K. [Thin film and Membrane Science Laboratory, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302004 (India)

2012-07-25

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer ZIO films have been prepared by flash evaporation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Thermal stability of ZIO films. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Structural, optical, electrical and other properties have been studied. - Abstract: In the present study, zinc indium oxide (ZIO) thin films were deposited on glass substrate with varying concentration (ZnO:In{sub 2}O{sub 3} - 100:0, 90:10, 70:30 and 50:50 wt.%) at room temperature by flash evaporation technique. These deposited ZIO films were annealed in vacuum to study the thermal stability and to see the effects on the structural, chemical and electrical properties. The XRD analysis indicates that crystallization of the ZIO films strongly depends on concentration of In{sub 2}O{sub 3} and post annealing where annealed films showed polycrystalline nature. The surface morphological study of the films using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the formation of nanostructured ZIO thin films. The surface composition and oxidation state were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. XPS spectra shows that as the concentration of In{sub 2}O{sub 3} increases from 10 to 50 wt%, the surface composition ratio In/Zn and O/Zn increases for as-prepared and annealed ZIO films while the XPS valance band spectra manifest the electronic transitions. The electrical resistivity was found to be decreased while carrier concentration and Hall mobility increased for both types of films with increasing concentration of In{sub 2}O{sub 3}.

Improved damp heat stability of Ga-Doped ZnO thin film by pretreatment of the polyethylene terephthalate substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, B. B.; Seo, S. G.; Lim, Y. S.; Choi, H.-S.; Seo, W.-S.; Park, H.-H.

2013-09-01

A study on the damp heat stability of transparent conducting ZnO thin film grown on a polyethylene terephthalate substrate (PET) is reported. By thermal annealing of the PET substrate at 100°C with Ar flow in a vacuum chamber prior to the sputtering growth of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) thin film, significantly enhanced damp heat stability was achieved at 60°C with a 90% relative humidity. Electrical and structural characterizations of the GZO thin films were carried out and the effects of the pretreatment on the improved damp heat stability are discussed.

Electrical and optical properties of a n-type ZnO thin film deposited on a Si substrate by using a double RF Co-sputtering method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jonghyun; Choi, Wonjoon; Kim, Chaeok; Hong, Jinpyo; Nahm, Tschanguh [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cheong, Hyeonsik [Sogang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2006-09-15

Outstanding n-type ZnO thin films were prepared on Si substrates by utilizing a double RF cosputtering method. Our unique double RF technique has many attractive merits for synthesizing ZnO thin films with excellent optoelectronic properties at various temperatures. The ZnO thin films were also post-annealed at various temperatures. The X-ray diffraction patterns and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated well-grown ZnO films with a (002) orientation and with gorgeous chemically bond states, respectively. In addition, photoluminescence measurements indicated a band-gap of 3.4 eV in the ZnO films. The scanning electron microscopy images showed that the as-grown ZnO thin film had hexagonal column shapes, such as hexagonal rods. The ZnO film exhibited an UV light response with a cut-off wavelength of {approx}370 nm at room temperature.

Laser thermal annealing of Ge, optimized for highly activated dopants and diode ION/IOFF ratios

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shayesteh, M.; O'Connell, D.; Gity, F.

2014-01-01

The authors compared the influence of laser thermal annealing (LTA) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on dopant activation and electrical performance of phosphorus and arsenic doped n+/p junction. High carrier concentration above 1020 cm-3 as well as an ION/IOFF ratio of approximately 105 and ide...

Influence Al doped ZnO nanostructure on structural and optical properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramelan, Ari Handono; Wahyuningsih, Sayekti; Chasanah, Uswatul; Munawaroh, Hanik

2016-01-01

The preparation of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films prepared by the spin-coating method was reported. Preparation of AZO was conducted by annealing treatment at a temperature of 700°C. While the spin-coating process of AZO thin films were done at 2000 and 3000 rpm respectively. The structural properties of ZnO were determined by X- ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. ZnOnanostructure was formed after annealed at atemperature of 400°C.The morphology of ZnO was determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) showed the irregular morphology about 30-50µm in size. Al doped on ZnO influenced the optical properties of those material. Increasing Al contain on ZnO cause of shifting to the lower wavelength. The optical properties of the ZnO as well as AZO films showed that higher reflectance on the ultraviolet region so those materials were used as anti-reflecting agent.Al addition significantly enhance the optical transparency and induce the blue-shift in optical bandgap of ZnO films.

Synthesis of borides in molybdenum implanted by B+ ions under thermal and electron annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazdaev, Kh.R.; Akchulakov, M.T.; Bayadilov, E.M.; Ehngel'ko, V.I.; Lazarenko, A.V.; Chebukov, E.S.

1989-01-01

The possibility of formation of borides in the near surface layers of monocrystalline molybdenum implanted by boron ions at 35 keV energy under thermal and pulsed electron annealing by an electon beam at 140 keV energy is investigated. It is found that implantation of boron ions into molybdenum with subsequent thermal annealing permits to produce both molybdenum monoboride (α-MoB) and boride (γ-Mo 2 B) with rather different formation mechanisms. Formation of the α-MoB phase occurs with the temperature elevation from the centers appeared during implantation, while the γ-Mo 2 B phase appears only on heating the implanted layers up to definite temperature as a result of the phase transformation of the solid solution into a chemical compound. Pulsed electron annealing instead of thermal annealing results mainly in formation of molybdenum boride (γ-Mo 2 B), the state of structure is determined by the degree of heating of implanted layers and their durable stay at temperatures exceeding the threshold values

The influence of post-growth annealing on the optical properties of InAs quantum dot chains grown on pre-patterned GaAs(100)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakkarainen, T V; Polojärvi, V; Schramm, A; Tommila, J; Guina, M

2012-01-01

We report on the effect of post-growth thermal annealing of [011]-, [01 1-bar ]-, and [010]-oriented quantum dot chains grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs(100) substrates patterned by UV-nanoimprint lithography. We show that the quantum dot chains experience a blueshift of the photoluminescence energy, spectral narrowing, and a reduction of the intersubband energy separation during annealing. The photoluminescence blueshift is more rapid for the quantum dot chains than for self-assembled quantum dots that were used as a reference. Furthermore, we studied polarization resolved photoluminescence and observed that annealing reduces the intrinsic optical anisotropy of the quantum dot chains and the self-assembled quantum dots. (paper)

The influence of annealing temperature on the interface and photovoltaic properties of CdS/CdSe quantum dots sensitized ZnO nanorods solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Xiaofeng; Chen, Ling; Gong, Haibo; Zhu, Min; Han, Jun; Zi, Min; Yang, Xiaopeng; Ji, Changjian; Cao, Bingqiang

2014-09-15

Arrays of ZnO/CdS/CdSe core/shell nanocables with different annealing temperatures have been investigated for CdS/CdSe quantum dots sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). CdS/CdSe quantum dots were synthesized on the surface of ZnO nanorods that serve as the scaffold via a simple ion-exchange approach. The uniform microstructure was verified by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. UV-Visible absorption spectrum and Raman spectroscopy analysis indicated noticeable influence of annealing temperature on the interface structural and optical properties of the CdS/CdSe layers. Particularly, the relationship between annealing temperatures and photovoltaic performance of the corresponding QDSSCs was investigated employing photovoltaic conversion, quantum efficiency and electrochemical impedance spectra. It is demonstrated that higher cell efficiency can be obtained by optimizing the annealing temperature through extending the photoresponse range and improving QD layer crystal quality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhancement of optical transmittance and electrical resistivity of post-annealed ITO thin films RF sputtered on Si

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Ahmad Hadi; Hassan, Zainuriah; Shuhaimi, Ahmad

2018-06-01

This paper reports on the enhancement of optical transmittance and electrical resistivity of indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent conductive oxides (TCO) deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering on Si substrate. Post-annealing was conducted on the samples at temperature ranges of 500-700 °C. From X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), ITO (2 2 2) peak was observed after post-annealing indicating crystallization phase of the films. From UV-vis measurements, the ITO thin film shows highest transmittance of more than 90% at post-annealing temperature of 700 °C as compared to the as-deposited thin films. From atomic force microscope (AFM), the surface roughness becomes smoother after post-annealing as compared to the as-deposited. The lowest electrical resistivity for ITO sample is 6.68 × 10-4 Ω cm after post-annealed at 700 °C that are contributed by high carrier concentration and mobility. The improved structural and surface morphological characteristics helps in increasing the optical transmittance and reducing the electrical resistivity of the ITO thin films.

Effect of electrodeposition and annealing of ZnO on optical and photovoltaic properties of the p-Cu2O/n-ZnO solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, Sajad; Cao Chuanbao; Nabi, Ghulam; Khan, Waheed S.; Usman, Zahid; Mahmood, Tariq

2011-01-01

Highlights: → The p-Cu 2 O/n-ZnO heterojunction was fabricated by using electrodeposition and rf sputtering techniques, respectively. → The effect of electrodeposition on optical and photovoltaic properties of the p-Cu 2 O/n-ZnO solar cells has been examined. → The preannealing of ZnO thin films has enhanced the efficiency of solar cells. → The efficiency of the solar cell was measured 0.46%. - Abstract: Cu 2 O/ZnO p-n heterojunction solar cells were fabricated by rf sputtering deposition of n-ZnO layer, followed by electrodeposition of p-Cu 2 O layer. The different electrodeposition potentials were applied to deposit Cu 2 O on ZnO. The particle size, crystal faces, crystallinity of Cu 2 O is important factor which determine the p-n junction interface and consequently their effect on the performance of the heterojunction solar cell. It is observed that at -0.6 V, p-Cu 2 O film generates fewer surface states in the interband region due to the termination of [1 1 0] resulting in higher efficiency (0.24%) with maximum particle size (53 nm). The bandgap of Cu 2 O at this potential is found to be 2.17 eV. Furthermore, annealing of ZnO film was performed to get rid of deteriorating one and two dimensional defects, which always reduce the performance of solar cell significantly. We found that the solar cell performance efficiency is nearly doubled by increasing the annealing temperature of ZnO thin films due to increasing electrical conductance and electron mobility. Doping studies and fine tuning of the junction morphology will be necessary to further improve the performance of Cu 2 O/ZnO heterojunction solar cells.

Positron annihilation study of the interfacial defects in ZnO nanocrystals: Correlation with ferromagnetism

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dong; Chen, Z. Q.; Wang, D. D.; Qi, N.; Gong, J.; Cao, C. Y.; Tang, Z.

2010-01-01

High purity ZnO nanopowders were pressed into pellets and annealed in air between 100 and 1200 °C. The crystal quality and grain size of the ZnO nanocrystals were investigated by x-ray diffraction 2θ scans. Annealing induces an increase in the grain size from 25 to 165 nm with temperature increasing from 400 to 1200 °C. Scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations also confirm the grain growth during annealing. Positron annihilation measurements reveal vacancy defects including Zn vacancies, vacancy clusters, and voids in the grain boundary region. The voids show an easy recovery after annealing at 100-700 °C. However, Zn vacancies and vacancy clusters observed by positrons remain unchanged after annealing at temperatures below 500 °C and begin to recover at higher temperatures. After annealing at temperatures higher than 1000 °C, no positron trapping by the interfacial defects can be observed. Raman spectroscopy studies confirm the recovery of lattice disorder after annealing. Hysteresis loops are observed for the 100 and 400 °C annealed samples, which indicate ferromagnetism in ZnO nanocrystals. However, the ferromagnetism disappears after annealing above 700 °C, suggesting that it might originate from the surface defects such as Zn vacancies.

Effect of thermal annealing on the redistribution of alkali metals in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells on glass substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Kamikawa, Yukiko; Nishinaga, Jiro; Ishizuka, Shogo; Tayagaki, Takeshi; Guthrey, Harvey; Shibata, Hajime; Matsubara, Koji; Niki, Shigeru

2018-03-01

The precise control of alkali-metal concentrations in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells via post deposition treatment (PDT) has recently attracted attention. When PDT is performed at an elevated temperature, an accompanying annealing effect is expected. Here, we investigate how thermal annealing affects the redistribution of alkali metals in CIGS solar cells on glass substrates and the properties of the solar cells. In addition, we investigate the origin of non-homogeneous alkali-metal depth profiles that are typical of CIGS grown using a three-stage process. In particular, we use secondary-ion mass spectrometry measurements of the ion concentration as a function of distance from the CIGS surface to investigate the impact of thermal annealing on the distribution of alkali metals (Na, Ka, and Rb) and constituent elements (Ga and In) in the CIGS absorbers. We find that the depth profiles of the alkali metals strongly reflect the density of sites that tend to accommodate alkali metals, i.e., vacancies. Annealing at elevated temperature caused a redistribution of the alkali metals. The thermal-diffusion kinetics of alkali metals depends strongly on the species involved. We introduced low flux potassium fluoride (KF) to study a side effect of KF-PDT, i.e., Na removal from CIGS, separately from its predominant effects such as surface modification. When sufficient amounts of Na are supplied from the soda lime glass via annealing at an elevated temperature, the negative effect was not apparent. Conversely, when the Na supply was not sufficient, it caused a deterioration of the photovoltaic properties.

Effect of Thermal Annealing on the Redistribution of Alkali Metals in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells on Glass Substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guthrey, Harvey L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kamikawa, Yukiko [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST); Nishinaga, Jiro [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST); Ishizuka, Shogo [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST); Tayagaki, Takeshi [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST); Shibata, Hajime [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST); Matsubara, Koji [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST); Niki, Shigeru [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

2018-03-02

The precise control of alkali-metal concentrations in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells via post deposition treatment (PDT) has recently attracted attention. When PDT is performed at an elevated temperature, an accompanying annealing effect is expected. Here, we investigate how thermal annealing affects the redistribution of alkali metals in CIGS solar cells on glass substrates and the properties of the solar cells. In addition, we investigate the origin of non-homogeneous alkali-metal depth profiles that are typical of CIGS grown using a three-stage process. In particular, we use secondary-ion mass spectrometry measurements of the ion concentration as a function of distance from the CIGS surface to investigate the impact of thermal annealing on the distribution of alkali metals (Na, Ka, and Rb) and constituent elements (Ga and In) in the CIGS absorbers. We find that the depth profiles of the alkali metals strongly reflect the density of sites that tend to accommodate alkali metals, i.e., vacancies. Annealing at elevated temperature caused a redistribution of the alkali metals. The thermal-diffusion kinetics of alkali metals depends strongly on the species involved. We introduced low flux potassium fluoride (KF) to study a side effect of KF-PDT, i.e., Na removal from CIGS, separately from its predominant effects such as surface modification. When sufficient amounts of Na are supplied from the soda lime glass via annealing at an elevated temperature, the negative effect was not apparent. Conversely, when the Na supply was not sufficient, it caused a deterioration of the photovoltaic properties.

Effects of Thermal Annealing Upon the Morphology of Polymer-Fullerene Blends

KAUST Repository

Verploegen, Eric

2010-08-18

Grazing incidence X-ray scattering (GIXS) is used to characterize the morphology of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) thin film bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blends as a function of thermal annealing temperature, from room temperature to 220 °C. A custom-built heating chamber for in situ GIXS studies allows for the morphological characterization of thin films at elevated temperatures. Films annealed with a thermal gradient allow for the rapid investigation of the morphology over a range of temperatures that corroborate the results of the in situ experiments. Using these techniques the following are observed: the melting points of each component; an increase in the P3HT coherence length with annealing below the P3HT melting temperature; the formation of well-oriented P3HT crystallites with the (100) plane parallel to the substrate, when cooled from the melt; and the cold crystallization of PCBM associated with the PCBM glass transition temperature. The incorporation of these materials into BHJ blends affects the nature of these transitions as a function of blend ratio. These results provide a deeper understanding of the physics of how thermal annealing affects the morphology of polymer-fullerene BHJ blends and provides tools to manipulate the blend morphology in order to develop high-performance organic solar cell devices. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Effects of Thermal Annealing Upon the Morphology of Polymer-Fullerene Blends

KAUST Repository

Verploegen, Eric; Mondal, Rajib; Bettinger, Christopher J.; Sok, Seihout; Toney, Michael F.; Bao, Zhenan

2010-01-01

Grazing incidence X-ray scattering (GIXS) is used to characterize the morphology of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) thin film bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blends as a function of thermal annealing temperature, from room temperature to 220 °C. A custom-built heating chamber for in situ GIXS studies allows for the morphological characterization of thin films at elevated temperatures. Films annealed with a thermal gradient allow for the rapid investigation of the morphology over a range of temperatures that corroborate the results of the in situ experiments. Using these techniques the following are observed: the melting points of each component; an increase in the P3HT coherence length with annealing below the P3HT melting temperature; the formation of well-oriented P3HT crystallites with the (100) plane parallel to the substrate, when cooled from the melt; and the cold crystallization of PCBM associated with the PCBM glass transition temperature. The incorporation of these materials into BHJ blends affects the nature of these transitions as a function of blend ratio. These results provide a deeper understanding of the physics of how thermal annealing affects the morphology of polymer-fullerene BHJ blends and provides tools to manipulate the blend morphology in order to develop high-performance organic solar cell devices. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Origin of the defects-induced ferromagnetism in un-doped ZnO single crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Peng; Xie, Zheng; Li, Zhengcao; Wang, Weipeng; Zhang, Zhengjun; Li, Zhuoxin; Cheng, Guodong; Zhang, Peng; Wang, Baoyi; Cao, Xingzhong

2013-02-01

We clarified, in this Letter, that in un-doped ZnO single crystals after thermal annealing in flowing argon, the defects-induced room-temperature ferromagnetism was originated from the surface defects and specifically, from singly occupied oxygen vacancies denoted as F+, by the optical and electrical properties measurements as well as positron annihilation analysis. In addition, a positive linear relationship was observed between the ferromagnetism and the F+ concentration, which is in support with the above clarification.

Thermal annealing and pressure effects on BaFe2-xCoxAs2 single crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Dongwon; Jung, Soon-Gil; Prathiba, G; Seo, Soonbeom; Choi, Ki-Young; Kim, Kee Hoon; Park, Tuson

2017-11-26

We investigate the pressure and thermal annealing effects on BaFe_2-xCo_xAs₂ (Co-Ba122) single crystals with x = 0.1 and 0.17 via electrical transport measurements. The thermal annealing treatment not only enhances the superconducting transition temperature (T_c) from 9.6 to 12.7 K for x = 0.1 and from 18.1 to 21.0 K for x = 0.17, but also increases the antiferromagnetic transition temperature (T_N). Simultaneous enhancement of T_c and T_N by the thermal annealing treatment indicates that thermal annealing could substantially improve the quality of the Co-doped Ba122 samples. Interestingly, T_c of the Co-Ba122 compounds shows a scaling behavior with a linear dependence on the resistivity value at 290 K, irrespective of tuning parameters, such as chemical doping, pressure, and thermal annealing. These results not only provide an effective way to access the intrinsic properties of the BaFe₂As₂ system, but also may shed a light on designing new materials with higher superconducting transition temperature. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Vacancy-type defects in electron and proton irradiated ZnO and ZnS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunner, S.; Puff, W.; Logar, B.; Baumann, H.

1997-01-01

A study aimed at investigating basic properties of radiation induced effects in ZnO and ZnS has been presented. Positron annihilation experiments (both lifetime and Doppler-broadening measurements) were performed on polycrystalline samples. For ZnO it was found that both electron and proton irradiation caused significant changes in the positron annihilation characteristics and several annealing stages were observed, related to the annealing of variously sized vacancy complexes. The lifetime in defected, proton irradiated polycrystalline ZnS samples, grown by chemical vapour deposition, indicates the formation of large defect complexes. The annealing of proton irradiated ZnS in air at temperatures between 650 C and 750 C leads to significant oxidation and transformation into ZnO. 10 refs, 2 figs, 1 tab

Vacancy-type defects in electron and proton irradiated ZnO and ZnS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brunner, S.; Puff, W.; Logar, B. [Technische Univ., Graz (Austria). Inst. fuer Kernphysik; Mascher, P. [McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada). Dept. of Biology; Balogh, A.G. [Technische Hochschule Darmstadt (Germany); Baumann, H. [Frankfurt Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Kernphysik

1997-10-01

A study aimed at investigating basic properties of radiation induced effects in ZnO and ZnS has been presented. Positron annihilation experiments (both lifetime and Doppler-broadening measurements) were performed on polycrystalline samples. For ZnO it was found that both electron and proton irradiation caused significant changes in the positron annihilation characteristics and several annealing stages were observed, related to the annealing of variously sized vacancy complexes. The lifetime in defected, proton irradiated polycrystalline ZnS samples, grown by chemical vapour deposition, indicates the formation of large defect complexes. The annealing of proton irradiated ZnS in air at temperatures between 650 C and 750 C leads to significant oxidation and transformation into ZnO. 10 refs, 2 figs, 1 tab.

Effect of ZnO and PbO/ZnO on structural and thermal properties of tellurite glasses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramamoorthy, Raj Kumar; Bhatnagar, Anil K

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Structural units/linkages variation of TeO 2 -ZnO and TeO 2 -ZnO-PbO glasses was studied. • Structural arrangements of TeO 2 -ZnO glasses are rich in Te-O-Te network. • A mixture of Te-O-Te and Te-O-Pb networks is identified in TeO 2 -ZnO-PbO glasses. • Changes in thermal parameters T g and T o are correlated with the structural variations. • 15PbO and 20PbO samples of TeO 2 -ZnO-PbO glasses show large thermal stability. - Abstract: Two series of glasses, (100 − x)TeO 2 -xZnO (x = 20, 25, 30, 35) and 70TeO 2 -(30 − y)ZnO-yPbO (y = 5, 10, 15, 20), referred as TZ and TZP, respectively, were prepared by a melt quenching technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), density, refractive index, Raman scattering and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to observe the changes in their properties as a function of ZnO and PbO/ZnO. Variations in individual structural units/linkages in these glasses are derived from the de-convoluted Raman spectra. The glass transition (T g ) and onset of crystallization (T o ) temperatures are determined from DSC isothermal scans. It is observed that the thermal stability (ΔT = T o − T g ) decreases for TZ glasses with increase in x, while it increases for TZP glasses with increase in y. Changes in thermal parameters of these glasses are correlated with the structural variation as a function of ZnO and PbO/ZnO ratio to determine the effect of substitution/addition of metal oxide, ZnO and PbO, to TeO 2 and TeO 2 -ZnO glasses

Photo-response behavior of organic transistors based on thermally annealed semiconducting diketopyrrolopyrrole core

Science.gov (United States)

Tarsoly, Gergely; Pyo, Seungmoon

2018-06-01

We report the opto-electrical response of organic field-effect transistors based on a thin-film of a semiconducting diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) core, a popular building block for molecular semiconductors, and a polymeric gate dielectric. The thin-film of the DPP core was thermally annealed at different temperatures under N2 atmosphere to investigate the relationship between the annealing temperature and the electrical properties of the device. The results showed that the annealing process induces morphological changes in the thin film, and properly controlling the thermal annealing conditions can enhance the device performance. In addition, we also investigated in detail the photo-response behaviors by analyzing the responsivity (R) of the device with the optimally annealed DPP-core thin film under two light illumination conditions by considering the irradiance absorbed by the thin film instead of the total irradiance of the light source. We found that the proposed model could lead to a light-source-independent description of the photo-response behavior of the device, and which can be used for other applications.

MOVPE growth and characterisation of ZnO properties for optoelectronic applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oleynik, N.

2007-03-07

for p-type doping of ZnO. Some NH{sub 3}- and UDMHy-doped samples have shown a reduction in the electron concentration after post-growth rapid thermal annealing, but no reliable p-type conductivity was observed. The use of the NO precursor results in very smooth layers with a strong drop in growth rate. However, it does not influence the optical and electrical properties of the ZnO. Diisobutylamine deteriorates the properties of ZnO and does not lead to nitrogen incorporation. A brownish color of the samples is observed when using NH{sub 3} or UDMHy. From the strong reduction in the carrier concentration about one order of magnitude lower than the background doping concentration, and the behavior of the DAP luminescence, it is concluded that nitrogen as an acceptor can be successfully introduced in ZnO using UDMHy. (orig.)

Microstructural evolution of radiation induced defects in ZnO during isochronal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunner, S.; Puff, W.; Balogh, A.G.

1999-01-01

In this study the authors discuss the microstructural changes after electron and proton irradiation and the thermal evolution of the radiation induced defects during isochronal annealing. The nominally undoped samples were irradiated either with 3 MeV protons to a fluence of 1.2 x 10 18 p/cm 2 or with 1 MeV electrons to a fluence of 1 x 10 18 e/cm 2 . The investigation was performed with positron lifetime and Doppler-Broadening measurements. The measurements were done at room temperature and in some cases down to 10 K to investigate the thermal dependence of the trapping characteristics of the positrons

Influence of addition of indium and of post-annealing on structural, electrical and optical properties of gallium-doped zinc oxide thin films deposited by direct-current magnetron sputtering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pham, Duy Phong [Laboratory of Advanced Materials, University of Science, Vietnam National University, HoChiMinh (Viet Nam); College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Nguyen, Huu Truong [Laboratory of Advanced Materials, University of Science, Vietnam National University, HoChiMinh (Viet Nam); Phan, Bach Thang [Laboratory of Advanced Materials, University of Science, Vietnam National University, HoChiMinh (Viet Nam); Faculty of Materials Science, University of Science, Vietnam National University, HoChiMinh (Viet Nam); Hoang, Van Dung [Laboratory of Advanced Materials, University of Science, Vietnam National University, HoChiMinh (Viet Nam); Maenosono, Shinya [School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292 (Japan); Tran, Cao Vinh, E-mail: tcvinh@hcmus.edu.vn [Laboratory of Advanced Materials, University of Science, Vietnam National University, HoChiMinh (Viet Nam)

2015-05-29

In this study, both gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) and indium-added gallium-doped zinc oxide (IGZO) thin films were deposited on commercial glasses by magnetron dc-sputtering in argon atmosphere. The crystal structure, electrical conductivity and optical transmission of as-deposited as well as post-annealed thin films of both GZO and IGZO were investigated for comparison. A small amount of indium introduced into GZO thin films had improved their polycrystalline structure and increased their electrical conductivity by over 29%. All obtained GZO and IGZO thin films have strong [002] crystalline direction, a characteristic orientation of ZnO thin films. Although post-annealed in air at high temperatures up to 500 °C, IGZO thin films still had very low sheet resistance of 6.6 Ω/□. Furthermore, they had very high optical transmission of over 80% in both visible and near-infrared regions. - Highlights: • Doping 0.1 at.% indium enhanced crystalline, electrical properties of GZO films. • The mobility of IGZO films was 25% higher than that of GZO films. • The IGZO films will be potential materials for transparent conducting electrodes.

Influence of addition of indium and of post-annealing on structural, electrical and optical properties of gallium-doped zinc oxide thin films deposited by direct-current magnetron sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pham, Duy Phong; Nguyen, Huu Truong; Phan, Bach Thang; Hoang, Van Dung; Maenosono, Shinya; Tran, Cao Vinh

2015-01-01

In this study, both gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) and indium-added gallium-doped zinc oxide (IGZO) thin films were deposited on commercial glasses by magnetron dc-sputtering in argon atmosphere. The crystal structure, electrical conductivity and optical transmission of as-deposited as well as post-annealed thin films of both GZO and IGZO were investigated for comparison. A small amount of indium introduced into GZO thin films had improved their polycrystalline structure and increased their electrical conductivity by over 29%. All obtained GZO and IGZO thin films have strong [002] crystalline direction, a characteristic orientation of ZnO thin films. Although post-annealed in air at high temperatures up to 500 °C, IGZO thin films still had very low sheet resistance of 6.6 Ω/□. Furthermore, they had very high optical transmission of over 80% in both visible and near-infrared regions. - Highlights: • Doping 0.1 at.% indium enhanced crystalline, electrical properties of GZO films. • The mobility of IGZO films was 25% higher than that of GZO films. • The IGZO films will be potential materials for transparent conducting electrodes

Synthesis and optical properties of flower-like ZnO nanorods by thermal evaporation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, J.H.; Jiang, Q.; Lian, J.S.

2011-01-01

Flower-like ZnO nanorods have been synthesized by heating a mixture of ZnO/graphite powders using the thermal evaporation and vapor transport on Si (1 0 0) substrates without any catalyst. The structures, morphologies and optical properties of the products were characterized in detail by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. The synthesized products consisted of large quantities of flower-like ZnO nanostructures in the form of uniform nanorods. The flower-like ZnO nanorods had high purity and well crystallized wurtzite structure, whose high crystalline quality was proved by Raman spectroscopy. The as-synthesized flower-like ZnO nanorods showed a strong ultraviolet emission at 386 nm and a weak and broad yellow-green emission in visible spectrum in its room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. In addition, the growth mechanism of the flower-like ZnO nanorods was discussed based on the reaction conditions.

Study of thermal annealing effect on Bragg gratings photo-inscribed in step-index polymer optical fibers

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, X.; Kinet, D.; Mégret, P.; Caucheteur, C.

2016-04-01

In this paper, both non-annealed and annealed trans-4-stilbenemethanol-doped step-index polymer optical fibers were photo-inscribed using a 325 nm HeCd laser with two different beam power densities reaching the fiber core. In the high density regime where 637 mW/mm2 are used, the grating reflectivity is stable over time after the photo-writing process but the reflected spectrum is of limited quality, as the grating physical length is limited to 1.2 mm. To produce longer gratings exhibiting more interesting spectral features, the beam is enlarged to 6 mm, decreasing the power density to 127 mW/mm2. In this second regime, the grating reflectivity is not stable after the inscription process but tends to decay for both kinds of fibers. A fortunate property in this case results from the possibility to fully recover the initial reflectivity using a post-inscription thermal annealing, where the gratings are annealed at 80 °C during 2 days. The observed evolutions for both regimes are attributed to the behavior of the excited intermediate states between the excited singlet and the ground singlet state of trans- and cis-isomers as well as the temperature-dependent glassy polymer matrix.

Thermal annealing response following irradiation of a CMOS imager for the JUICE JANUS instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Lofthouse-Smith, D.-D.; Soman, M. R.; Allanwood, E. A. H.; Stefanov, K. D.; Holland, A. D.; Leese, M.; Turne, P.

2018-03-01

ESA's JUICE (JUpiter ICy moon Explorer) spacecraft is an L-class mission destined for the Jovian system in 2030. Its primary goals are to investigate the conditions for planetary formation and the emergence of life, and how does the solar system work. The JANUS camera, an instrument on JUICE, uses a 4T back illuminated CMOS image sensor, the CIS115 designed by Teledyne e2v. JANUS imager test campaigns are studying the CIS115 following exposure to gammas, protons, electrons and heavy ions, simulating the harsh radiation environment present in the Jovian system. The degradation of 4T CMOS device performance following proton fluences is being studied, as well as the effectiveness of thermal annealing to reverse radiation damage. One key parameter for the JANUS mission is the Dark current of the CIS115, which has been shown to degrade in previous radiation campaigns. A thermal anneal of the CIS115 has been used to accelerate any annealing following the irradiation as well as to study the evolution of any performance characteristics. CIS115s have been irradiated to double the expected End of Life (EOL) levels for displacement damage radiation (2×1010 protons, 10 MeV equivalent). Following this, devices have undergone a thermal anneal cycle at 100oC for 168 hours to reveal the extent to which CIS115 recovers pre-irradiation performance. Dark current activation energy analysis following proton fluence gives information on trap species present in the device and how effective anneal is at removing these trap species. Thermal anneal shows no quantifiable change in the activation energy of the dark current following irradiation.

Effect of annealing on the compositional modulation of InAlAsSb

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baladés, N., E-mail: nuria.balades@uca.es [INNANOMAT group, Departamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e I. M. y Q. I., Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Microscopía Electrónica y Materiales (IMEYMAT), CEIMAR, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz (Spain); Sales, D.L.; Herrera, M.; Delgado, F.J. [INNANOMAT group, Departamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e I. M. y Q. I., Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Microscopía Electrónica y Materiales (IMEYMAT), CEIMAR, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz (Spain); González, M. [U.S Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington D.C. 20375 (United States); Sotera Defense Solutions, 430 National Business Pkwy # 100, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701 (United States); Clark, K.; Pinsunkajana, P. [Intelligent Epitaxy Technology, Inc. Richardson, TX, 75801 (United States); Hoven, N.; Hubbard, S. [Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623 (United States); Tomasulo, S.; Walters, J.R. [U.S Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington D.C. 20375 (United States); Molina, S.I. [INNANOMAT group, Departamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e I. M. y Q. I., Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Microscopía Electrónica y Materiales (IMEYMAT), CEIMAR, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz (Spain)

2017-02-15

Highlights: • A post-growth annealing under As overpressure over 500 °C for several minutes induces a blue-shift in the InAlAsSb emission. • TEM analysis evidences that the small compositional fluctuations of the as-grown samples disappear after being annealed. • Annealing stimulates atomic diffusion of the quaternary, homogenizing their constituents and enhancing structural quality. - Abstract: The effect of a post-growth thermal treatment in two different heterostructures with InAlAsSb as the top layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy lattice-matched to InP, have been studied by diffraction contrast transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This novel top cell layer material with application in ultra-high efficiency solar cells were grown on (001) InP substrate with or without an InGaAs buffer layer. Initial photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed deviations from their predicted bandgap, suggesting non-random atomic distribution of the quaternary layer. Then, a thermal annealing was performed at different temperatures and times. The effect on the structure of the InAlAsSb active layer caused by the new arrangement of layers and the post-growth annealing treatments has been reported. Our results show that the small compositional fluctuations of the as-grown heterostructures disappear after being annealed, and the bandgap energy correspondingly increases towards the predicted value.

Size dependent emission stimulation in ZnO nanosheets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torchynska, T.V.; El Filali, B.

2014-01-01

Photoluminescence (PL), X ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman scattering have been studied in crystalline ZnO nanosheets (NSs) of different sizes, estimated by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). ZnO NSs with the size from the range of 60–600 nm were created by the electrochemical (anodization) method and followed thermal annealing at 400 °C for 2 h in ambient air. XRD study confirms the wurtzite structure of ZnO NSs and has revealed that the lattice parameters increase monotonically with decreasing NS sizes. Simultaneously the intensity of a set of Raman peaks increases and Raman peaks shift into the low energy range. The surface phonon has been detected in smallest size ZnO NSs. Two types of PL bands deal with a set of phonon replicas of free excitons and the defect related emission have been detected in ZnO NSs. The intensity enhancement of exciton- and defect-related PL bands with decreasing ZnO NS sizes has been detected. The intensity stimulation of exciton-related PL bands is attributed to the realization of the week confinement and the exciton-light coupling with the formation of polariton in small size ZnO NSs of 67–170 nm. The intensity rising of defect-related PL bands is attributed to the concentration enlargement of surface defects when the surface to volume ration increases at decreasing ZnO NS sizes. Numerical simulations of radiative lifetimes and exciton radiative recombination rates in ZnO NSs for different emission wavelengths have been done using the exciton-light coupling model. Then the experimental and numerically simulated PL results have been compared and discussed. - Highlights: • Optical and structural investigations of the ZnO nanosheets with the sizes 60–600 nm. • The enlargement of interplanar distances in the wurtzite ZnO crystal lattice is detected. • The change of optic phonon energy and surface phonon appearing are reveled. • ZnO emission stimulation at the week confinement and electron-light coupling with the

Modeling the effects of ion dose and crystallographic symmetry on the morphological evolution of embedded precipitates under thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Kun-Dar

2014-01-01

Highlights: •We model the faceted precipitates formation by post-implantation annealing. •The anisotropic interfacial energy and diffusion kinetics play crucial roles. •The evolutions of faceted precipitates, including Ostwald ripening, are revealed. •The mechanism of the nucleation and growth is based on the atomic diffusion. •The effects of ion dose and crystallographic symmetry are also investigated. -- Abstract: Thermal annealing is one of the most common techniques to synthesize embedded precipitates by ion implantation process. In this study, an anisotropic phase field model is presented to investigate the effects of ion dose and crystallographic symmetry on the morphological formation and evolution of embedded precipitates during post-implantation thermal annealing process. This theoretical model provides an efficient numerical approach to understand the phenomenon of faceted precipitates formation by ion implantation. As a theoretical analysis, the interfacial energy and diffusion kinetics play prominent roles in the mechanism of atomic diffusion for the precipitates formation. With a low ion dose, faceted precipitates are developed by virtue of the anisotropic interfacial energy. As an increase of ion dose, connected precipitates with crystallographic characters on the edge are appeared. For a high ion dose, labyrinth-like nanostructures of precipitates are produced and the characteristic morphology of crystallographic symmetry becomes faint. These simulation results for the morphological evolutions of embedded precipitates by ion implantation are corresponded with many experimental observations in the literatures. The quantitative analyses of the simulations are also well described the consequence of precipitates formation under different conditions

Interaction of nitrogen with vacancy defects in N+-implanted ZnO studied using a slow positron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Z.Q.; Maekawa, M.; Kawasuso, A.; Suzuki, R.; Ohdaira, T.

2005-01-01

ZnO crystals were implanted with N + , O + , and Al + , and co-implanted with O + /N + and Al + /N + ions. Positron annihilation measurements indicate introduction of vacancy clusters upon implantation. In the N + -implanted and Al + /N + co-implanted samples, these vacancy clusters are only partially annealed at 800 deg. C, as compared with their entire recovery in the O + - and Al + -implanted samples at 800-900 deg. C, suggesting a strong interaction between nitrogen and vacancy clusters. However, in the O + /N + co-implanted sample, most vacancy clusters disappear at 800 deg. C. Probably oxygen scavenges nitrogen to enhance the annealing of the vacancy clusters. Upon further annealing at 1000-1100 deg. C, nitrogen also forms stable complexes with thermally generated vacancies. These nitrogen-related vacancy complexes need high-temperature annealing at 1200-1250 deg. C to be fully removed

Grain engineering by ultrasonic substrate vibration post-treatment of wet perovskite films for annealing-free, high performance, and stable perovskite solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Hao; Zabihi, Fatemeh; Wang, Hongzhi; Zhang, Qinghong; Eslamian, Morteza

2018-05-10

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have gained great interest, owing to a fast increase in their power conversion efficiency (PCE), within a few years. However, their wide application and scale-up are hampered due to multiple obstacles, such as chemical instability, which leads to a short lifetime, and their complicated reaction and crystallization, which requires thermal annealing. Here, we address these issues using the ultrasonic substrate vibration post treatment (SVPT) applied on the as-spun perovskite wet films, so as to achieve a uniform, microscale and stable mixed-halide and mixed-cation perovskite layer, (FAPbI3)0.85(MAPbBr3)0.15, without the need for a conventional thermal annealing step. This is achieved by the creation of fluid micromixing and in situ annealing within the solution, caused by the ultrasonic excitation of the wet film. The optoelectronic properties of the perovskite films subjected to the SVPT, including photoemission, carrier lifetime and band gap, are remarkably improved compared to the conventionally annealed films. When incorporated into a planar PSC, a maximum PCE of 18.55% was achieved, compared to 15.17% for the control device, with high reproducibility and no hysteresis, and the device retained 80% of its initial PCE, over a period of 20 days of storage under ambient conditions.

Review of in-service thermal annealing of nuclear reactor pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Server, W.L.

1984-01-01

Radiation embrittlement of ferritic pressure vessel steels increases the ductile-brittle transition temperature and decreases the upper-shelf level of toughness as measured by Charpy impact tests. A thermal anneal cycle well above the normal operating temperature of the vessel can restore most of the original Charpy V-notch energy properties. A test reactor pressure vessel has been wet annealed at less than 343 0 C (650 0 F), and annealing of the Belgian BR-3 reactor vessel has recently taken place. An industry survey indicates that dry annealing a reactor vessel in-place is feasible, but solvable engineering problems do exist. The materials with highest radiation sensitivity in the older reactor vessels are submerged-arc weld metals with high copper and nickel concentrations. The limited Charpy V-notch and fracture toughness data available for five such welds were reviewed. The review suggested that significant recovery results from annealing at 454 0 C (850 0 F) for one week. Two of the main concerns with a localized heat treatment at 454 0 C (850 0 F) are the degree of distortion that may occur after the annealing cycle and the extent of residual stresses. A thermal and structural analysis of a reactor vessel for distortions and residual stresses found no problems with the reactor vessel itself but did indicate a rotation at the nozzle region of the vessel that would plastically deform the attached primary piping. Further analytical studies are needed. An American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) task group is upgrading and revising the ASTM Recommended Guide for In-Service Annealing of WaterCooled Nuclear Reactor Vessels (E 509-74) with emphasis on the materials and surveillance aspects of annealing rather than system engineering problems. System safety issues are the province of organizations other than ASTM (for example, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code body)

Novel thermal annealing methodology for permanent tuning polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings to longer wavelengths.

Science.gov (United States)

Pospori, A; Marques, C A F; Sagias, G; Lamela-Rivera, H; Webb, D J

2018-01-22

The Bragg wavelength of a polymer optical fiber Bragg grating can be permanently shifted by utilizing the thermal annealing method. In all the reported fiber annealing cases, the authors were able to tune the Bragg wavelength only to shorter wavelengths, since the polymer fiber shrinks in length during the annealing process. This article demonstrates a novel thermal annealing methodology for permanently tuning polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings to any desirable spectral position, including longer wavelengths. Stretching the polymer optical fiber during the annealing process, the period of Bragg grating, which is directly related with the Bragg wavelength, can become permanently longer. The methodology presented in this article can be used to multiplex polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings at any desirable spectral position utilizing only one phase-mask for their photo-inscription, reducing thus their fabrication cost in an industrial setting.

In situ thermal residual stress evolution in ultrathin ZnO and Ag films studied by synchrotron x-ray diffraction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Renault, P.O., E-mail: Pierre.olivier.renault@univ-poitiers.fr [Institut P' , CNRS, Universite de Poitiers, UPR 3346, 86962 Futuroscope (France); Krauss, C.; Le Bourhis, E.; Geandier, G. [Institut P' , CNRS, Universite de Poitiers, UPR 3346, 86962 Futuroscope (France); Benedetto, A. [Saint-Gobain Recherche (SGR), 93303 Aubervilliers (France); Grachev, S.Y.; Barthel, E. [Lab. Surface du Verre et Interfaces (SVI), UMR-CNRS 125, 93303 Aubervilliers (France)

2011-12-30

Residual-stress evolution in sputtered encapsulated ZnO/Ag/ZnO stack has been studied in-situ by synchrotron x-ray diffraction when heat treated. The ZnO/Ag/ZnO stack encapsulated into Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} layers and deposited on (001) Si substrates was thermally heated from 25 Degree-Sign C to 600 Degree-Sign C and cooled down to 25 Degree-Sign C. X-ray diffraction 2D patterns captured continuously during the heat treatment allowed monitoring the diffraction peak shifts of both Ag (15 nm thick) and ZnO (10 nm and 50 nm thick) sublayers. Due to the mismatch between the coefficients of thermal expansion, the silicon substrate induced compressive thermal stresses in the films during heating. We first observed a linear increase of the compressive stress state in both Ag and ZnO films and then a more complex elastic-stress evolution starts to operate from about 100 Degree-Sign C for Ag and about 250 Degree-Sign C for ZnO. Thermal contraction upon cooling seems to dominate so that the initial compressive film stresses relax by about 300 and 700 MPa after thermal treatment for ZnO and Ag, respectively. The overall behavior is discussed in terms of structural changes induced by the heat treatment.

Porous nanostructured ZnO films deposited by picosecond laser ablation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sima, Cornelia; Grigoriu, Constantin; Besleaga, Cristina; Mitran, Tudor; Ion, Lucian; Antohe, Stefan

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We deposite porous nanostructured ZnO films by picoseconds laser ablation (PLA). ► We examine changes of the films structure on the experimental parameter deposition. ► We demonstrate PLA capability to produce ZnO nanostructured films free of particulates. - Abstract: Porous nanostructured polycrystalline ZnO films, free of large particulates, were deposited by picosecond laser ablation. Using a Zn target, zinc oxide films were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates using a picosecond Nd:YVO 4 laser (8 ps, 50 kHz, 532 nm, 0.17 J/cm 2 ) in an oxygen atmosphere at room temperature (RT). The morpho-structural characteristics of ZnO films deposited at different oxygen pressures (150–900 mTorr) and gas flow rates (0.25 and 10 sccm) were studied. The post-deposition influence of annealing (250–550 °C) in oxygen on the film characteristics was also investigated. At RT, a mixture of Zn and ZnO formed. At substrate temperatures above 350 °C, the films were completely oxidized, containing a ZnO wurtzite phase with crystallite sizes of 12.2–40.1 nm. At pressures of up to 450 mTorr, the porous films consisted of well-distinguished primary nanoparticles with average sizes of 45–58 nm, while at higher pressures, larger clusters (3.1–14.7 μm) were dominant, leading to thicker films; higher flow rates favored clustering.

Improved characteristics of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide-based resistive random access memory using hydrogen post-annealing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Dae Yun; Lee, Tae-Ho; Kim, Tae Geun, E-mail: tgkim1@korea.ac.kr [School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-08-15

The authors report an improvement in resistive switching (RS) characteristics of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO)-based resistive random access memory devices using hydrogen post-annealing. Because this a-IGZO thin film has oxygen off-stoichiometry in the form of deficient and excessive oxygen sites, the film properties can be improved by introducing hydrogen atoms through the annealing process. After hydrogen post-annealing, the device exhibited a stable bipolar RS, low-voltage set and reset operation, long retention (>10{sup 5 }s), good endurance (>10{sup 6} cycles), and a narrow distribution in each current state. The effect of hydrogen post-annealing is also investigated by analyzing the sample surface using X-ray photon spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy.

Effect of Thermal Annealing on Carbon in In-situ Phosphorous-Doped Si1-xCx films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adam, Thomas; Loubet, Nicolas; Reznicek, Alexander; Paruchuri, Vamsi; Sampson, Ron; Sadana, Devendra

2012-01-01

The effect of thermal heat treatment on carbon in in-situ phosphorous-doped silicon-carbon is studied as a function of annealing temperature and type. Films of 0 to 2% carbon were deposited using cyclic chemical vapor deposition at reduced pressures. Secondary ion-mass spectroscopy and high-resolution X-ray diffraction were employed to extract the total and substitutional carbon concentration in samples with phosphorous levels of mid-10 20 cm -3 . It was found that millisecond laser annealing drastically improves substitutionality while high thermal budget treatments (furnace, rapid-thermal, or spike annealing) resulted in an almost complete loss of substitutional carbon, independent of preceding or subsequent laser heat treatments.

Optical properties of Mn doped ZnO films and wires synthesized by thermal oxidation of ZnMn alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sima, M.; Mihut, L.; Vasile, E.; Sima, Ma.; Logofatu, C.

2015-01-01

Mn doped ZnO films and wires, having different manganese concentrations were synthesized by thermal oxidation of the corresponding ZnMn alloy films and wires electrodeposited on a gold substrate. Structural and optical properties were addressed with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL). To estimate the manganese concentration in Mn doped ZnO films, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used. XRD patterns indicate that the incorporation of Mn 2+ ions into the Zn 2+ site of ZnO lattice takes place. Quenching of the ZnO PL appears due to Mn 2+ ions in the ZnO lattice. Moreover, a significant decrease in the green emission of ZnO is reported in the case of the Mn doped ZnO wire array with a Mn concentration of 1.45%. The wurtzite ZnO has a total of 12 phonon modes, namely, one longitudinal acoustic (LA), two transverse acoustic (TA), three longitudinal optical (LO), and six transverse optical branches. Compared to the undoped ZnO, a gradual up-shift of the Raman lines assigned to the 2LA and A 1 (LO) vibrational modes, from 482 and 567 cm −1 to 532 and 580 cm −1 , respectively, takes place for the Mn doped ZnO films having a Mn concentration between 2 and 15%. Additionally, in the case of the Mn doped ZnO films with 7 and 15% Mn concentration, Raman spectra show the appearance and increase in the relative intensity of the ZnO Raman line assigned to the TA + LO vibrational mode in the 600–750 cm −1 spectral range. For the Mn-doped ZnO wires, the presence of the Raman line peaking at 527 cm −1 confirms the insertion of Mn 2+ ions in ZnO lattice. - Highlights: • Mn doped ZnO films and wires grown by thermal oxidation of ZnMn alloy • Incorporation of Mn 2+ ions into Zn 2+ site of ZnO lattice • Appearance of a strong Raman line in the spectral range 600–800 cm −1 at high Mn concentration • Compensation of the oxygen vacancy at higher Mn concentration in ZnO lattice

Enhanced regeneration of degraded polymer solar cells by thermal annealing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Pankaj, E-mail: pankaj@mail.nplindia.ernet.in [CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr. K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012 (India); Centre for Organic Electronics, Physics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW-2308 (Australia); Bilen, Chhinder; Zhou, Xiaojing; Belcher, Warwick J.; Dastoor, Paul C., E-mail: Paul.Dastoor@newcastle.edu.au [Centre for Organic Electronics, Physics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW-2308 (Australia); Feron, Krishna [Centre for Organic Electronics, Physics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW-2308 (Australia); CSIRO Energy Technology, P. O. Box 330, Newcastle NSW 2300 (Australia)

2014-05-12

The degradation and thermal regeneration of poly(3-hexylethiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl-C{sub 61}-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and P3HT:indene-C{sub 60} bisadduct (ICBA) polymer solar cells, with Ca/Al and Ca/Ag cathodes and indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene-dioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate anode have been investigated. Degradation occurs via a combination of three primary pathways: (1) cathodic oxidation, (2) active layer phase segregation, and (3) anodic diffusion. Fully degraded devices were subjected to thermal annealing under inert atmosphere. Degraded solar cells possessing Ca/Ag electrodes were observed to regenerate their performance, whereas solar cells having Ca/Al electrodes exhibited no significant regeneration of device characteristics after thermal annealing. Moreover, the solar cells with a P3HT:ICBA active layer exhibited enhanced regeneration compared to P3HT:PCBM active layer devices as a result of reduced changes to the active layer morphology. Devices combining a Ca/Ag cathode and P3HT:ICBA active layer demonstrated ∼50% performance restoration over several degradation/regeneration cycles.

Enhanced regeneration of degraded polymer solar cells by thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Pankaj; Bilen, Chhinder; Zhou, Xiaojing; Belcher, Warwick J.; Dastoor, Paul C.; Feron, Krishna

2014-01-01

The degradation and thermal regeneration of poly(3-hexylethiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and P3HT:indene-C 60 bisadduct (ICBA) polymer solar cells, with Ca/Al and Ca/Ag cathodes and indium tin oxide/poly(ethylene-dioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate anode have been investigated. Degradation occurs via a combination of three primary pathways: (1) cathodic oxidation, (2) active layer phase segregation, and (3) anodic diffusion. Fully degraded devices were subjected to thermal annealing under inert atmosphere. Degraded solar cells possessing Ca/Ag electrodes were observed to regenerate their performance, whereas solar cells having Ca/Al electrodes exhibited no significant regeneration of device characteristics after thermal annealing. Moreover, the solar cells with a P3HT:ICBA active layer exhibited enhanced regeneration compared to P3HT:PCBM active layer devices as a result of reduced changes to the active layer morphology. Devices combining a Ca/Ag cathode and P3HT:ICBA active layer demonstrated ∼50% performance restoration over several degradation/regeneration cycles

Thermal annealing of natural, radiation-damaged pyrochlore

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zietlow, Peter; Beirau, Tobias; Mihailova, Boriana; Groat, Lee A.; Chudy, Thomas; Shelyug, Anna; Navrotsky, Alexandra; Ewing, Rodney C.; Schlüter, Jochen; Škoda, Radek; Bismayer, Ulrich

2017-01-01

Radiation damage in minerals is caused by the α-decay of incorporated radionuclides, such as U and Th and their decay products. The effect of thermal annealing (400–1000 K) on radiation-damaged pyrochlores has been investigated by Raman scattering, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and combined differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetry (DSC/TG). The analysis of three natural radiation-damaged pyrochlore samples from Miass/Russia [6.4 wt% Th, 23.1·10

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in hydrogenated ZnO nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Xudong; Liu, Liangliang; Wang, Zhu; Wu, Yichu

2014-01-01

The effect of hydrogen doping on the magnetic properties of ZnO nanoparticles was investigated. Hydrogen was incorporated by annealing under 5% H2 in Ar ambient at 700 °C. Room-temperature ferromagnetism was induced in hydrogenated ZnO nanoparticles, and the observed ferromagnetism could be switched between "on" and "off" states through hydrogen annealing and oxygen annealing process, respectively. It was found that Zn vacancy and OH bonding complex (VZn + OH) was crucial to the observed ferromagnetism by using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and positron annihilation spectroscopy analysis. Based on first-principles calculations, VZn + OH was favorable to be presented due to the low formation energy. Meanwhile, this configuration could lead to a magnetic moment of 0.57 μB. The Raman and photoluminescence measurements excluded the possibility of oxygen vacancy as the origin of the ferromagnetism.

A study of tensile and thermal properties of 3D printed conductive ABS - ZnO composite

Science.gov (United States)

Aw, Y. Y.; Yeoh, C. K.; Idris, M. A.; Amali, H. K.; Aqzna, S. S.; Teh, P. L.

2017-04-01

Research into 3D printed composites are interesting because the properties of 3D printed components are usually insufficient for robust engineering applications. In this paper, conductive ABS - ZnO composites were successfully fabricated using a 3D printer. Tensile strength increases when filler loading increases up to 11wt%. Dynamic storage modulus of the conductive ABS-ZnO composite increases with the addition of ZnO filler, indicating stiffness enhancement of the composites. Higher loss modulus is also observed on samples with ZnO filler. Thermal conductivity increases from 0.2204 W/mK to 0.3508 W/mK when the filler concentration increases to 14wt% due to the formation of conductive network among fillers within the polymer matrix. With these promising tensile and thermal properties, the 3D printed composites are suitable to be used as automobile parts.

Investigation on structural aspects of ZnO nano-crystal using radio-active ion beam and PAC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganguly, Bichitra Nandi, E-mail: bichitra.ganguly@saha.ac.in [Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata 700064 (India); Dutta, Sreetama; Roy, Soma [Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata 700064 (India); Röder, Jens [Physics Department, ISOLDE/CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Physical Chemistry, RWTH-Aachen, Aachen (Germany); Johnston, Karl [Physics Department, ISOLDE/CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Experimental Physics, University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken (Germany); Martin, Manfred [Physical Chemistry, RWTH-Aachen, Aachen (Germany)

2015-11-01

Nano-crystalline ZnO has been studied with perturbed angular correlation using {sup 111m}Cd, implanted at ISOLDE/CERN and X-ray diffraction using Rietveld analysis. The data show a gradual increase in the crystal size and stress for a sample annealed at 600 °C, and reaching nearly properties of standard ZnO with tempering at 1000 °C. The perturbed angular correlation data show a broad frequency distribution at low annealing temperatures and small particle sizes, whereas at high annealing temperature and larger crystal sizes, results similar to bulk ZnO have been obtained. The ZnO nano-crystalline samples were initially prepared through a wet chemical route, have been examined by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and chemical purity has been confirmed with Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis as well as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).

All-dry transferred single- and few-layer MoS2 field effect transistor with enhanced performance by thermal annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Arnob; Lee, Jaesung; Feng, Philip X.-L.

2018-01-01

We report on the experimental demonstration of all-dry stamp transferred single- and few-layer (1L to 3L) molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) field effect transistors (FETs), with a significant enhancement of device performance by employing thermal annealing in moderate vacuum. Three orders of magnitude reduction in both contact and channel resistances have been attained via thermal annealing. We obtain a low contact resistance of 22 kΩ μm after thermal annealing of 1L MoS2 FETs stamp-transferred onto gold (Au) contact electrodes. Furthermore, nearly two orders of magnitude enhancement of field effect mobility are also observed after thermal annealing. Finally, we employ Raman and photoluminescence measurements to reveal the phenomena of alloying or hybridization between 1L MoS2 and its contacting electrodes during annealing, which is responsible for attaining the low contact resistance.

Effects of deposition and post-annealing conditions on electrical properties and thermal stability of TiAlN films by ion beam sputter deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.-Y.; Wang, S.-C.; Chen, J.-S.; Huang, J.-L.

2006-01-01

TiAlN films were deposited by ion beam sputter deposition (IBSD) using a Ti-Al (90/10) alloy target in a nitrogen atmosphere on thermal oxidized Si wafers. Effects of ion beam voltage, substrate temperature (T s ) and post-annealing conditions on electrical properties and oxidation resistance of TiAlN films were studied. According to the experimental results, the proper kinetic energy provided good crystallinity and a dense structure of the films. Because of their better crystallinity and predomination of (200) planes, TiAlN films deposited with 900 V at low T s (50 deg. C) have shown lower resistivity than those at high T s (250 deg. C). They also showed better oxidation resistance. If the beam voltage was too high, it caused some damage to the film surfaces, which caused poor oxidation resistance of films. When sufficient kinetic energy was provided by the beam voltage, the mobility of adatoms was too high due to their extra thermal energy, thus reducing the crystallinity and structure density of the films. A beam voltage of 900 V and a substrate temperature of 50 deg. C were the optimum deposition conditions used in this research. They provided good oxidation resistance and low electrical resistivity for IBSD TiAlN films

Defects annihilation behavior of neutron-irradiated SiC ceramics densified by liquid-phase-assisted method after post-irradiation annealing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Idzat Idris

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Numerous studies on the recovery behavior of neutron-irradiated high-purity SiC have shown that most of the defects present in it are annihilated by post-irradiation annealing, if the neutron fluence is less than 1×1026 n/m2 (>0.1MeV and the irradiation is performed at temperatures lower than 973K. However, the recovery behavior of SiC fabricated by the nanoinfiltrated and transient eutectic phase (NITE process is not well understood. In this study, the effects of secondary phases on the irradiation-related swelling and recovery behavior of monolithic NITE-SiC after post-irradiation annealing were studied. The NITE-SiC specimens were irradiated in the BR2 reactor at fluences of up to 2.0–2.5×1024 n/m2 (E>0.1MeV at 333–363K. This resulted in the specimens swelling up ∼1.3%, which is 0.1% higher than the increase seen in concurrently irradiated high-purity SiC. The recovery behaviors of the specimens after post-irradiation thermal annealing were examined using a precision dilatometer; the specimens were heated at temperatures of up to 1673K using a step-heating method. The recovery curves were analyzed using a first-order model, and the rate constants for each annealing step were obtained to determine the activation energy for volume recovery. The NITE-A specimen (containing 12 wt% sintering additives recovered completely after annealing at ∼1573K; however, it shrank because of the volatilization of the oxide phases at 1673K. The NITE-B specimen (containing 18wt% sintering additives did not recover fully, since the secondary phase (YAG was crystallized during the annealing process. The recovery mechanism of NITE-A SiC was based on the recombination of the C and Si Frenkel pairs, which were very closely sited or only slightly separated at temperatures lower than 1223K, as well as the recombination of the slightly separated C Frenkel pairs and the migration of C and Si interstitials at temperatures of 1223–1573K. That is to say, the

Effect of thermal annealing on the properties of transparent conductive In–Ga–Zn oxide thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Ling [Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049, China and School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Fan, Lina; Li, Yanhuai; Song, Zhongxiao; Ma, Fei, E-mail: mafei@mail.xjtu.edu.cn, E-mail: chlliu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Liu, Chunliang, E-mail: mafei@mail.xjtu.edu.cn, E-mail: chlliu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China)

2014-03-15

Amorphous In–Ga–Zn oxide (IGZO) thin films were prepared using radio frequency magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Upon thermal annealing at temperatures even up to 500 °C, the amorphous characteristics were still maintained, but the electronic properties could be considerably enhanced. This could be ascribed to the increased optical band gap and the increased oxygen vacancies, as corroborated by the microstructure characterizations. In addition, the surface became smoother upon thermal annealing, guaranteeing good interface contact between electrode and a-IGZO. The optical transmittance at 400–800 nm exceeded 90% for all samples. All in all, thermal annealing at appropriate temperatures is expected to improve the performances of relevant a-IGZO thin film transistors.

Post-annealing recrystallization and damage recovery process in Fe ion implanted Si

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naito, Muneyuki; Hirata, Akihiko; Ishimaru, Manabu; Hirotsu, Yoshihiko

2007-01-01

We have investigated ion-beam-induced and thermal annealing-induced microstructures in high fluence Fe implanted Si using transmission electron microscopy. Si(1 1 1) substrates were irradiated with 120 keV Fe ions at 120 K to fluences of 0.4 x 10 17 and 4.0 x 10 17 cm -2 . A continuous amorphous layer was formed on Si substrates in both as-implanted samples. After thermal annealing at 1073 K for 2 h, β-FeSi 2 fine particles buried in a polycrystalline Si layer were observed in the low fluence sample, while a continuous β-FeSi 2 layer was formed in the high fluence sample. We discuss the relationship between ion fluence and defects recovery process in Fe ion implanted Si

Effect of low thermal budget annealing on surface passivation of silicon by ALD based aluminum oxide films.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandana; Batra, Neha; Gope, Jhuma; Singh, Rajbir; Panigrahi, Jagannath; Tyagi, Sanjay; Pathi, P; Srivastava, S K; Rauthan, C M S; Singh, P K

2014-10-21

Thermal ALD deposited Al2O3 films on silicon show a marked difference in surface passivation quality as a function of annealing time (using a rapid thermal process). An effective and quality passivation is realized in short anneal duration (∼100 s) in nitrogen ambient which is reflected in the low surface recombination velocity (SRV passivation. Both as-deposited and low thermal budget annealed films show the presence of positive fixed charges and this is never been reported in the literature before. The role of field and chemical passivation is investigated in terms of fixed charge and interface defect densities. Further, the importance of the annealing step sequence in the MIS structure fabrication protocol is also investigated from the view point of its effect on the nature of fixed charges.

Transition metal implanted ZnO. A correlation between structure and magnetism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Shengqiang

2008-07-01

Nowadays ferromagnetism is often found in potential diluted magnetic semiconductor systems. However, many authors question the origin of this ferromagnetism, i.e. if the observed ferromagnetism stems from ferromagnetic precipitates rather than from carriermediated magnetic coupling of ionic impurities, as required for a diluted magnetic semiconductor. In this thesis, this question will be answered for transition-metal implanted ZnO single crystals. Magnetic secondary phases, namely metallic Fe, Co and Ni nanocrystals, are formed inside ZnO. They are - although difficult to detect by common approaches of structural analysis - responsible for the observed ferromagnetism. Particularly Co and Ni nanocrystals are crystallographically oriented with respect to the ZnO matrix. Their structure phase transformation and corresponding evolution of magnetic properties upon annealing have been established. Finally, an approach, pre-annealing ZnO crystals at high temperature before implantation, has been demonstrated to sufficiently suppress the formation of metallic secondary phases. (orig.)

Regulation of multispanning membrane protein topology via post-translational annealing.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Lehn, Reid C; Zhang, Bin; Miller, Thomas F

2015-09-26

The canonical mechanism for multispanning membrane protein topogenesis suggests that protein topology is established during cotranslational membrane integration. However, this mechanism is inconsistent with the behavior of EmrE, a dual-topology protein for which the mutation of positively charged loop residues, even close to the C-terminus, leads to dramatic shifts in its topology. We use coarse-grained simulations to investigate the Sec-facilitated membrane integration of EmrE and its mutants on realistic biological timescales. This work reveals a mechanism for regulating membrane-protein topogenesis, in which initially misintegrated configurations of the proteins undergo post-translational annealing to reach fully integrated multispanning topologies. The energetic barriers associated with this post-translational annealing process enforce kinetic pathways that dictate the topology of the fully integrated proteins. The proposed mechanism agrees well with the experimentally observed features of EmrE topogenesis and provides a range of experimentally testable predictions regarding the effect of translocon mutations on membrane protein topogenesis.

Comparison between thermal annealing and ion mixing of alloyed Ni-W films on Si. I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pai, C.S.; Lau, S.S.; Poker, D.B.; Hung, L.S.

1985-01-01

The reactions between Ni-W alloys and Si substrates induced by thermal annealing and ion mixing were investigated and compared. Samples were prepared by sputtering of Ni-W alloys, both Ni-rich and W-rich, onto the Si substrates, and followed by either furnace annealing (200--900 0 C) or ion mixing (2 x 10 15 -- 4 x 10 16 86 Kr + ions/cm 2 ). The reactions were analyzed by Rutherford backscattering and x-ray diffraction (Read camera). In general, thermal annealing and ion mixing lead to similar reactions. Phase separation between Ni and W with Ni silicides formed next to the Si substrate and W silicide formed on the surface was observed for both Ni-rich and W-rich samples under thermal annealing. Phase separation was also observed for Ni-rich samples under ion mixing; however, a Ni-W-Si ternary compound was possibly formed for ion-mixed W-rich samples. These reactions were rationalized in terms of the mobilities of various atoms and the energetics of the systems

Effects of thermal annealing on C/FePt granular multilayers: in situ and ex situ studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babonneau, D; Abadias, G; Toudert, J; Girardeau, T; Fonda, E; Micha, J S; Petroff, F

2008-01-01

The comprehensive study of C/FePt granular multilayers prepared by ion-beam sputtering at room temperature and subsequent annealing is reported. The as-deposited multilayers consist of carbon-encapsulated FePt nanoparticles (average size ∼3 nm) with a disordered face-centered-cubic structure. The effects of thermal annealing on the structural and magnetic properties are investigated by using dedicated ex situ and in situ techniques, including high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, extended x-ray absorption fine structure, magnetometry, and coupled grazing incidence small-angle x-ray scattering and x-ray diffraction. Our structural data show that the particle size and interparticle distance increase slightly with annealing at temperatures below 790 K by thermally activated migration of Fe and Pt atoms. We find that thermal annealing at temperatures above 870 K results in the dramatic growth of the FePt nanoparticles by coalescence and their gradual L1 0 ordering. In addition, we observe a preferential graphitization of the carbon matrix, which provides protection against oxidation for the FePt nanoparticles. Magnetization measurements indicate that progressive magnetic hardening occurs after annealing. The dependences of the blocking temperature, saturation magnetization, coercivity, and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy on the annealing temperature are discussed on the basis of the structural data

Crystalline nanostructured Cu doped ZnO thin films grown at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition technique and their characterization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drmosh, Qasem A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia); Rao, Saleem G.; Yamani, Zain H. [Laser Research Group, Department of Physics, Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia); Gondal, Mohammed A., E-mail: magondal@kfupm.edu.sa [Laser Research Group, Department of Physics, Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia)

2013-04-01

We report structural and optical properties of Cu doped ZnO (ZnO:Cu) thin films deposited on glass substrate at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method without pre and post annealing contrary to all previous reports. For preparation of (ZnO:Cu) composites pure Zn and Cu targets in special geometrical arrangements were exposed to 248 nm radiations generated by KrF exciter laser. The laser energy was 200 mJ with 10 Hz frequency and 20 ns pulse width. The effect of Cu concentration on crystal structure, morphology, and optical properties were investigated by XRD, FESEM and photoluminescence spectrometer respectively. A systematic shift in ZnO (0 0 2) peak with Cu concentration observed in XRD spectra demonstrated that Cu ion has been incorporated in ZnO lattice. Uniform film with narrow size range grains were observed in FESEM images. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra measured at room temperature revealed a systematic red shift in ZnO emission peak and decrease in the band gap with the increase in Cu concentration. These results entail that PLD technique can be realized to deposit high quality crystalline ZnO and ZnO:Cu thin films without pre and post heat treatment which is normally practiced worldwide for such structures.

Investigation of sensitivity and selectivity of ZnO thin film to volatile organic compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Teimoori, F.; Khojier, K.; Dehnavi, N. Z.

2017-06-01

This research addresses a detailed study on the sensitivity and selectivity of ZnO thin film to volatile organic compound (VOC) vapors that can be used for the development of VOC sensors. The ZnO thin film of 100 nm thickness was prepared by post-annealing of e-beam evaporated Zn thin film. The sample was structurally, morphologically, and chemically characterized by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy analyses. The sensitivity, selectivity, and detection limit of the sample were tested with respect to a wide range of common VOC vapors, including acetone, formaldehyde, acetic acid, formic acid, acetylene, toluene, benzene, ethanol, methanol, and isopropanol in the temperature range of 200-400 °C. The results show that the best sensitivity and detection limit of the sample are related to acetone vapor in the studied temperature range. The ZnO thin film-based acetone sensor also shows a good reproducibility and stability at the operating temperature of 280 °C.

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in hydrogenated ZnO nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue, Xudong; Liu, Liangliang; Wang, Zhu; Wu, Yichu

2014-01-01

The effect of hydrogen doping on the magnetic properties of ZnO nanoparticles was investigated. Hydrogen was incorporated by annealing under 5% H 2 in Ar ambient at 700 °C. Room-temperature ferromagnetism was induced in hydrogenated ZnO nanoparticles, and the observed ferromagnetism could be switched between “on” and “off” states through hydrogen annealing and oxygen annealing process, respectively. It was found that Zn vacancy and OH bonding complex (V Zn  + OH) was crucial to the observed ferromagnetism by using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and positron annihilation spectroscopy analysis. Based on first-principles calculations, V Zn  + OH was favorable to be presented due to the low formation energy. Meanwhile, this configuration could lead to a magnetic moment of 0.57 μ B . The Raman and photoluminescence measurements excluded the possibility of oxygen vacancy as the origin of the ferromagnetism

Thermal Stability-Enhanced and High-Efficiency Planar Perovskite Solar Cells with Interface Passivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Weihai; Xiong, Juan; Jiang, Li; Wang, Jianying; Mei, Tao; Wang, Xianbao; Gu, Haoshuang; Daoud, Walid A; Li, Jinhua

2017-11-08

As the electron transport layer (ETL) of perovskite solar cells, oxide semiconductor zinc oxide (ZnO) has been attracting great attention due to its relatively high mobility, optical transparency, low-temperature fabrication, and good environment stability. However, the nature of ZnO will react with the patron on methylamine, which would deteriorate the performance of cells. Although many methods, including high-temperature annealing, doping, and surface modification, have been studied to improve the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells with ZnO ETL, devices remain relatively low in efficiency and stability. Herein, we adopted a novel multistep annealing method to deposit a porous PbI 2 film and improved the quality and uniformity of perovskite films. The cells with ZnO ETL were fabricated at the temperature of perovskite film. Interestingly, the PCE of PCBM-passivated cells could reach nearly 19.1%. To our best knowledge, this is the highest PCE value of ZnO-based perovskite solar cells until now. More importantly, PCBM modification could effectively suppress the decomposition of MAPbI 3 and improve the thermal stability of cells. Therefore, the ZnO is a promising candidate of electron transport material for perovskite solar cells in future applications.

The crystallization and physical properties of Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, K.J. [Institute of Microelectronics and Department of Electrical Engineering, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); Fang, T.H. [Institute of Mechanical and Electromechanical Engineering, National Formosa University, Yunlin 632, Taiwan (China); Hung, F.Y. [Institute of Nanotechnology and Microsystems Engineering, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: fyhung@mail.mse.ncku.edu.tw; Ji, L.W. [Institute of Mechanical and Electromechanical Engineering, National Formosa University, Yunlin 632, Taiwan (China); Chang, S.J.; Young, S.J. [Institute of Microelectronics and Department of Electrical Engineering, Center for Micro/Nano Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China); Hsiao, Y.J. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China)

2008-07-15

Un-doped Al (0-9 at.%) nanoparticles and doped ZnO powders were prepared by the sol-gel method. The nanoparticles were heated at 700-800 deg. C for 1 h in air and then analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectra and photoluminescence (PL). The results of un-doped (ZnO) and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoparticles were also compared to investigate the structural characteristics and physical properties. XRD patterns of AZO powders were similar to those of ZnO powders, indicating that micro-Al ions were substituted for Zn atoms and there were no variations in the structure of the ZnO nanoparticles. From the XRD and SEM data, the grain size of the AZO nanoparticles increased from 34.41 to 40.14 nm when the annealing temperature was increased. The Raman intensity of the AZO nanoparticles (Al = 5 at.%) increased when the annealing temperature was increased. Increasing the degree of crystalline not only reduced the residual stress, but also improved the physical properties of the nanoparticles.

The crystallization and physical properties of Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, K.J.; Fang, T.H.; Hung, F.Y.; Ji, L.W.; Chang, S.J.; Young, S.J.; Hsiao, Y.J.

2008-01-01

Un-doped Al (0-9 at.%) nanoparticles and doped ZnO powders were prepared by the sol-gel method. The nanoparticles were heated at 700-800 deg. C for 1 h in air and then analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectra and photoluminescence (PL). The results of un-doped (ZnO) and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoparticles were also compared to investigate the structural characteristics and physical properties. XRD patterns of AZO powders were similar to those of ZnO powders, indicating that micro-Al ions were substituted for Zn atoms and there were no variations in the structure of the ZnO nanoparticles. From the XRD and SEM data, the grain size of the AZO nanoparticles increased from 34.41 to 40.14 nm when the annealing temperature was increased. The Raman intensity of the AZO nanoparticles (Al = 5 at.%) increased when the annealing temperature was increased. Increasing the degree of crystalline not only reduced the residual stress, but also improved the physical properties of the nanoparticles

Optical properties of Mn doped ZnO films and wires synthesized by thermal oxidation of ZnMn alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sima, M., E-mail: msima@infim.ro [National Institute of Materials Physics, 105bis Atomistilor Street, 077125 Magurele (Romania); Mihut, L. [National Institute of Materials Physics, 105bis Atomistilor Street, 077125 Magurele (Romania); Vasile, E. [University “Politehnica”of Bucharest, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Material Science, Department of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, No. 1-7 Gh. Polizu Street, 011061 Bucharest (Romania); Sima, Ma.; Logofatu, C. [National Institute of Materials Physics, 105bis Atomistilor Street, 077125 Magurele (Romania)

2015-09-01

Mn doped ZnO films and wires, having different manganese concentrations were synthesized by thermal oxidation of the corresponding ZnMn alloy films and wires electrodeposited on a gold substrate. Structural and optical properties were addressed with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL). To estimate the manganese concentration in Mn doped ZnO films, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used. XRD patterns indicate that the incorporation of Mn{sup 2+} ions into the Zn{sup 2+} site of ZnO lattice takes place. Quenching of the ZnO PL appears due to Mn{sup 2+} ions in the ZnO lattice. Moreover, a significant decrease in the green emission of ZnO is reported in the case of the Mn doped ZnO wire array with a Mn concentration of 1.45%. The wurtzite ZnO has a total of 12 phonon modes, namely, one longitudinal acoustic (LA), two transverse acoustic (TA), three longitudinal optical (LO), and six transverse optical branches. Compared to the undoped ZnO, a gradual up-shift of the Raman lines assigned to the 2LA and A{sub 1} (LO) vibrational modes, from 482 and 567 cm{sup −1} to 532 and 580 cm{sup −1}, respectively, takes place for the Mn doped ZnO films having a Mn concentration between 2 and 15%. Additionally, in the case of the Mn doped ZnO films with 7 and 15% Mn concentration, Raman spectra show the appearance and increase in the relative intensity of the ZnO Raman line assigned to the TA + LO vibrational mode in the 600–750 cm{sup −1} spectral range. For the Mn-doped ZnO wires, the presence of the Raman line peaking at 527 cm{sup −1} confirms the insertion of Mn{sup 2+} ions in ZnO lattice. - Highlights: • Mn doped ZnO films and wires grown by thermal oxidation of ZnMn alloy • Incorporation of Mn{sup 2+} ions into Zn{sup 2+} site of ZnO lattice • Appearance of a strong Raman line in the spectral range 600–800 cm{sup −1} at high Mn concentration • Compensation of the oxygen vacancy at higher

Mechanism for ion-induced mixing of GaAs-AlGaAs interfaces by rapid thermal annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kahen, K.B.; Rajeswaran, G.; Lee, S.T.

1988-01-01

A mechanism for the transient-enhanced interdiffusion of GaAs-AlGaAs interfaces during rapid thermal annealing of ion-implanted heterostructures is proposed. The model is based on the solution of the coupled diffusion equations involving the excess vacancies and the post-implantation Al distribution following ion implantation. Both initial distributions are obtained from the solution of a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation of ion implantation into a heterostructure sample. In general, the model is valid for time frames within which impurity diffusion does not occur appreciably so that impurity-enhanced diffusion remains a weak effect

The effect of arsenic thermal diffusion on the morphology and photoluminescence properties of sub-micron ZnO rods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding Meng [Department of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130023 (China); Laboratory of Excited State Processes, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130021 (China); Yao Bin, E-mail: binyao@jlu.edu.c [Department of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130023 (China); Zhao Dongxu, E-mail: dxzhao2000@yahoo.com.c [Laboratory of Excited State Processes, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130021 (China); Fang Fang; Shen Dezhen; Zhang Zhenzhong [Laboratory of Excited State Processes, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130021 (China)

2010-05-31

As-doped sub-micron ZnO rods were realized by a simple thermal diffusion process using a GaAs wafer as an arsenic resource. The surface of the sub-micron ZnO rods became rough and the morphology of As-doped sub-micron ZnO rods changed markedly with increasing diffusion temperature. From the results of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence, arsenic elements were confirmed to be introduced into the sub-micron ZnO rods. The acceptor ionization energy was deduced to be about 110 meV based on the temperature-dependent PL spectra.

The effect of arsenic thermal diffusion on the morphology and photoluminescence properties of sub-micron ZnO rods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Meng; Yao Bin; Zhao Dongxu; Fang Fang; Shen Dezhen; Zhang Zhenzhong

2010-01-01

As-doped sub-micron ZnO rods were realized by a simple thermal diffusion process using a GaAs wafer as an arsenic resource. The surface of the sub-micron ZnO rods became rough and the morphology of As-doped sub-micron ZnO rods changed markedly with increasing diffusion temperature. From the results of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence, arsenic elements were confirmed to be introduced into the sub-micron ZnO rods. The acceptor ionization energy was deduced to be about 110 meV based on the temperature-dependent PL spectra.

Room temperature ferromagnetism in ZnO prepared by microemulsion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingyu Xu

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Clear room temperature ferromagnetism has been observed in ZnO powders prepared by microemulsion. The O vacancy (VO clusters mediated by the VO with one electron (F center contributed to the ferromagnetism, while the isolated F centers contributed to the low temperature paramagnetism. Annealing in H2 incorporated interstitial H (Hi in ZnO, and removed the isolated F centers, leading to the suppression of the paramagnetism. The ferromagnetism has been considered to originate from the VO clusters mediated by the Hi, leading to the enhancement of the coercivity. The ferromagnetism disappeared after annealing in air due to the reduction of Hi.

Defect engineering of ZnO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weber, M.H. [Center for Materials Research and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2711 (United States)], E-mail: m_weber@wsu.edu; Selim, F.A.; Solodovnikov, D.; Lynn, K.G. [Center for Materials Research and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2711 (United States)

2008-10-31

The defect responsible for the transparent to red color change of nominally undoped ZnO bulk single crystals is investigated. Upon annealing in the presence of metallic Zn as reported by Halliburton et al. and also Ti and Zr a native defect forms with an energy level about 0.7 eV below the conduction band. This change is reversible upon annealing in oxygen. Optical transmission data along with positron depth profiles and annealing studies are combined to identify the defect as oxygen vacancies. Vacancy clustering occurs at about 500 deg. C if isolated zinc and oxygen vacancies. In the absence of zinc vacancies, clusters form at about 800 deg. C.

Defect engineering of ZnO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, M.H.; Selim, F.A.; Solodovnikov, D.; Lynn, K.G.

2008-01-01

The defect responsible for the transparent to red color change of nominally undoped ZnO bulk single crystals is investigated. Upon annealing in the presence of metallic Zn as reported by Halliburton et al. and also Ti and Zr a native defect forms with an energy level about 0.7 eV below the conduction band. This change is reversible upon annealing in oxygen. Optical transmission data along with positron depth profiles and annealing studies are combined to identify the defect as oxygen vacancies. Vacancy clustering occurs at about 500 deg. C if isolated zinc and oxygen vacancies. In the absence of zinc vacancies, clusters form at about 800 deg. C

Study on the effect of post-annealing on the microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties of rolled CGPed Aluminum-Manganese-Silicon alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jandaghi, Mohammad Reza, E-mail: mrj.sharif86@gmail.com [Young Researchers and Elites Club, Saveh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Saveh (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Pouraliakbar, Hesam [Young Researchers and Elites Club, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2017-01-02

Sheet specimens of Al-Mn-Si alloy were severe plastically deformed (SPDed) through constrained groove pressing (CGP). SPDing by the strain of 2.32, samples were ultimately undergone cold rolling and post-annealing, respectively. According to the optical microscopy observations, rolling changed the semi-elongated and wavy morphology achieved by CGP into lamellar structure. This was also promoted the formation of some shear and deformation bands within processed material matrix due to the geometrical effect of applied deformation path. Evolution of intermetallic particles were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). Dual-strained sheets were finally annealed at 150, 250 and 350 °C for 1 h. Mechanical examinations including tension and hardness were performed at room temperature. Results alluded to the fact that samples were exhibited thermal stability up to around 250 °C since rolling reduction increment diminished this critical temperature to about 150 °C. Rolling of CGPed sheet by the strain of 1.27 enhanced the ultimate tensile strength and Vickers hardness by 53.62% and 16.53%, respectively, while the elongation to failure decreased by 1.84%. Eventually, the maximum elongation of 34% and toughness of 33.3 J m{sup −3} were traced on the mentioned specimen by post-annealing at 350 °C. - Highlights: • Further straining through cold-rolling was imposed to two-pass CGPed sheets. • Post-annealing effect at 150, 250 and 350 °C was studied for Al-Mn-Si specimens. • Evolutions of microstructure and intermetallic particles were characterized. • Mechanical properties of different rolled CGPed samples were examined.

Influence of the substrate and nitrogen amount on the microstructural and optical properties of thin r.f.-sputtered ZnO films treated by rapid thermal annealing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nicolescu, Madalina [Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Spl. Independentei 202, 060021 Bucharest (Romania); Anastasescu, Mihai, E-mail: manastasescu@icf.ro [Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Spl. Independentei 202, 060021 Bucharest (Romania); Preda, S.; Stroescu, H.; Stoica, M. [Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Spl. Independentei 202, 060021 Bucharest (Romania); Teodorescu, V.S. [National Institute of Material Physics, 105 bis Atomistilor Street, 077125 Bucharest-Magurele (Romania); Aperathitis, E.; Kampylafka, V. [FORTH-IESL, Crete (Greece); Modreanu, M. [Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); Zaharescu, M.; Gartner, M. [Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, Spl. Independentei 202, 060021 Bucharest (Romania)

2012-11-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer ZnO:N films are crystallized in hexagonal wurtzite phase (XRD), (0 0 2) oriented. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The presence of the Nitrogen in the RTA films is confirmed by EDX and XPS. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer All ZnO:N films are highly transparent (over 80%) in VIS to NIR spectral range. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The frequency of the phonon modes, E{sub 1}(TO) and A{sub 1}(LO), were obtained by IRSE. - Abstract: N-doped ZnO (ZnO:N) thin films, intended to be used as one of the layers in solar cell applications were deposited by r.f. sputtering, using ZnN target (99.9% purity), on silicon and fused silica substrates. In the gas flow composition, Ar was kept constant (50%) and the O{sub 2}/N{sub 2} ratio was varied as: 40%/10%, 25%/25% and 10%/40%. After deposition, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 400 and 550 Degree-Sign C for 1 min in N{sub 2} ambient has been performed. The RTA impact on the optical and microstructural properties of ZnO:N thin films have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, UV-vis-NIR spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and infrared ellipsometry (IR-SE). The as-deposited (ad) ZnO:N films are polycrystalline with preferentially oriented columnar crystals. After RTA we found ZnO:N films with improved crystallinity and fewer boundary defects. We report optical constants of ZnO:N from UV to IR spectral range as well as the infrared active phononic modes.

Defect mediated ferromagnetism in Ni-doped ZnO nanocrystals evidenced by positron annihilation spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhi-Yuan; Chen, Z. Q.; Zou, B.; Zhao, X. G.; Tang, Z.; Wang, S. J.

2012-10-01

NiO/ZnO nanocomposites with NiO content of 4 at. % and 20 at. % were annealed up to 1200 °C to get Ni doped ZnO nanocrystals. Raman scattering spectra illustrate a broad and strong band at 500-600cm-1 in all nanocomposites after annealing above 700 °C, which suggests incorporation of Ni in the ZnO lattice. However, x-ray diffraction measurements show that NiO phase can be still observed in all nanocomposites after annealing, which indicates that Ni is partially doped into the ZnO structure. Positron annihilation measurements reveal large number of vacancy defects in the interface region of all nanocomposites, and they are gradually recovered with increasing annealing temperature up to 1000 °C. Room temperature ferromagnetism can be observed in the NiO/ZnO nanocomposites, which is stronger in the 20 at. % NiO/ZnO nanocomposites, and the magnetization decreases continuously with increasing annealing temperature. This indicates that the ferromagnetism at low annealing temperatures originates from the NiO nanograins, and they become antiferromanetic after subsequent higher temperature annealing which leads to the weakening of ferromagnetism. After annealing up to 1000 °C, the ferromagnetism in both the two samples becomes nearly invisible. The disappearance of ferromagnetism shows good coincidence with the recovery of vacancy defects in NiO/ZnO nanocomposites. It can be inferred that the ferromagnetism is mediated by vacancy defects which are distributed in the interface region.

Rare earths in GaN and ZnO studied with the PAC method; Seltene Erden in GaN und ZnO untersucht mit der PAC-Methode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nedelec, R.

2007-07-01

The present thesis deals with the implantation and annealing behaviour of two examples of large-band-gap semiconductors GaN and ZnO. The studies begin with the annealing behaviour of GaN after the implantation of {sup 172}Lu. For GaN the annealing process begins at low temperatures with the decreasing of the damping of the lattice frequency. At essentially higher temperatures finally the substitunial contribution increases. This behaviour is also observed for other probe nuclei in GaN. For ZnO the behaviour at low temperature is different. Both for {sup 172}Lu and for {sup 181}Hf the damping is already after the implantation very low. The increasement of the substitutional contribution occurs like in GaN at higher temperatures. Thereafter for GaN and ZnO PAC spectra were token up at different measurement temperatures between 25 and 873 K. For {sup 172}Lu in GaN and in ZnO a strong temperature dependence of the lattice field gradient was observed. Also for {sup 181}Hf in ZnO a strong temperature dependence is observed. For {sup 172}Lu by means of a model for the interaction of quadrupole moments of electronic shells with the nucleus a lattice field gradient of {+-}5.9.10{sup 15} Vcm{sup -2} could be determined. For {sup 172}Lu in ZnO the model yields at 293 K a lattice field gradient of +14.10{sup 15} Vcm{sup -2} respectively -13.10{sup 15} Vcm{sup -2}. The corrsponding measurement with {sup 181}Hf yields a lattice field gradient of {+-}5.7.10{sup 15} Vcm{sup -2}.

ZnO Thin Film Electronics for More than Displays

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, Jose Israel

discharging time constants. Finally, to circumvent fabrication challenges on predetermined complex shapes, like curved mirror optics, a technique to transfer electronics from a rigid substrate to a flexible substrate is used. This technique allows various thin films, regardless of their deposition temperature, to be transferred to flexible substrates. Finally, ultra-low power operation of ZnO TFT gas sensors was demonstrated. The ZnO ozone sensors were optimized to operate with excellent electrical stability in ambient conditions, without using elevated temperatures, while still providing good gas sensitivity. This was achieved by using a post-deposition anneal and by partially passivating the contact regions while leaving the semiconductor sensing area open to the ambient. A novel technique to reset the gas sensor using periodic pulsing of a UV light over the sensor results in less than 25 milliseconds recovery time. A pathway to achieve gas selectivity by using organic thin-film layers as filters deposited over the gas sensors tis demonstrated. The ZnO ozone sensor TFTs and the UV light operate at room temperature with an average power below 1 muW.

Combined influence of fluorine doping and vacuum annealing on the electrical properties of ZnO:Ta films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Subha, K. [Materials Science Research Laboratory, PG and Research Department of Physics, AVVM Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, Thanjavur, 613 503, Tamil Nadu (India); Research Department of Physics, Kunthavai Naachiyaar Govt. Arts College for Women (Autonomous), Thanjavur, 613 007, Tamil Nadu (India); Ravichandran, K., E-mail: kkr1365@yahoo.com [Materials Science Research Laboratory, PG and Research Department of Physics, AVVM Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi, Thanjavur, 613 503, Tamil Nadu (India); Sriram, S. [School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, 613 401, Tamil Nadu (India)

2017-07-01

Highlights: • First report on combined effect of F doping and annealing on resistivity of ZnO:Ta films. • Various possible incorporation mechanisms of tantalum and fluorine are addressed. • Theoretical validation of Ta and F incorporation by DFT analysis is done. • Quality factor comparable with those obtained by physical methods is achieved.. - Abstract: In this study, our main focus is to investigate the effects of F doping and post deposition annealing (air and vacuum) on the optical and electrical characteristics of tantalum doped zinc oxide films (ZnO:Ta). A cost-effective, automated jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique is adopted to deposit the ZnO:Ta:F films. The doping level of Ta is kept constant (1 at.%) and that of F is varied from 5 to 20 at.% in steps of 5 at.%. The electrical resistivity of the as-deposited films decreases for 10 at.% of F concentration. The resistance increases thereafter. The same trend is also observed in annealed films. The reasons for these variations are addressed based on the effective F incorporation into the ZnO lattice and annealing atmosphere with the help of XRD, FESEM, AFM and PL studies. The incorporation of the dopants was confirmed from XPS and EDX analyses and the DFT studies show that the incorporation of the dopants does not affect the stability of the ZnO lattice. Vacuum-annealed films show better electrical properties over the as-deposited and air-annealed counterparts, though their transparency is affected marginally. A minimum resistivity of 0.81 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm and an enhanced quality factor of 2.265 × 10{sup −4} (Ω/sq){sup −1} are achieved for the vacuum-annealed films having Ta + F doping levels as 1 + 10 at.%. These results make this sample a desirable candidate for transparent electrode applications.

Epitaxial growth of Sb-doped nonpolar a-plane ZnO thin films on r-plane sapphire substrates by RF magnetron sputtering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Hou-Guang, E-mail: houguang@isu.edu.tw [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 840, Taiwan (China); Hung, Sung-Po [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 840, Taiwan (China)

2014-02-15

Highlights: ► Sb-doped nonpolar a-plane ZnO layers were epitaxially grown on sapphire substrates. ► Crystallinity and electrical properties were studied upon growth condition and doping concentration. ► The out-of-plane lattice spacing of ZnO films reduces monotonically with increasing Sb doping level. ► The p-type conductivity of ZnO:Sb film is closely correlated with annealing condition and Sb doping level. -- Abstract: In this study, the epitaxial growth of Sb-doped nonpolar a-plane (112{sup ¯}0) ZnO thin films on r-plane (11{sup ¯}02) sapphire substrates was performed by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The influence of the sputter deposition conditions and Sb doping concentration on the microstructural and electrical properties of Sb-doped ZnO epitaxial films was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the Hall-effect measurement. The measurement of the XRD phi-scan indicated that the epitaxial relationship between the ZnO:Sb layer and sapphire substrate was (112{sup ¯}0){sub ZnO}//(11{sup ¯}02){sub Al{sub 2O{sub 3}}} and [11{sup ¯}00]{sub ZnO}//[112{sup ¯}0]{sub Al{sub 2O{sub 3}}}. The out-of-plane a-axis lattice parameter of ZnO films was reduced monotonically with the increasing Sb doping level. The cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) observation confirmed the absence of any significant antimony oxide phase segregation across the thickness of the Sb-doped ZnO epitaxial film. However, the epitaxial quality of the films deteriorated as the level of Sb dopant increased. The electrical properties of ZnO:Sb film are closely correlated with post-annealing conditions and Sb doping concentrations.

Origins of low resistivity in Al ion-implanted ZnO bulk single crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Oga, T.; Izawa, Y.; Kuriyama, K.; Kushida, K.; Kinomura, A.

2011-06-01

The origins of low resistivity in Al ion-implanted ZnO bulk single crystals are studied by combining Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA), photoluminescence (PL), and Van der Pauw methods. The Al-ion implantation (peak concentration: 2.6 × 1020cm-3) into ZnO is performed using a multiple-step energy. The resistivity decreases from ˜104 Ω cm for un-implanted ZnO to 1.4 × 10-1 Ω cm for as-implanted, and reaches 6.0 × 10-4 Ω cm for samples annealed at 1000 °C. RBS and NRA measurements for as-implanted ZnO suggest the existence of the lattice displacement of Zn (Zni) and O (Oi), respectively. After annealing at 1000 °C, the Zni related defects remain and the Oi related defects disappear. The origin of the low resistivity in the as-implanted sample is attributed to the Zni (˜30 meV [Look et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 2552 (1999)]). In contrast, the origin of the low resistivity in the sample annealed at 1000 °C is assigned to both of the Zni related defects and the electrically activated Al donor. A new PL emission appears at around 3.32 eV after annealing at 1000 °C, suggesting electrically activated Al donors.

Effect of Different Post Deposition Annealing Treatments on Properties of Zinc Oxide Thin Films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arti Arora

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Two different post deposition annealing atmospheres of oxygen and forming gas have been investigated for the improvement of rf sputtered zinc oxide thin films. The results show that type of atmosphere (oxidant o reduction plays an important role in the changes observed in structural, electrical and optical properties. It has been found that the structural properties of rf sputtered zinc oxide films improve in all the annealing environments. The intensity and grain size increases as the annealing temperature increases. It has been found that films become stress free at lowest temperature in oxygen as compare to forming gas annealing. The zinc oxide films annealed in oxygen shows sufficient resistivity associated to high transmittance (83 % characteristics required for MEMS based acoustic devices.

Fabrication of undoped ZnO thin film via photosensitive sol–gel method and its applications for an electron transport layer of organic solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luong, Chi Hieu [Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Sarah [Central Research Division, LG Chem., Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-738 (Korea, Republic of); Surabhi, Srivathsava; Vo, Thanh Son; Lee, Kyung-Min; Yoon, Soon-Gil [Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea, Republic of); Jeong, Jun-Ho [Nanomechanical Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Jun-Hyuk, E-mail: junhyuk@kimm.re.kr [Nanomechanical Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-343 (Korea, Republic of); Jeong, Jong-Ryul, E-mail: jrjeong@cnu.ac.kr [Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-01

Highlights: • Investigated the effect of the interfacial ZnO for ETL synthesized by photochemical reaction using photosensitive 2-nitrobenzaldehyde on the inverted P3HT:PCBM OSC. • The abrupt increase of grain size and surface roughness was observed as increasing the annealing temperature above 350 °C. • The sheet resistance abruptly decreased with increasing the annealing temperature above 350 °C. • Increase of surface roughness caused by the high annealing temperature could be detrimental to the OSCs characteristics due to a high contact resistance and a large leakage current. - Abstract: We have investigated ZnO thin films prepared via photochemical reaction as the electron transport layer (ETL) of inverted organic solar cells (OSCs). Morphological and electrical properties of the ZnO thin films prepared by the photosensitive ZnO sol were studied according to the annealing temperature and their effects on the performance of the inverted poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) OSCs was characterized. It was found that the optimal annealing temperature of the ZnO thin films was 330 °C, and that devices with the ZnO ETL annealed at this temperature exhibited the largest short-circuit current density (J{sub sc}) of 9.39 mA/cm{sup 2}, as well as the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.31%, which can be attributed to enhanced electron transport and interfacial properties. Devices containing ZnO films formed at optimal annealing condition exhibited an open circuit voltage (V{sub oc}) of 0.60 V and a fill factor (FF) of 41.0%. However, further increase of the annealing temperature led to degradation of the device performance, despite further improvements in electrical properties. We have found that marked increase in the surface roughness of the ZnO films occurred at temperatures above 350 °C which could be detrimental to the OSCs characteristics due to a high contact resistance and a large leakage current.

Study of the degradation and recovery of the optical properties of H+-implanted ZnO pigments

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chundong; Lv, Jinpeng; Yao, Shulong; Hu, Jiangang; Liang, Zhiqiang

2013-01-01

We studied the influences of proton implantation and oxygen post-annealing on the optical properties of ZnO pigments using a combination of Raman scattering, positron annihilation and photoluminescence techniques. Raman scattering results indicated that oxygen vacancies and interstitial zinc defects were produced after proton implantation. Positron annihilation spectroscopy and photoluminescence measurements demonstrated that the zinc vacancies do not contribute to the optical absorption, but give rise to the visible band emission. Interestingly, the proton implantation induced optical degradation can be annealed out at 800 °C in an O2 atmosphere. We conclude that the defect centers responsible for the optical absorption are primarily composed of VO+, ionized Zni and ionized Oi.

Study of the degradation and recovery of the optical properties of H+-implanted ZnO pigments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Chundong; Lv, Jinpeng; Yao, Shulong; Hu, Jiangang; Liang, Zhiqiang

2013-01-01

We studied the influences of proton implantation and oxygen post-annealing on the optical properties of ZnO pigments using a combination of Raman scattering, positron annihilation and photoluminescence techniques. Raman scattering results indicated that oxygen vacancies and interstitial zinc defects were produced after proton implantation. Positron annihilation spectroscopy and photoluminescence measurements demonstrated that the zinc vacancies do not contribute to the optical absorption, but give rise to the visible band emission. Interestingly, the proton implantation induced optical degradation can be annealed out at 800 °C in an O 2 atmosphere. We conclude that the defect centers responsible for the optical absorption are primarily composed of V O + , ionized Zn i and ionized O i

Recent evaluation of 'wet' thermal annealing to resolve reactor pressure vessel embrittlement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Server, W.L.; Biemiller, E.C.

1993-01-01

Prior to the decision to close the Yankee Rowe plant in 1992, a great deal of effort was expended in trying to resolve the degree of neutron embrittlement that the reactor pressure vessel had experienced after 30 years of operation. One mitigative measure that was examined in detail was the possibility of performing a relatively low temperature thermal anneal (at approximately 650 deg. F) to partially restore the original design level of mechanical properties of the reactor pressure vessel beltline region which were lost due to the neutron radiation exposure. This low temperature anneal was to involve heating of the primary coolant water using pump heat in a similar manner as that used to anneal the Belgian BR-3 reactor pressure vessel in the early 1980s. This 'wet' anneal was successful in recovering mechanical properties for the BR-3 vessel, but the extent of the recovery, as well as the rate of re-embrittlement after the anneal, were issues that were difficult to quantify since the exact reactor pressure vessel steels were not available for experimental verification. For the case of Yankee Rowe, material was available from past surveillance programs for at least one of the materials in the vessel, as well as materials obtained from various sources which could act as bounding surrogates. An irradiation /annealing/reirradiation program was developed to better quantify the degree of recovery and re-embrittlement for these materials, but this program was halted before significant test results were obtained. Prior to the initiation of the testing program, a review of past annealing data was performed and the data were scrutinized for direct relevance to the annealing response of the Yankee Rowe vessel. This paper discusses the results derived from this review. The results from the critical review of the past annealing data indicated that a 'wet' anneal of the Yankee Rowe vessel may have been successful in reducing the degree of embrittlement to the point that the

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in hydrogenated ZnO nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xue, Xudong; Liu, Liangliang; Wang, Zhu; Wu, Yichu, E-mail: ycwu@whu.edu.cn [School of Physics and Technology, Hubei Nuclear Solid Physics Key Laboratory, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 (China)

2014-01-21

The effect of hydrogen doping on the magnetic properties of ZnO nanoparticles was investigated. Hydrogen was incorporated by annealing under 5% H{sub 2} in Ar ambient at 700 °C. Room-temperature ferromagnetism was induced in hydrogenated ZnO nanoparticles, and the observed ferromagnetism could be switched between “on” and “off” states through hydrogen annealing and oxygen annealing process, respectively. It was found that Zn vacancy and OH bonding complex (V{sub Zn} + OH) was crucial to the observed ferromagnetism by using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and positron annihilation spectroscopy analysis. Based on first-principles calculations, V{sub Zn} + OH was favorable to be presented due to the low formation energy. Meanwhile, this configuration could lead to a magnetic moment of 0.57 μ{sub B}. The Raman and photoluminescence measurements excluded the possibility of oxygen vacancy as the origin of the ferromagnetism.

Post-growth annealing of germanium-tin alloys using pulsed excimer laser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Lanxiang; Wang, Wei; Zhou, Qian; Yeo, Yee-Chia, E-mail: yeo@ieee.org [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117582 (Singapore); Pan, Jisheng; Zhang, Zheng [Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore 117602 (Singapore); Tok, Eng Soon [Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117551 (Singapore)

2015-07-14

We investigate the impact of pulsed excimer laser anneal on fully strained germanium-tin alloys (Ge{sub 1−x}Sn{sub x}) epitaxially grown on Ge substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. Using atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the morphological and compositional evolution of Ge{sub 1−x}Sn{sub x} with Sn content up to 17% after annealing using various conditions is studied. Ge{sub 0.83}Sn{sub 0.17} samples annealed at 80 mJ/cm{sup 2} or 150 mJ/cm{sup 2} have no observable changes with respect to the as-grown sample. However, Ge{sub 0.83}Sn{sub 0.17} samples annealed at 250 mJ/cm{sup 2} or 300 mJ/cm{sup 2} have Sn-rich islands on the surface, which is due to Sn segregation in the compressively strained epitaxial film. For Ge{sub 0.89}Sn{sub 0.11}, significant Sn redistribution occurs only when annealed at 300 mJ/cm{sup 2}, indicating that it has better thermal stability than Ge{sub 0.83}Sn{sub 0.17}. A mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of Sn-rich islands and Sn-depleted regions.

Effect of neutron irradiation and post-irradiation annealing on microstructure and mechanical properties of OFHC-copper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, B.N.; Edwards, D.J.; Toft, P.

2001-01-01

Specimens of oxygen-free high conductivity (OFHC) copper were irradiated in the DR-3 reactor at Risoe at 100 deg. C to doses in the range 0.01-0.3 dpa (NRT). Some of the specimens were tensile tested in the as-irradiated condition at 100 deg. C whereas others were given a post-irradiation annealing treatment at 300 deg. C for 50 h and subsequently tested at 100 deg. C. The microstructure of specimens was characterized in the as-irradiated as well as irradiated and annealed conditions both before and after tensile deformation. While the interstitial loop microstructure coarsens with irradiation dose, no significant changes were observed in the population of stacking fault tetrahedra (SFT). The post-irradiation annealing leads to only a partial recovery and the level of recovery depends on the irradiation dose level. However, the post-irradiation annealing eliminates the yield drop and reinstates enough uniform elongation to render the material useful again. These results are discussed in terms of the cascade-induced source hardening (CISH) model

Effect of neutron irradiation and post-irradiation annealing on microstructure and mechanical properties of OFHC-copper

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, B.N. E-mail: bachu.singh@risoe.dk; Edwards, D.J.; Toft, P

2001-12-01

Specimens of oxygen-free high conductivity (OFHC) copper were irradiated in the DR-3 reactor at Risoe at 100 deg. C to doses in the range 0.01-0.3 dpa (NRT). Some of the specimens were tensile tested in the as-irradiated condition at 100 deg. C whereas others were given a post-irradiation annealing treatment at 300 deg. C for 50 h and subsequently tested at 100 deg. C. The microstructure of specimens was characterized in the as-irradiated as well as irradiated and annealed conditions both before and after tensile deformation. While the interstitial loop microstructure coarsens with irradiation dose, no significant changes were observed in the population of stacking fault tetrahedra (SFT). The post-irradiation annealing leads to only a partial recovery and the level of recovery depends on the irradiation dose level. However, the post-irradiation annealing eliminates the yield drop and reinstates enough uniform elongation to render the material useful again. These results are discussed in terms of the cascade-induced source hardening (CISH) model.

Effect of neutron irradiation and post-irradiation annealing on microstructure and mechanical properties of OFHC-copper

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, B. N.; Edwards, D. J.; Toft, P.

2001-12-01

Specimens of oxygen-free high conductivity (OFHC) copper were irradiated in the DR-3 reactor at Risø at 100 °C to doses in the range 0.01-0.3 dpa (NRT). Some of the specimens were tensile tested in the as-irradiated condition at 100 °C whereas others were given a post-irradiation annealing treatment at 300 °C for 50 h and subsequently tested at 100 °C. The microstructure of specimens was characterized in the as-irradiated as well as irradiated and annealed conditions both before and after tensile deformation. While the interstitial loop microstructure coarsens with irradiation dose, no significant changes were observed in the population of stacking fault tetrahedra (SFT). The post-irradiation annealing leads to only a partial recovery and the level of recovery depends on the irradiation dose level. However, the post-irradiation annealing eliminates the yield drop and reinstates enough uniform elongation to render the material useful again. These results are discussed in terms of the cascade-induced source hardening (CISH) model.

Large-scale uniform ZnO tetrapods on catalyst free glass substrate by thermal evaporation method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alsultany, Forat H., E-mail: foratusm@gmail.com [School of Physics, USM, 11800 Penang (Malaysia); Hassan, Z. [Institute of Nano-Optoelectronics Research and Technology Laboratory (INOR), USM, 11800 Penang (Malaysia); Ahmed, Naser M. [School of Physics, USM, 11800 Penang (Malaysia)

2016-07-15

Highlights: • Investigate the growth of ZnO-Ts on glass substrate by thermal evaporation method. • Glass substrate without any catalyst or a seed layer. • The morphology was controlled by adjusting the temperature of the material and the substrate. • Glass substrate was placed vertically in the quartz tube. - Abstract: Here, we report for the first time the catalyst-free growth of large-scale uniform shape and size ZnO tetrapods on a glass substrate via thermal evaporation method. Three-dimensional networks of ZnO tetrapods have needle–wire junctions, an average leg length of 2.1–2.6 μm, and a diameter of 35–240 nm. The morphology and structure of ZnO tetrapods were investigated by controlling the preparation temperature of each of the Zn powder and the glass substrate under O{sub 2} and Ar gases. Studies were carried out on ZnO tetrapods using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, UV–vis spectrophotometer, and a photoluminescence. The results showed that the sample grow in the hexagonal wurtzite structure with preferentially oriented along (002) direction, good crystallinity and high transmittance. The band gap value is about 3.27 eV. Photoluminescence spectrum exhibits a very sharp peak at 378 nm and a weak broad green emission.

Effects of preannealing temperature of ZnO thin films on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kao, M.C.; Chen, H.Z.; Young, S.L. [Hsiuping Institute of Technology, Department of Electronic Engineering, Taichung (China)

2010-03-15

The preferred (002) orientation zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystalline thin films have been deposited on FTO-coated glass substrates by sol-gel spin-coating technology and rapid thermal annealing for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The effects of preannealing temperature (100 and 300 C) on the microstructure, morphology and optical properties of ZnO thin films were studied. The ZnO thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopic (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The photoelectric performance of DSSC was studied by I-V curve and the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE), respectively. From the results, the intensities of (002) peaks of ZnO thin films increases with increasing preannealing temperature from 100 C to 300 C. The increase in pore size and surface area of ZnO films crystallized at the increased preannealing temperature contributed to the improvement on the absorption of N3 dye onto the films, the short-circuit photocurrent (J{sub sc}) and open-circuit voltage (V{sub oc}) of DSSC. The higher efficiency ({eta}) of 2.5% with J{sub sc} and V{sub oc} of 8.2 mA/cm{sup 2} and 0.64 V, respectively, was obtained by the ZnO film preannealed at 300 C. (orig.)

Magnetic structure of Fe-based amorphous and thermal annealed microwires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olivera, J.; Provencio, M.; Prida, V.M.; Hernando, B.; Santos, J.D.; Perez, M.J.; Gorria, P.; Sanchez, M.L.; Belzunce, F.J.

2005-01-01

The magnetic structure of amorphous and thermal annealed glass coated microwires is studied by thermomagnetic, DSC, and Bitter domain pattern techniques. The long-range dipolar interaction between parallel aligned microwires and the appearance of large Barkhausen jumps steps in the axially magnetized loops are discussed in terms of reversal magnetization process

Experiment and prediction on thermal conductivity of Al2O3/ZnO ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Administrator

Experiment and prediction on thermal conductivity of Al2O3/ZnO nano thin film interface structure. PING YANG*, LIQIANG ZHANG, HAIYING YANG†, DONGJING LIU and XIALONG LI. Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing and Reliability for MEMS/NEMS/OEDS,. School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, ...

Recombination luminescence in irradiated silicon - Effects of thermal annealing and lithium impurity.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, E. S.; Compton, W. D.

1971-01-01

Use of luminescence in irradiated silicon to determine the thermal stability of the defects responsible for the recombination. It is found that the defect responsible for the zero-phonon line at 0.97 eV has an annealing behavior similar to that of the divacancy and that the zero-phonon line at 0.79 eV anneals in a manner similar to the G-15 or K-center. Annealing at temperatures up to 500 C generates other defects whose luminescence is distinct from that seen previously. Addition of lithium to the material produces defects with new characteristic luminescence. Of particular importance is a defect with a level at E sub g -1.045 eV.

Effect of substrate temperature and post annealing temperature on ZnO:Zn PLD thin film properties

Science.gov (United States)

Hasabeldaim, E.; Ntwaeaborwa, O. M.; Kroon, R. E.; Coetsee, E.; Swart, H. C.

2017-12-01

The pulsed laser deposition (PLD) substrate temperature and post-annealing temperature are effective methods to control the film optical and structural properties. The structure, morphology and optical properties of the deposited and post-annealed PLD ZnO:Zn films were studied. The films were deposited at different substrate temperatures of 50 °C, 200 °C and 400 °C. The films deposited at the substrate temperature of 50 °C and 200 °C were post-annealed in air at 400 °C and 600 °C for two hours. The films all had a highly preferential orientation with the hexagonal c-axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. The stress was found to be compressive stress with values -3.289 GPa, -4.864 GPa and -4.425 GPa for the film deposited at 50 °C, 200 °C and 400 °C, respectively. After post-annealing treatments, the stress of the films was almost completely released and stress-free films were obtained. The crystallite sizes were 19 nm, 25 nm and 39 nm, while the average particles sizes were 95 nm, 85 nm and 129 nm for the film deposited at 50 °C, 200 °C and 400 °C respectively. The crystallite sizes and particles sizes seemed to increase with the increase in the substrate temperature. Contrary to this, the change in crystallite sizes were inversely proportional to the particles size when increasing the post-annealing temperatures. Deconvoluted X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy peaks of the O1s binding energy region revealed that the films deposited at different substrate temperatures contained oxygen-related defects. Photoluminescence studies revealed that the films all emitted ultra-violet emission around 379 nm. The film deposited at 50 °C emitted a broad green emission centered at ∼524 nm. By increasing the substrate temperature up to 200 °C and 400 °C a new orange emission around 621 nm and 634 nm as well as a weak emission around 416 nm and 500 nm were observed, respectively. After post-annealing treatments, new bands over the visible region (blue, green

Nuclear reaction analysis of Ge ion-implanted ZnO bulk single crystals: The evaluation of the displacement in oxygen lattices

Science.gov (United States)

Kamioka, K.; Oga, T.; Izawa, Y.; Kuriyama, K.; Kushida, K.; Kinomura, A.

2014-08-01

The displacement of oxygen lattices in Ge ion-implanted ZnO bulk single crystals is studied by nuclear reaction analysis (NAR), photoluminescence (PL), and Van der Pauw methods. The Ge ion-implantation (net concentration: 2.6 × 1020 cm-3) into ZnO is performed using a multiple-step energy. The high resistivity of ∼103 Ω cm in un-implanted samples remarkably decreased to ∼10-2 Ω cm after implanting Ge-ion and annealing subsequently. NRA measurements of as-implanted and annealed samples suggest the existence of the lattice displacement of O atoms acting as acceptor defects. As O related defects still remain after annealing, these defects are not attributed to the origin of the low resistivity in 800 and 1000 °C annealed ZnO.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of neutron irradiated OFHC-copper before and after post-irradiation annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, B.N.; Edwards, D.J.; Toft, P.

2001-02-01

Tensile specimens of OFHC-copper were irradiated with fission neutrons in the DR-3 reactor at Risoe National Laboratory at 100 deg. C to different displacement dose levels in the range of 0.01 to 0.3 dpa (NRT). Some of the specimens were tensile tested in the as-irradiated condition at 100 deg. C whereas other were given a post-irradiation annealing at 300 deg. C for 50 h and subsequently tested at 100 deg. C. Transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize the microstructure of specimens in the as-irradiation as well as irradiation and annealed conditions both before and after tensile deformation. The results show that while the interstitial loop microstructure coarsens with irradiation dose, no significant changes are observed in the population of stacking fault tetrahedra. The results also illustrates that the post-irradiation annealing leads to only a partial recovery and that the level of recovery depends on the irradiation dose level. However, the post-irradiation annealing eliminates the problem of yield drop and reinstates enough uniform elongation to render the material useful again. These results are discussed in terms of the cascade induced source hardening (CISH) and the dispersed barrier hardening (DBH) models. Both technological and scientific implications of these results are considered. (au)

Investigation of neutron irradiated reactor vessel steels using post-irradiation annealing techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakata, Hayato; Fukuya, Koji [Institute of Nuclear Safety System Inc., Mihama, Fukui (Japan)

2001-09-01

The matrix damage is known to be a major factor that contributes to embrittlement and hardening of irradiated reactor vessel steels, and is assumed to be composed of the point defect clusters. However field emission gun scanning transmission electron microscopy (FEGSTEM) and atom probe (AP) could not detect any evidence of the matrix damage. In this study, post irradiation annealing experiments combining positron annihilation lineshape analysis (PALA) and hardness experiments were applied to an actual surveillance test specimen and a sample of reactor vessel steel irradiated in a material test reactor (MTR), in order to investigate the matrix damage recovery behavior and its contribution to hardening. It was confirmed that higher fluence increased the hardness and the volume fraction of open volume defects and that higher flux decreased the thermal stability of matrix damage and the effect on hardening. The contribution of matrix damage to hardening could be estimated to be below 30%. (author)

In and Ga Codoped ZnO Film as a Front Electrode for Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duy Phong Pham

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Doped ZnO thin films have attracted much attention in the research community as front-contact transparent conducting electrodes in thin film silicon solar cells. The prerequisite in both low resistivity and high transmittance in visible and near-infrared region for hydrogenated microcrystalline or amorphous/microcrystalline tandem thin film silicon solar cells has promoted further improvements of this material. In this work, we propose the combination of major Ga and minor In impurities codoped in ZnO film (IGZO to improve the film optoelectronic properties. A wide range of Ga and In contents in sputtering targets was explored to find optimum optical and electrical properties of deposited films. The results show that an appropriate combination of In and Ga atoms in ZnO material, followed by in-air thermal annealing process, can enhance the crystallization, conductivity, and transmittance of IGZO thin films, which can be well used as front-contact electrodes in thin film silicon solar cells.

Growth and Characterization of Indium Doped ZnO Nano wires Using Thermal Evaporation Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abrar Ismardi; Dee, C.F.; Majlis, B.Y.

2011-01-01

Indium doped ZnO nano wires were grown on silicon substrate using vapor thermal deposition method without using any catalyst. Morphological structures were extensively investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and show that the nano wires have uniformly hexagonal nano structures with diameters less than 100 nm and lengths from one to a few microns. The sample was measured for elemental composition with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, Zn, In and O elements were found on the sample. XRD spectrum of indium doped ZnO nano wires revealed that the nano wires have a high crystalline structure. (author)

Relative Humidity Sensing Properties Of Cu2O Doped ZnO Nanocomposite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandey, N. K.; Tiwari, K.; Tripathi, A.; Roy, A.; Rai, A.; Awasthi, P.

2009-01-01

In this paper we report application of Cu 2 O doped ZnO composite prepared by solid state reaction route as humidity sensor. Pellet samples of ZnO-Cu 2 O nanocrystalline powders with 2, 5 and 10 weight% of Cu 2 O in ZnO have been prepared. Pellets have been annealed at temperatures of 200-500 deg. C and exposed to humidity. It is observed that as relative humidity increases, resistance of the pellet decreases for the humidity from 10% to 90%. Sample with 5% of Cu 2 O doped in ZnO and annealed at 500 deg. C shows best results with sensitivity of 1.50 MΩ/%RH. In this case the hysteresis is low and the reproducibility high, making it the suitable candidate for humidity sensing.

The effect of low temperature neutron irradiation and annealing on the thermal conductivity of advanced carbon-based materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barabash, V.; Mazul, I.; Latypov, R.; Pokrovsky, A.; Wu, C.H.

2002-01-01

Several carbon-based materials (carbon fibre composites NB 31, NS 31 and UAM-92, doped graphite RGTi-91), were irradiated at about 90 deg. C in the damage dose range 0.0021-0.13 dpa. Significant reduction of the thermal conductivity of all materials was observed (e.g. at damage dose of ∼0.13 dpa the thermal conductivity degraded up to level of ∼2-3% of the initial values). However, saturation of this effect was observed starting at a dose of ∼0.06 dpa. The effect of annealing at 250 and 350 deg. C on the recovery of thermal conductivity of NB 31 and NS 31 was studied and it was shown this annealing can significantly improve thermal conductivity (∼2.5-3 times). The data on the degradation of the thermal conductivity after additional irradiation after annealing is also reported

Defect annealing and thermal desorption of deuterium in low dose HFIR neutron-irradiated tungsten

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimada, Masashi; Hara, Masanori; Otsuka, Teppei; Oya, Yasuhisa; Hatano, Yuji

2015-01-01

Three tungsten samples irradiated at High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory were exposed to deuterium plasma (ion fluence of 1 × 10 26 m −2 ) at three different temperatures (100, 200, and 500 °C) in Tritium Plasma Experiment at Idaho National Laboratory. Subsequently, thermal desorption spectroscopy was performed with a ramp rate of 10 °C min −1 up to 900 °C, and the samples were annealed at 900 °C for 0.5 h. These procedures were repeated three times to uncover defect-annealing effects on deuterium retention. The results show that deuterium retention decreases approximately 70% for at 500 °C after each annealing, and radiation damages were not annealed out completely even after the 3rd annealing. TMAP modeling revealed the trap concentration decreases approximately 80% after each annealing at 900 °C for 0.5 h

Defect annealing and thermal desorption of deuterium in low dose HFIR neutron-irradiated tungsten

Science.gov (United States)

Shimada, Masashi; Hara, Masanori; Otsuka, Teppei; Oya, Yasuhisa; Hatano, Yuji

2015-08-01

Three tungsten samples irradiated at High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory were exposed to deuterium plasma (ion fluence of 1 × 1026 m-2) at three different temperatures (100, 200, and 500 °C) in Tritium Plasma Experiment at Idaho National Laboratory. Subsequently, thermal desorption spectroscopy was performed with a ramp rate of 10 °C min-1 up to 900 °C, and the samples were annealed at 900 °C for 0.5 h. These procedures were repeated three times to uncover defect-annealing effects on deuterium retention. The results show that deuterium retention decreases approximately 70% for at 500 °C after each annealing, and radiation damages were not annealed out completely even after the 3rd annealing. TMAP modeling revealed the trap concentration decreases approximately 80% after each annealing at 900 °C for 0.5 h.

Defect annealing and thermal desorption of deuterium in low dose HFIR neutron-irradiated tungsten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shimada, Masashi, E-mail: Masashi.Shimada@inl.gov [Fusion Safety Program, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Hara, Masanori [Hydrogen Isotope Research Center, University of Toyama, Toyama (Japan); Otsuka, Teppei [Kyushu University, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Science, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka (Japan); Oya, Yasuhisa [Radioscience Research Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka (Japan); Hatano, Yuji [Hydrogen Isotope Research Center, University of Toyama, Toyama (Japan)

2015-08-15

Three tungsten samples irradiated at High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory were exposed to deuterium plasma (ion fluence of 1 × 10{sup 26} m{sup −2}) at three different temperatures (100, 200, and 500 °C) in Tritium Plasma Experiment at Idaho National Laboratory. Subsequently, thermal desorption spectroscopy was performed with a ramp rate of 10 °C min{sup −1} up to 900 °C, and the samples were annealed at 900 °C for 0.5 h. These procedures were repeated three times to uncover defect-annealing effects on deuterium retention. The results show that deuterium retention decreases approximately 70% for at 500 °C after each annealing, and radiation damages were not annealed out completely even after the 3rd annealing. TMAP modeling revealed the trap concentration decreases approximately 80% after each annealing at 900 °C for 0.5 h.

Characteristics of rapid-thermal-annealed LiCoO2 cathode film for an all-solid-state thin film microbattery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Han-Ki; Yoon, Young Soo

2004-01-01

We report on the fabrication of a LiCoO 2 film for an all-solid-state thin film microbattery by using a rapid-thermal-annealing (RTA) process. The LiCoO 2 films were grown by rf magnetron sputtering using a synthesized LiCoO 2 target in a [O 2 /(Ar+O 2 )] ratio of 10%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis results showed that the surface layer on the as-deposited LiCoO 2 film was completely removed by rapid thermal annealing process in oxygen ambient for 20 min. In addition, the thin film microbattery fabricated with the annealed LiCoO 2 film shows fairly stable cyclability with a specific discharge capacity of 56.49 μAh/cm2 μm. These results show the possibility of the RTA LiCoO 2 film and rapid thermal annealing process being a promising cathode material and annealing process for thin film microbatteries, respectively

Spinel ferrite nanocrystals embedded inside ZnO: magnetic, electronic andmagneto-transport properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Shengqiang; Potzger, K.; Xu, Qingyu; Kuepper, K.; Talut, G.; Marko, D.; Mucklich, A.; Helm, M.; Fassbender, J.; Arenholz, E.; Schmidt, H.

2009-08-21

In this paper we show that spinel ferrite nanocrystals (NiFe{sub 2}O{sub 4}, and CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4}) can be texturally embedded inside a ZnO matrix by ion implantation and post-annealing. The two kinds of ferrites show different magnetic properties, e.g. coercivity and magnetization. Anomalous Hall effect and positive magnetoresistance have been observed. Our study suggests a ferrimagnet/semiconductor hybrid system for potential applications in magneto-electronics. This hybrid system can be tuned by selecting different transition metal ions (from Mn to Zn) to obtain various magnetic and electronic properties.

Annealing effect on thermal conductivity and microhardness of carbon nanotube containing Se80Te16Cu4 glassy composites

Science.gov (United States)

Upadhyay, A. N.; Tiwari, R. S.; Singh, Kedar

2018-02-01

This study deals with the effect of thermal annealing on structural/microstructural, thermal and mechanical behavior of pristine Se80Te16Cu4 and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) containing Se80Te16Cu4 glassy composites. Pristine Se80Te16Cu4, 3 and 5 wt%CNTs-Se80Te16Cu4 glassy composites are annealed in the vicinity of glass transition temperature to onset crystallization temperature (340-380 K). X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern revealed formation of polycrystalline phases of hexagonal CuSe and trigonal selenium. The indexed d-values in XRD patterns are in well conformity with the d-values obtained after the indexing of the ring pattern of selected area electron diffraction pattern of TEM images. The SEM investigation exhibited that the grain size of the CNTs containing Se80Te16Cu4 glassy composites increased with increasing annealing temperature and decreased at further higher annealing temperature. Thermal conductivity, microhardness exhibited a substantial increase with increasing annealing temperature of 340-360 K and slightly decreases for 380 K. The variation of thermal conductivity and microhardness can be explained by cross-linking formation and voids reduction.

Catalyst free growth of ZnO nanowires on graphene and graphene oxide and its enhanced photoluminescence and photoresponse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biroju, Ravi K; Giri, P K; Tilak, Nikhil; Rajender, Gone; Dhara, S

2015-01-01

We demonstrate the graphene assisted catalyst free growth of ZnO nanowires (NWs) on chemical vapor deposited (CVD) and chemically processed graphene buffer layers at a relatively low growth temperature (580 °C) in the presence and absence of ZnO seed layers. In the case of CVD graphene covered with rapid thermal annealed ZnO buffer layer, the growth of vertically aligned ZnO NWs takes place, while the direct growth on CVD graphene, chemically derived graphene (graphene oxide and graphene quantum dots) without ZnO seed layer resulted in randomly oriented sparse ZnO NWs. Growth mechanism was studied from high resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy of the hybrid structure. Further, we demonstrate strong UV, visible photoluminescence (PL) and enhanced photoconductivity (PC) from the CVD graphene–ZnO NWs hybrids as compared to the ZnO NWs grown without the graphene buffer layer. The evolution of crystalinity in ZnO NWs grown with ZnO seed layer and graphene buffer layer is correlated with the Gaussian line shape of UV and visible PL. This is further supported by the strong Raman mode at 438 cm −1 significant for the wurtzite phase of the ZnO NWs grown on different graphene substrates. The effect of the thickness of ZnO seed layers and the role of graphene buffer layers on the aligned growth of ZnO NWs and its enhanced PC are investigated systematically. Our results demonstrate the catalyst free growth and superior performance of graphene–ZnO NW hybrid UV photodetectors as compared to the bare ZnO NW based photodetectors. (paper)

Low-temperature processed ZnO and CdS photodetectors deposited by pulsed laser deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez-Como, N; Moreno, S; Mejia, I; Quevedo-Lopez, M A

2014-01-01

UV-VIS photodetectors using an interdigital configuration, with zinc oxide (ZnO) and cadmium sulfide (CdS) semiconductors deposited by pulsed laser deposition, were fabricated with a maximum processing temperature of 100 °C. Without any further post-growth annealing, the photodetectors are compatible with flexible and transparent substrates. Aluminum (Al) and indium tin oxide (ITO) were investigated as contacts. Focusing on underwater communications, the impact of metal contact (ITO versus Al) was investigated to determine the maximum responsivity using a laser with a 405 nm wavelength. As expected, the responsivity increases for reduced metal finger separation. This is a consequence of reduced carrier transit time for shorter finger separation. For ITO, the highest responsivities for both films (ZnO and CdS) were ∼3 A W −1 at 5 V. On the other hand, for Al contacts, the maximum responsivities at 5 V were ∼0.1 A W −1 and 0.7 A W −1 for CdS and ZnO, respectively. (paper)

Comparison of the thermal decomposition processes of several aminoalcohol-based ZnO inks with one containing ethanolamine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gómez-Núñez, Alberto [University of Barcelona, Department of Electronics, Martí i Franquès 1, E08028-Barcelona (Spain); Roura, Pere [University of Girona, Department of Physics, Campus Montilivi, Edif. PII, E17071-Girona, Catalonia (Spain); López, Concepción [University of Barcelona, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Martí i Franquès 1, E08028-Barcelona (Spain); Vilà, Anna, E-mail: avila@el.ub.edu [University of Barcelona, Department of Electronics, Martí i Franquès 1, E08028-Barcelona (Spain)

2016-09-15

Highlights: • Four alternatives to ethanolamine as stabilizer for the chemical synthesis of ZnO with zinc acetate dihydrate are proposed: aminopropanol, aminomethyl butanol, aminophenol and aminobenzyl alcohol. • Thermal decomposition processes described. Nitrogen cyclic compounds result. • Molecule flexibility helps decomposition, and in particular aliphatic aminoalcohols (quite flexible) decompose the precursor at lower temperatures than aromatic ones (more rigid). • Aminopropanol, aminomethyl butanol and aminobenzyl crystallize ZnO at a lower temperature than ethanolamine. • Nitrogen cyclic specimens have been identified and evolve in all cases (included ethanolamine) at temperatures up to 600 °C. - Abstract: Four inks for the production of ZnO semiconducting films have been prepared with zinc acetate dihydrate as precursor salt and one among the following aminoalcohols: aminopropanol (APr), aminomethyl butanol (AMB), aminophenol (APh) and aminobenzyl alcohol (AB) as stabilizing agent. Their thermal decomposition process has been analyzed in situ by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and evolved gas analysis (EGA), whereas the solid product has been analysed ex-situ by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (IR). Although, except for the APh ink, crystalline ZnO is already obtained at 300 °C, the films contain an organic residue that evolves at higher temperature in the form of a large variety of nitrogen-containing cyclic compounds. The results indicate that APr can be a better stabilizing agent than ethanolamine (EA). It gives larger ZnO crystal sizes with similar carbon content. However, a common drawback of all the amino stabilizers (EA included) is that nitrogen atoms have not been completely removed from the ZnO film at the highest temperature of our experiments (600 °C).

Photoluminescence study of ZnO structures grown by aqueous chemical growth