WorldWideScience

Sample records for selenide sputtered films

  1. Formation of copper-indium-selenide and/or copper-indium-gallium-selenide films from indium selenide and copper selenide precursors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Calvin J [Lakewood, CO; Miedaner, Alexander [Boulder, CO; Van Hest, Maikel [Lakewood, CO; Ginley, David S [Evergreen, CO; Nekuda, Jennifer A [Lakewood, CO

    2011-11-15

    Liquid-based indium selenide and copper selenide precursors, including copper-organoselenides, particulate copper selenide suspensions, copper selenide ethylene diamine in liquid solvent, nanoparticulate indium selenide suspensions, and indium selenide ethylene diamine coordination compounds in solvent, are used to form crystalline copper-indium-selenide, and/or copper indium gallium selenide films (66) on substrates (52).

  2. High rate deposition of thin film cadmium sulphide by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lisco, F., E-mail: F.Lisco@lboro.ac.uk [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Losurdo, M. [Institute of Inorganic Methodologies and of Plasmas, IMIP-CNR, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari (Italy); Walls, J.M. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

    2015-01-01

    Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) is an important n-type semiconductor widely used as a window layer in thin film photovoltaics Copper Indium Selenide, Copper Indium Gallium (di)Selenide, Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). Cadmium Sulphide has been deposited using a number of techniques but these techniques can be slow (chemical bath deposition and Radio Frequency sputtering) or the uniformity and the control of thickness can be relatively difficult (close space sublimation). In this paper we report on the development of a process using pulsed Direct Current magnetron sputtering which allows nanometre control of thin film thickness using time only. The CdS thin films deposited in this process are highly uniform and smooth. They exhibit the preferred hexagonal structure at room temperature deposition and they have excellent optical properties. Importantly, the process is highly stable despite the use of a semi-insulating magnetron target. Moreover, the process is very fast. The deposition rate using 1.5 kW of power to a 6-inch circular magnetron was measured to be greater than 8 nm/s. This makes the process suitable for industrial deployment. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of CdS • High deposition rate deposition • Uniform, pinhole free films.

  3. High rate deposition of thin film cadmium sulphide by pulsed direct current magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lisco, F.; Kaminski, P.M.; Abbas, A.; Bowers, J.W.; Claudio, G.; Losurdo, M.; Walls, J.M.

    2015-01-01

    Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) is an important n-type semiconductor widely used as a window layer in thin film photovoltaics Copper Indium Selenide, Copper Indium Gallium (di)Selenide, Copper Zinc Tin Sulphide and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe). Cadmium Sulphide has been deposited using a number of techniques but these techniques can be slow (chemical bath deposition and Radio Frequency sputtering) or the uniformity and the control of thickness can be relatively difficult (close space sublimation). In this paper we report on the development of a process using pulsed Direct Current magnetron sputtering which allows nanometre control of thin film thickness using time only. The CdS thin films deposited in this process are highly uniform and smooth. They exhibit the preferred hexagonal structure at room temperature deposition and they have excellent optical properties. Importantly, the process is highly stable despite the use of a semi-insulating magnetron target. Moreover, the process is very fast. The deposition rate using 1.5 kW of power to a 6-inch circular magnetron was measured to be greater than 8 nm/s. This makes the process suitable for industrial deployment. - Highlights: • Pulsed DC magnetron sputtering of CdS • High deposition rate deposition • Uniform, pinhole free films

  4. Precursors for formation of copper selenide, indium selenide, copper indium diselenide, and/or copper indium gallium diselenide films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Calvin J; Miedaner, Alexander; Van Hest, Maikel; Ginley, David S

    2014-11-04

    Liquid-based precursors for formation of Copper Selenide, Indium Selenide, Copper Indium Diselenide, and/or copper Indium Galium Diselenide include copper-organoselenides, particulate copper selenide suspensions, copper selenide ethylene diamine in liquid solvent, nanoparticulate indium selenide suspensions, and indium selenide ethylene diamine coordination compounds in solvent. These liquid-based precursors can be deposited in liquid form onto substrates and treated by rapid thermal processing to form crystalline copper selenide and indium selenide films.

  5. Modification of the electronic properties of As2Se3 films by erbium using ion-plasma sputtering method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prikhodko, O.Yu.; Sarsembinov, Sh.Sh.; Ryaguzov, A.P.; Maksimova, S.Ya.; Chuprynin, A.S.

    2003-01-01

    At present one of the vital problems of semiconductor materials studies is production of new light emitting materials for fiber optics, namely for light-emitting diode, emitting at room temperature in the range of minimum absorption of quartz optic fiber. It is well-known that heterostructures based on amorphous semiconductors, containing large concentrations of rare-earth elements have such properties. The method of ion-plasma co-sputtering (IPCM) of the original and doping materials allows us to obtain amorphous semiconductor films with large impurity concentration. This method was used to produce amorphous films of chalcogenide vitreous semiconductors (ChVS), doped with impurities of different chemical nature. But the capability of IPCM for ChVS doping with rare-earth elements has not been studied well yet. Therefore it is interesting to obtain amorphous films of arsenic selenide doped with erbium using IPCM and study its electronic properties. The films were produced using high frequency (13.56 MHz) ion-plasma co-sputtering of combined target of vitreous As 2 Se 3 and a metal. The sputtering of the target was conducted in argon atmosphere. Er concentration in the films varied between 0 and 4 atomic percent. Amorphism of the structure of the obtained films was monitored using X-ray diffraction methods. Electrical and optical properties of Er-doped As 2 Se 3 films and the charge carrier transportation processes were studied. It was determined that doped films significantly differ from the pure ones in the values of main electronic parameters: conductivity, energy activation of conductivity, optical band-gap, drift mobility of electrons and holes and mobility activation energy. Note that common rules of change of electronic parameters of As 2 Se 3 films affected by Er doping agree with the rules, established during modification of As 2 Se 3 films with dopes of transition metals with incomplete 3d-shell (Fe, Ni). Analysis of the obtained results showed that doing

  6. Process parameter impact on properties of sputtered large-area Mo bilayers for CIGS thin film solar cell applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badgujar, Amol C.; Dhage, Sanjay R., E-mail: dhage@arci.res.in; Joshi, Shrikant V.

    2015-08-31

    Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) has emerged as a promising candidate for thin film solar cells, with efficiencies approaching those of silicon-based solar cells. To achieve optimum performance in CIGS solar cells, uniform, conductive, stress-free, well-adherent, reflective, crystalline molybdenum (Mo) thin films with preferred orientation (110) are desirable as a back contact on large area glass substrates. The present study focuses on cylindrical rotating DC magnetron sputtered bilayer Mo thin films on 300 mm × 300 mm soda lime glass (SLG) substrates. Key sputtering variables, namely power and Ar gas flow rates, were optimized to achieve best structural, electrical and optical properties. The Mo films were comprehensively characterized and found to possess high degree of thickness uniformity over large area. Best crystallinity, reflectance and sheet resistance was obtained at high sputtering powers and low argon gas flow rates, while mechanical properties like adhesion and residual stress were found to be best at low sputtering power and high argon gas flow rate, thereby indicating a need to arrive at a suitable trade-off during processing. - Highlights: • Sputtering of bilayer molybdenum thin films on soda lime glass • Large area deposition using rotating cylindrical direct current magnetron • Trade of sputter process parameters power and pressure • High uniformity of thickness and best electrical properties obtained • Suitable mechanical and optical properties of molybdenum are achieved for CIGS application.

  7. Vapor transport deposition of antimony selenide thin film solar cells with 7.6% efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Xixing; Chen, Chao; Lu, Shuaicheng; Li, Kanghua; Kondrotas, Rokas; Zhao, Yang; Chen, Wenhao; Gao, Liang; Wang, Chong; Zhang, Jun; Niu, Guangda; Tang, Jiang

    2018-06-05

    Antimony selenide is an emerging promising thin film photovoltaic material thanks to its binary composition, suitable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, inert grain boundaries and earth-abundant constituents. However, current devices produced from rapid thermal evaporation strategy suffer from low-quality film and unsatisfactory performance. Herein, we develop a vapor transport deposition technique to fabricate antimony selenide films, a technique that enables continuous and low-cost manufacturing of cadmium telluride solar cells. We improve the crystallinity of antimony selenide films and then successfully produce superstrate cadmium sulfide/antimony selenide solar cells with a certified power conversion efficiency of 7.6%, a net 2% improvement over previous 5.6% record of the same device configuration. We analyze the deep defects in antimony selenide solar cells, and find that the density of the dominant deep defects is reduced by one order of magnitude using vapor transport deposition process.

  8. Ammonia-free chemical bath method for deposition of microcrystalline cadmium selenide films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lokhande, C.D.; Lee, Eun-Ho; Jung, Kwang-Deog; Joo, Oh-Shim

    2005-01-01

    Chemical deposition of cadmium selenide (CdSe) films has been carried out from alkaline aqueous solution containing Cd 2+ and Se 2- ions. In general, the alkaline pH of the CdSe deposition bath has been adjusted by addition of liquid ammonia. However, the use of ammonia in large-scale chemical deposition method represents an environmental problem due to its volatility and toxicity. The volatility of ammonia changes the pH of deposition bath and results into irreproducible film properties. In the present paper, ammonia-free and weak alkaline (pH < 9.0) chemical method for cadmium selenide film has been developed. The cadmium selenide films are microcrystalline (grain size 0.5-0.7 μm) with hexagonal crystal structure. These films are photoactive and therefore, useful in photo conversion of light into electrical power

  9. Electrical resistivity of sputtered molybdenum films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagano, J.

    1980-01-01

    The electrical resistivity of r.f. sputtered molybdenum films of thickness 5-150 nm deposited on oxidized silicon substrates was resolved into the three electron scattering components: isotropic background scattering, scattering at grain boundaries and scattering at surfaces. It was concluded that the isotropic background scattering is almost equal to that of bulk molybdenum and is not influenced by sputtering and annealing conditions. When the film thickness is sufficient that surface scattering can be ignored, the decrease in film resistivity after annealing is caused by the decrease in scattering at the grain boundaries for zero bias sputtered films, and is caused by an increase of the grain diameter for r.f. bias sputtered films. (Auth.)

  10. Effect of sputtering power on structure and properties of Bi film deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao Guo; He Zhibing; Xu Hua; Li Jun; Chen Taihua; Chen Jiajun

    2012-01-01

    Bi film was fabricated at different sputtering powers by DC magnetron sputtering. The deposition rate of Bi film as the function of sputtering power was studied. The surface topography of Bi film was observed by SEM, and the growth mode of Bi film was investigated. The crystal structure was analyzed by XRD. The grain size and stress of Bi film were calculated. The SEM images show that all the films are columnar growth. The average grain size firstly increases as the sputtering power increases, then decreases at 60 W. The film becomes loose with the increase of sputtering power, while, the film gets compact when the sputtering power becomes from 45 to 60 W. The XRD results show that films are polycrystalline of hexagonal. And the stress transforms from the tensile stress to compressive stress as the sputtering power increases. (authors)

  11. Electrosynthesis of cadmium selenide films from sodium citrate-selenosulphite bath

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lokhande, C.D.; Lee, Eun-Ho; Jung, Kwang-Deog; Joo, Oh-Shim

    2005-01-01

    Electrosynthesis of cadmium selenide (CdSe) film has been carried out from deposition bath containing sodium selenosulphite, along with cadmium complexed with sodium citrate under potentiostatic deposition condition on titanium substrates. The pH of deposition bath was weakly basic (< 9.0). The CdSe films up to 3.0 μm were deposited. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies revealed that the CdSe films are microcrystalline with increased grain size after annealing. The scanning electron microscopy showed that the films are porous with cauliflower-like morphology. The photelectrochemical characterization showed that the CdSe films are photoactive

  12. Co-sputtered optical films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Misiano, C; Simonetti, E [Selenia S.p.A., Rome (Italy)

    1977-06-01

    The co-sputtering of two dielectric materials with indices of refraction as widely different as possible has been investigated with the aim of obtaining both homogeneous films with an intermediate index of refraction and inhomogeneous films with predetermined profiles. An rf sputtering module is described which has been especially designed, with two separate cathodes and two independent tunable rf generators. The substrates are placed on a circular anode rotating underneath the two cathodes. So far mainly CeO/sub 2/, TiO2 and SiO/sub 2/ targets have been used. The deposition rate from each cathode and the total film thickness are determined by means of two quartz thickness monitors, sputtering compatible. Values obtained for the refractive index and optical thickness are reported, as well as repeatability, mechanical and chemical characteristics, reliability and high power optical radiation resistance. Finally, results obtained on optical components of practical interest are discussed.

  13. Sputtering materials for VLSI and thin film devices

    CERN Document Server

    Sarkar, Jaydeep

    2010-01-01

    An important resource for students, engineers and researchers working in the area of thin film deposition using physical vapor deposition (e.g. sputtering) for semiconductor, liquid crystal displays, high density recording media and photovoltaic device (e.g. thin film solar cell) manufacturing. This book also reviews microelectronics industry topics such as history of inventions and technology trends, recent developments in sputtering technologies, manufacturing steps that require sputtering of thin films, the properties of thin films and the role of sputtering target performance on overall p

  14. An optimized In–CuGa metallic precursors for chalcopyrite thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Han, Jun-feng, E-mail: junfeng.han@cnrs-imn.fr [Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), Université de Nantes, UMR CNRS 6502, 2 rue de la Houssinière, BP 32229, 44322 Nantes Cedex 3 (France); Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Liao, Cheng [Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Chengdu Green Energy and Green Manufacturing Technology R and D Center, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 601207 (China); Jiang, Tao; Xie, Hua-mu; Zhao, Kui [Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Besland, M.-P. [Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), Université de Nantes, UMR CNRS 6502, 2 rue de la Houssinière, BP 32229, 44322 Nantes Cedex 3 (France)

    2013-10-31

    We report a study of CuGa–In metallic precursors for chalcopyrite thin film. CuGa and In thin films were prepared by DC sputtering at room temperature. Due to low melting point of indium, the sputtering power on indium target was optimized. Then, CuGa and In multilayers were annealed at low temperature. At 120 °C, the annealing treatment could enhance diffusion and alloying of CuGa and In layers; however, at 160 °C, it caused a cohesion and crystalline of indium from the alloy which consequently formed irregular nodules on the film surface. The precursors were selenized to form copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin films. The morphological and structural properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra. The relationships between metallic precursors and CIGS films were discussed in the paper. A smooth precursor layer was the key factor to obtain a homogeneous and compact CIGS film. - Highlights: • An optimized sputtered indium film • An optimized alloying process of metallic precursor • An observation of nodules forming on the indium film and precursor surface • An observation of cauliflower structure in copper indium gallium selenide film • The relationship between precursor and CIGS film surface morphology.

  15. Polycrystalline thin films of antimony selenide via chemical bath deposition and post deposition treatments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodriguez-Lazcano, Y.; Pena, Yolanda; Nair, M.T.S.; Nair, P.K.

    2005-01-01

    We report a method for obtaining thin films of polycrystalline antimony selenide via chemical bath deposition followed by heating the thin films at 573 K in selenium vapor. The thin films deposited from chemical baths containing one or more soluble complexes of antimony, and selenosulfate initially did not show X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns corresponding to crystalline antimony selenide. Composition of the films, studied by energy dispersive X-ray analyses indicated selenium deficiency. Heating these films in presence of selenium vapor at 573 K under nitrogen (2000 mTorr) resulted in an enrichment of Se in the films. XRD peaks of such films matched Sb 2 Se 3 . Evaluation of band gap from optical spectra of such films shows absorption due to indirect transition occurring in the range of 1-1.2 eV. The films are photosensitive, with dark conductivity of about 2 x 10 -8 (Ω cm) -1 and photoconductivity, about 10 -6 (Ω cm) -1 under tungsten halogen lamp illumination with intensity of 700 W m -2 . An estimate for the mobility life time product for the film is 4 x 10 -9 cm 2 V -1

  16. Evaluation of residual stress in sputtered tantalum thin-film

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-masha’al, Asa’ad, E-mail: asaad.al@ed.ac.uk; Bunting, Andrew; Cheung, Rebecca

    2016-05-15

    Highlights: • Tantalum thin-films have been deposited by DC magnetron sputtering system. • Thin-film stress is observed to be strongly influenced by sputtering pressure. • Transition towards the compressive stress is ascribed to the annealing at 300 °C. • Expose thin-film to air ambient or ion bombardment lead to a noticeable change in the residual stress. - Abstract: The influence of deposition conditions on the residual stress of sputtered tantalum thin-film has been evaluated in the present study. Films have been deposited by DC magnetron sputtering and curvature measurement method has been employed to calculate the residual stress of the films. Transitions of tantalum film stress from compressive to tensile state have been observed as the sputtering pressure increases. Also, the effect of annealing process at temperature range of 90–300 °C in oxygen ambient on the residual stress of the films has been studied. The results demonstrate that the residual stress of the films that have been deposited at lower sputtering pressure has become more compressive when annealed at 300 °C. Furthermore, the impact of exposure to atmospheric ambient on the tantalum film stress has been investigated by monitoring the variation of the residual stress of both annealed and unannealed films over time. The as-deposited films have been exposed to pure Argon energy bombardment and as result, a high compressive stress has been developed in the films.

  17. Short-range order in amorphous thin films of indium selenides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zakharov, V.P.; Poltavtsev, Yu.G.; Sheremet, G.P.

    1982-01-01

    A structure of the short-range order and a character of interatomic interactions in indium selenides Insub(1-x)Sesub(x) with 0.333 <= x <= 0.75, obtained in the form of amorphous films 0.05-0.80 μm thick are studied using electron diffraction method. It is found out that mostly tetrahedrical coordination of nearest neighbours in the vicinity of indium atoms is characteristic for studied amorphous films, and coordination of selenium atoms is different. Amorphous film with x=0.75 posesses a considereably microheterogeneous structure of the short-range order, which is characterized by the presence of microunclusions of amorphous selenium and atoms of indium, octohedrically coordinated by selenium atoms

  18. Comparative study of the characteristics of Ni films deposited on SiO2/Si(100) by oblique-angle sputtering and conventional sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Mingpeng; Qiu Hong; Chen Xiaobai; Wu Ping; Tian Yue

    2008-01-01

    Ni films were deposited on SiO 2 /Si(100) substrates at 300 K and 573 K by oblique-angle sputtering and conventional sputtering. The films deposited at 300 K mainly have a [110] crystalline orientation in the growing direction whereas those deposited at 573 K grow with a [111] crystalline orientation in the growing direction. The film prepared only at 300 K by oblique-angle sputtering grows with a weakly preferential orientation along the incidence direction of the sputtered Ni atoms. All the films grow with thin columnar grains perpendicular to the substrate surface. The grain size of the films sputter-deposited obliquely is larger than that of the films sputter-deposited conventionally. The grain size of the Ni film does not change markedly with the deposition temperature. The film deposited at 573 K by oblique-angle sputtering has the highest saturation magnetization. For the conventional sputtering, the coercivity of the Ni film deposited at 573 K is larger than that of the film deposited at 300 K. However, for the oblique-angle sputtering, the coercivity of the Ni film is independent of the deposition temperature. All the Ni films exhibit an isotropic magnetization characteristic in the film plane

  19. Polyester fabric coated with Ag/ZnO composite film by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yuan, Xiaohong, E-mail: yxhong1981_2004@126.com [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China); Faculty of Clothing and Design, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350121, Fujian (China); Xu, Wenzheng, E-mail: xwz8199@126.com [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China); Huang, Fenglin, E-mail: windhuang325@163.com [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China); Chen, Dongsheng, E-mail: mjuchen@126.com [Faculty of Clothing and Design, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350121, Fujian (China); Wei, Qufu, E-mail: qfwei@jiangnan.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu (China)

    2016-12-30

    Highlights: • Ag/ZnO composite film was successfully deposited on polyester fabric by magnetron sputtering technique. • Ag film was easily oxidized into Ag{sub 2}O film in high vacuum oxygen environment. • The zinc film coated on the surface of Ag film before RF reactive sputtering could protect the silver film from oxidation. • Polyester fabric coated with Ag/ZnO composite film can obtained structural color. • The anti-ultraviolet and antistatic properties of polyester fabric coated with Ag/ZnO composite film all were good. - Abstract: Ag/ZnO composite film was successfully deposited on polyester fabric by using direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering and radio frequency (RF) magnetron reaction sputtering techniques with pure silver (Ag) and zinc (Zn) targets. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to examine the deposited film on the fabric. It was found that the zinc film coated on Ag film before RF reactive sputtering could protect the silver film from oxidation. Anti-ultraviolet property and antistatic property of the coated samples using different magnetron sputtering methods were also investigated. The experimental results showed that Ag film was oxidized into in Ag{sub 2}O film in high vacuum oxygen environment. The deposition of Zn film on the surface of the fabric coated with Ag film before RF reactive sputtering, could successfully obtained Ag/ZnO composite film, and also generated structural color on the polyester fabric.

  20. Studies on ion scattering and sputtering processes relevant to ion beam sputter deposition of multicomponent thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auciello, O.; Ameen, M.S.; Kingon, A.I.

    1989-01-01

    Results from computer simulation and experiments on ion scattering and sputtering processes in ion beam sputter deposition of high Tc superconducting and ferroelectric thin films are presented. It is demonstrated that scattering of neutralized ions from the targets can result in undesirable erosion of, and inert gas incorporation in, the growing films, depending on the ion/target atom ass ratio and ion beam angle of incidence/target/substrate geometry. The studies indicate that sputtering Kr + or Xe + ions is preferable to the most commonly used Ar + ions, since the undesirable phenomena mentioned above are minimized for the first two ions. These results are used to determine optimum sputter deposition geometry and ion beam parameters for growing multicomponent oxide thin films by ion beam sputter-deposition. 10 refs., 5 figs

  1. Properties of tungsten films prepared by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahn, K.Y.; Ting, C.Y.; Brodsky, S.B.; Fryer, P.M.; Davari, B.; Angillelo, J.; Herd, S.R.; Licata, T.

    1986-01-01

    High-rate magnetron sputtering is a relatively simple process to produce tungsten films with good electrical and mechanical properties, and it offers good uniformity, reproducibility, process flexibility, and high throughput. The purity of the sputtered films is affected by the target purity (cold-pressed 99.95%, chemical vapor deposited 99.99% and cast 99.999%), base pressure, deposition rate, and substrate bias. Typical resistivity in films of 2000 to 3000A thickness deposited on Si, poly-Si, and SiO/sub 2/ ranges from 10 to 12 μΩ-cm, and this may be compared with 6 and 11 μΩ-cm by high-temperature evaporation and chemical vapor deposition, respectively. The presence of biaxial stress caused by substrate scanning was determined by x-ray technique. The sputtered films exhibit high compressive stress when deposited at low Ar pressure. It decreases with increasing pressure, and eventually changes sign to become tensile, and increases further with increasing pressure. Effects of processing parameters on films properties, and a comparison of film properties prepared by evaporation and chemical vapor deposition are discussed

  2. Composition changes in sputter deposition of Y-Ba-Cu-O films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoshi, Y.; Naoe, M.

    1989-01-01

    The authors discuss the mechanism of the composition change in sputter deposition of Y-BA-Cu-O film from YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-chi target investigated by means of a rf planar magnetron sputtering apparatus. Film composition changes significantly with not only substrate temperature Ts and sputtering gas pressure, but also substrate position. Lack of Cu and Ba content is significant in the film deposited at the substrate position just above the erosion area of the sputtering target. Suppression of bombardment of the substrate surface by negative ions emitted from the target and substrate is effective in increasing Cu and Ba content in the film. These results indicate not only that the sticking probability of the sputtered particles changes with Ts and incident particle energy, but also that high energy particle bombardment of the substrate surface plays an important role in the change of the film composition

  3. Sequential sputtered Co-HfO{sub 2} granular films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chadha, M.; Ng, V.

    2017-03-15

    A systematic study of magnetic, magneto-transport and micro-structural properties of Co-HfO{sub 2} granular films fabricated by sequential sputtering is presented. We demonstrate reduction in ferromagnetic-oxide formation by using HfO{sub 2} as the insulting matrix. Microstructure evaluation of the films showed that the film structure consisted of discrete hcp-Co grains embedded in HfO{sub 2} matrix. Films with varying compositions were prepared and their macroscopic properties were studied. We correlate the variation in these properties to the variation in film microstructure. Our study shows that Co-HfO{sub 2} films with reduced cobalt oxide and varying properties can be prepared using sequential sputtering technique. - Highlights: • Co-HfO{sub 2} granular films were prepared using sequential sputtering. • A reduction in ferromagnetic-oxide formation is observed. • Co-HfO{sub 2} films display superparamagnetism and tunnelling magneto-resistance. • Varying macroscopic properties were achieved by changing film composition. • Applications can be found in moderate MR sensors and high –frequency RF devices.

  4. Nitinol: Tubing versus sputtered film - microcleanliness and corrosion behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wohlschlögel, Markus; Lima de Miranda, Rodrigo; Schüßler, Andreas; Quandt, Eckhard

    2016-08-01

    Corrosion behavior and microcleanliness of medical-device grade Nitinol tubing (Nix Ti1- x , x = 0.51; outer diameter 7 mm, wall thickness 0.5 mm), drawn from various ingot qualities, are compared to the characteristics of sputtered Nitinol film material (Nix Ti1- x , x = 0.51; thickness 50 µm). Electropolished tubing half-shell samples are tested versus as-received sputtered film samples. Inclusion size distributions are assessed using quantitative metallography and corrosion behavior is investigated by potentiodynamic polarization testing in phosphate-buffered saline at body temperature. For the sputtered film samples, the surface chemistry is additionally analyzed employing Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) composition-depth profiling. Results show that the fraction of breakdowns in the potentiodynamic polarization test correlates with number and size of the inclusions in the material. For the sputtered Nitinol film material no inclusions were detectable by light microscopy on the one hand and no breakdowns were found in the potentiodynamic polarization test on the other hand. As for electropolished Nitinol, the sputtered Nitinol film material reveals Nickel depletion and an Oxygen-to-Titanium intensity ratio of ∼2:1 in the surface oxide layer, as measured by AES. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 104B: 1176-1181, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. High temperature superconducting films by rf magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kadin, A.M.; Ballentine, P.H.

    1989-01-01

    The authors have produced sputtered films of Y-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O by rf magnetron sputtering from an oxide target consisting of loose reacted powder. The use of a large 8-inch stoichiometric target in the magnetron mode permits films located above the central region to be free of negative-ion resputtering effects, and hence yields reproducible, uniform stoichiometric compositions for a wide range of substrate temperatures. Superconducting YBCO films have been obtained either by sputtering at low temperatures followed by an 850 0 C oxygen anneal, or alternatively by depositing onto substrates heated to ∼600 - 650 0 C and cooling in oxygen. Films prepared by the former method on cubic zirconia substrate consist of randomly oriented crystallites with zero resistance above 83 K. Those deposited on zirconia at medium temperatures without the high-temperature anneal contain smooth partially oriented crystallites, with a slightly depressed T/sub c/ ∼75K. Finally, superconducting films have been deposited on MgO using a BiSrCaCu/sub 2/O/sub x/ powder target

  6. Rf reactive sputtering of indium-tin-oxide films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tvarozek, V.; Novotny, I.; Harman, R.; Kovac, J.

    1986-01-01

    Films of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) have been deposited by rf reactive diode sputtering of metallic InSn alloy targets, or ceramic ITO targets, in an Ar and Ar+0 2 atmosphere. Electrical as well as optical properties of ITO films were controlled by varying sputtering parameters and by post-deposition heat-treatment in Ar, H 2 , N 2 , H 2 +N 2 ambients. The ITO films exhibited low resistivity approx. 2 x 10 -4 Ω cm, high transmittance approx. 90% in the visible spectral region and high reflectance approx. 80% in the near infra-red region. (author)

  7. Intrinsic Photocatalytic Assessment of Reactively Sputtered TiO2 Films

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rafieian Boroujeni, Damon; Driessen, Rick Theodorus; Driessen, Rick T.; Ogieglo, Wojciech; Lammertink, Rob G.H.

    2015-01-01

    Thin TiO2 films were prepared by DC magnetron reactive sputtering at different oxygen partial pressures. Depending on the oxygen partial pressure during sputtering, a transition from metallic Ti to TiO2 was identified by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The crystalline nature of the film developed during

  8. KRYPTON INCORPORATION IN SPUTTERED SILICON FILMS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    GREUTER, MJW; NIESEN, L; HAKVOORT, RA; DEROODE, J; VANVEEN, A; BERNTSEN, AJM; SLOOF, WG

    1993-01-01

    The incorporation of Kr in sputtered a-Si films has been investigated in a systematic way by varying the Kr to Si flux, yielding Kr concentrations up to 5 at %. Compositions were determined with X-ray microanalysis. A model has been applied to describe the composition of the growing film. The layers

  9. Lithium insertion in sputtered vanadium oxide film

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    West, K.; Zachau-Christiansen, B.; Skaarup, S.V.

    1992-01-01

    were oxygen deficient compared to V2O5. Films prepared in pure argon were reduced to V(4) or lower. The vanadium oxide films were tested in solid-state lithium cells. Films sputtered in oxygen showed electrochemical properties similar to crystalline V2O5. The main differences are a decreased capacity...

  10. Thermal conductivities of thin, sputtered optical films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henager, C.H. Jr.; Pawlewicz, W.T.

    1991-05-01

    The normal component of the thin film thermal conductivity has been measured for the first time for several advanced sputtered optical materials. Included are data for single layers of boron nitride (BN), aluminum nitride (AIN), silicon aluminum nitride (Si-Al-N), silicon aluminum oxynitride (Si-Al-O-N), silicon carbide (SiC), and for dielectric-enhanced metal reflectors of the form Al(SiO 2 /Si 3 N 4 ) n and Al(Al 2 O 3 /AIN) n . Sputtered films of more conventional materials like SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , Ti, and Si have also been measured. The data show that thin film thermal conductivities are typically 10 to 100 times lower than conductivities for the same materials in bulk form. Structural disorder in the amorphous or very fine-grained films appears to account for most of the conductivity difference. Conclusive evidence for a film/substrate interface contribution is presented

  11. Photoconductivity in reactively evaporated copper indium selenide thin films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urmila, K. S.; Asokan, T. Namitha; Pradeep, B.; Jacob, Rajani; Philip, Rachel Reena

    2014-01-01

    Copper indium selenide thin films of composition CuInSe2 with thickness of the order of 130 nm are deposited on glass substrate at a temperature of 423 ±5 K and pressure of 10-5 mbar using reactive evaporation, a variant of Gunther's three temperature method with high purity Copper (99.999%), Indium (99.999%) and Selenium (99.99%) as the elemental starting materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies shows that the films are polycrystalline in nature having preferred orientation of grains along the (112) plane. The structural type of the film is found to be tetragonal with particle size of the order of 32 nm. The structural parameters such as lattice constant, particle size, dislocation density, number of crystallites per unit area and strain in the film are also evaluated. The surface morphology of CuInSe2 films are studied using 2D and 3D atomic force microscopy to estimate the grain size and surface roughness respectively. Analysis of the absorption spectrum of the film recorded using UV-Vis-NIR Spectrophotometer in the wavelength range from 2500 nm to cutoff revealed that the film possess a direct allowed transition with a band gap of 1.05 eV and a high value of absorption coefficient (α) of 106 cm-1 at 570 nm. Photoconductivity at room temperature is measured after illuminating the film with an FSH lamp (82 V, 300 W). Optical absorption studies in conjunction with the good photoconductivity of the prepared p-type CuInSe2 thin films indicate its suitability in photovoltaic applications.

  12. Shape memory characteristics of sputter-deposited Ti-Ni thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyazaki, Shuichi; Ishida, Akira.

    1994-01-01

    Ti-Ni shape memory alloy thin films were deposited using an RF magnetron sputtering apparatus. The as-sputtered films were heat-treated in order to crystallize and memorize. After the heat treatment, the shape memory characteristics have been investigated using DSC and thermomechanical tests. Upon cooling the thin films, the solution-treated films showed a single peak in the DSC curve indicating a single stage transformation occurring from B2 to the martensitic phase, while the age-treated films showed double peaks indicating a two-stage transformation, i.e., from B2 to the R-phase, then to the martensitic phase. A perfect shape memory effect was achieved in these sputter-deposited Ti-Ni thin films in association both with the R-phase and martensitic transformations. Transformation temperatures increased linearly with increasing applied stress. The transformation strain also increased with increasing stress. The shape memory characteristics were strongly affected by heat-treatment conditions. (author)

  13. Deposition of indium tin oxide films on acrylic substrates by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiou, B.S.; Hsieh, S.T.; Wu, W.F.

    1994-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited onto acrylic substrates by rf magnetron sputtering. Low substrate temperature (< 80 C) and low rf power (< 28 W) were maintained during sputtering to prevent acrylic substrate deformation. The influence of sputtering parameters, such as rf power, target-to-substrate distance, and chamber pressure, on the film deposition rate, the electrical properties, as well as the optical properties of the deposited films was investigated. Both the refractive index and the extinction coefficient were derived. The high reflection at wavelengths greater than 3 μm made these sputtered ITO films applicable to infrared mirrors

  14. Intrinsic photocatalytic assessment of reactively sputtered TiO₂ films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rafieian, Damon; Driessen, Rick T; Ogieglo, Wojciech; Lammertink, Rob G H

    2015-04-29

    Thin TiO2 films were prepared by DC magnetron reactive sputtering at different oxygen partial pressures. Depending on the oxygen partial pressure during sputtering, a transition from metallic Ti to TiO2 was identified by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The crystalline nature of the film developed during a subsequent annealing step, resulting in thin anatase TiO2 layers, displaying photocatalytic activity. The intrinsic photocatalytic activity of the catalysts was evaluated for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) using a microfluidic reactor. A numerical model was employed to extract the intrinsic reaction rate constants. High conversion rates (90% degradation within 20 s residence time) were observed within these microreactors because of the efficient mass transport and light distribution. To evaluate the intrinsic reaction kinetics, we argue that mass transport has to be accounted for. The obtained surface reaction rate constants demonstrate very high reactivity for the sputtered TiO2 films. Only for the thinnest film, 9 nm, slightly lower kinetics were observed.

  15. Shape memory effect and microstructures of sputter-deposited Cu-Al-Ni films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minemura, T.; Andoh, H.; Kita, Y.; Ikuta, I.

    1985-01-01

    The shape memory effect has been found in many alloy systems which exhibit a thermoelastic martensite transformation. Cu-Al-Ni alloys exhibit an excellent shape memory effect in single crystalline states, but they have not yet been commercially used due to their brittle fracture along the grain boundaries in polycrystalline states. This letter reports the shape memory effect and microstructures of the sputter-deposited Cu-Al-Ni films. Cu-14%Al-4%Ni alloy ingot was prepared. A target for sputter deposition was cut from the ingot. Aluminium foils (20 μm thick) were used for the substrates of sputter deposition. The microstructures and crystal structures of the films were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction using CuKα radiation, respectively. The effect of the sputtering conditions such as substrate temperature, partial pressure of argon gas, and the sputtering power on the structures of sputter-deposited Cu-14%Al-4%Ni films were investigated by X-ray diffraction. Results are shown and discussed. Photographs demonstrate shape memory behaviour of Cu-14%Al-4%Ni films sputter-deposited on aluminium foils from (a) liquid nitrogen temperature to (d) room temperature. (author)

  16. Nanoporous zinc oxide films prepared by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghimpu, L.; Lupan, O.; Popescu, L.; Tiginyanu, I.M.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we demonstrate an inexpensive approach for the fabrication of nanoporous zinc oxide films by using magnetron sputtering. Study of the structural properties proves the crystallographic perfection of porous nanostructures and the possibility of its controlling by adjusting the technological parameters in the growth process. The XRD pattern of nanoporous ZnO films exhibits high intensity of the peaks relative to the background signal which is indicative of the ZnO hexagonal phase and a good crystallinity of the samples grown by magnetron sputtering.

  17. Room temperature growth of nanocrystalline anatase TiO2 thin films by dc magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Preetam; Kaur, Davinder

    2010-01-01

    We report, the structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline anatase TiO 2 thin films grown on glass substrate by dc magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The influence of sputtering power and pressure over crystallinity and surface morphology of the films were investigated. It was observed that increase in sputtering power activates the TiO 2 film growth from relative lower surface free energy to higher surface free energy. XRD pattern revealed the change in preferred orientation from (1 0 1) to (0 0 4) with increase in sputtering power, which is accounted for different surface energy associated with different planes. Microstructure of the films also changes from cauliflower type to columnar type structures with increase in sputtering power. FESEM images of films grown at low pressure and low sputtering power showed typical cauliflower like structure. The optical measurement revealed the systematic variation of the optical constants with deposition parameters. The films are highly transparent with transmission higher than 90% with sharp ultraviolet cut off. The transmittance of these films was found to be influenced by the surface roughness and film thickness. The optical band gap was found to decrease with increase in the sputtering power and pressure. The refractive index of the films was found to vary in the range of 2.50-2.24 with increase in sputtering pressure or sputtering power, resulting in the possibility of producing TiO 2 films for device applications with different refractive index, by changing the deposition parameters.

  18. A transparent nickel selenide counter electrode for high efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dong, Jia; Wu, Jihuai, E-mail: jhwu@hqu.edu.cn; Jia, Jinbiao; Ge, Jinhua; Bao, Quanlin; Wang, Chaotao; Fan, Leqing

    2017-04-15

    Highlights: • Ni{sub 0.85}Se was obtained by hydrothermal way and the film was gained by spin-coating. • Ni{sub 0.85}Se film has good conductivity and excellent electrocatalytic activity. • DSSC based on transparent Ni{sub 0.85}Se counter electrode obtains PCE of 8.96%. • The PCE reaches 10.76% when putting a mirror under Ni{sub 0.85}Se counter electrode. - Abstract: Nickel selenide (Ni{sub 0.85}Se) was synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal reaction and Ni{sub 0.85}Se film was prepared by spin-coating Ni{sub 0.85}Se ink on FTO and used as counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The Ni{sub 0.85}Se CEs not only show high transmittance in visible range, but also possess remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward I{sup −}/I{sub 3}{sup −}. The electrocatalytic ability of Ni{sub 0.85}Se films was verified by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Tafel polarization curves. The DSSC using Ni{sub 0.85}Se CE exhibits a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.96%, while the DSSC consisting of sputtered Pt CE only exhibits a PCE of 8.15%. When adding a mirror under Ni{sub 0.85}Se CE, the resultant DSSC exhibits a PCE of 10.76%, which exceeds that of a DSSC based on sputtered Pt CE (8.44%) by 27.49%.

  19. ZnO film deposition by DC magnetron sputtering: Effect of target configuration on the film properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arakelova, E.; Khachatryan, A.; Kteyan, A.; Avjyan, K.; Grigoryan, S.

    2016-08-01

    Ballistic transport model for target-to-substrate atom transfer during magnetron sputter deposition was used to develop zinc target (cathode) configuration that enabled growth of uniform zinc oxide films on extensive surfaces and provided reproducibility of films characteristics irrespective of the cathode wear-out. The advantage of the developed target configuration for high-quality ZnO film deposition was observed in the sputtering pressure range of 5− 50 mTorr, and in the range of cathode-to-substrate distances 7–20 cm. Characteristics of the deposited films were demonstrated by using X-ray diffraction analysis, as well as optical and electrical measurements. - Highlights: • Change of target configuration for optimization of magnetron sputtering deposition is proposed. • Improvement of ZnO film properties due to use of this target is demonstrated. • This configuration provided reproducibility of the deposited films properties.

  20. Study of the crystallographic phase change on copper (I) selenide thin films prepared through chemical bath deposition by varying the pH of the solution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sandoval-Paz, M.G., E-mail: myrnasandoval@udec.cl [Departament of Physics, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, University of Concepcion, Box 160-C, Concepción (Chile); Rodríguez, C.A. [Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Concepción, Edmundo Larenas 270, Concepción 4070409 (Chile); Porcile-Saavedra, P.F. [Departament of Physics, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, University of Concepcion, Box 160-C, Concepción (Chile); Trejo-Cruz, C. [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Biobío, Avenue Collao 1202, Box 5C, Concepción 4051381 (Chile)

    2016-07-15

    Copper (I) selenide thin films with orthorhombic and cubic structure were deposited on glass substrates by using the chemical bath deposition technique. The effects of the solution pH on the films growth and subsequently the structural, optical and electrical properties of the films were studied. Films with orthorhombic structure were obtained from baths wherein both metal complex and hydroxide coexist; while films with cubic structure were obtained from baths where the metal hydroxide there is no present. The structural modifications are accompanied by changes in bandgap energy, morphology and electrical resistivity of the films. - Graphical abstract: “Study of the crystallographic phase change on copper (I) selenide thin films prepared through chemical bath deposition by varying the pH of the solution” by M. G. Sandoval-Paz, C. A. Rodríguez, P. F. Porcile-Saavedra, C. Trejo-Cruz. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Copper (I) selenide thin films were obtained by chemical bath deposition. • Orthorhombic to cubic phase change was induced by varying the reaction solution pH. • Orthorhombic phase is obtained mainly from a hydroxides cluster mechanism. • Cubic phase is obtained mainly from an ion by ion mechanism. • Structural, optical and electrical properties are presented as a function of pH.

  1. Recent progress in thin film processing by magnetron sputtering with plasma diagnostics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Jeon G

    2009-01-01

    The precise control of the structure and related properties becomes crucial for sophisticated applications of thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering in emerging industries including the flat panel display, digital electronics and nano- and bio-industries. The film structure is closely related to the total energy delivered to the substrate surface for nucleation and growth during all kinds of thin film processes, including magnetron sputtering. Therefore, the energy delivered to the surface for nucleation and growth during magnetron sputtering should be measured and analysed by integrated diagnostics of the plasma parameters which are closely associated with the process parameters and other external process conditions. This paper reviews the background of thin film nucleation and growth, the status of magnetron sputtering technology and the progress of plasma diagnostics for plasma processing. The evolution of the microstructure during magnetron sputtering is then discussed with respect to the change in the process variables in terms of the plasma parameters along with empirical data of the integrated plasma diagnostics for various magnetron sputtering conditions with conventional dc, pulsed dc and high power pulsed dc sputtering modes. Among the major energy terms to be discussed are the temperature change in the top surface region and the energies of ions and neutral species. (topical review)

  2. High-coercivity FePt sputtered films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luong, N.H.; Hiep, V.V.; Hong, D.M.; Chau, N.; Linh, N.D.; Kurisu, M.; Anh, D.T.K.; Nakamoto, G.

    2005-01-01

    Fe 56 Pt 44 thin films have been prepared by RF magnetron sputtering on Si substrates. The substrate temperature was kept at 350 deg C. The X-ray diffraction patterns of as-deposited FePt films exhibited a disordered structure. Annealing of the films at 650-685 deg C for 1 h yielded an ordered L1 0 phase with FCT structure. The high value for coercivity H C of 17 kOe was obtained at room temperature for the 68 nm thick film annealed at 685 deg C. The hard magnetic properties as well as grain structure of the films strongly depend on the annealing conditions

  3. Direct-current substrate bias effects on amorphous silicon sputter-deposited films for thin film transistor fabrication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jun, Seung-Ik; Rack, Philip D.; McKnight, Timothy E.; Melechko, Anatoli V.; Simpson, Michael L.

    2005-01-01

    The effect that direct current (dc) substrate bias has on radio frequency-sputter-deposited amorphous silicon (a-Si) films has been investigated. The substrate bias produces a denser a-Si film with fewer defects compared to unbiased films. The reduced number of defects results in a higher resistivity because defect-mediated conduction paths are reduced. Thin film transistors (TFTs) that were completely sputter deposited were fabricated and characterized. The TFT with the biased a-Si film showed lower leakage (off-state) current, higher on/off current ratio, and higher transconductance (field effect mobility) than the TFT with the unbiased a-Si film

  4. Controlled formation of anatase and rutile TiO2 thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    OpenAIRE

    Rafieian Boroujeni, Damon; Ogieglo, Wojciech; Savenije, Tom; Lammertink, Rob G.H.

    2015-01-01

    We discuss the formation of TiO2 thin films via DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The oxygen concentration during sputtering proved to be a crucial parameter with respect to the final film structure and properties. The initial deposition provided amorphous films that crystallise upon annealing to anatase or rutile, depending on the initial sputtering conditions. Substoichiometric films (TiOx

  5. Influence of sputtering power on the optical properties of ITO thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    K, Aijo John; M, Deepak, E-mail: manju.thankamoni@gmail.com; T, Manju, E-mail: manju.thankamoni@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Sree Sankara College, Kalady P. O., Ernakulam Dist., Kerala (India); Kumar, Vineetha V. [Dept. of Physics, K. E. College, Mannanam, Kottayam Dist., Kerala (India)

    2014-10-15

    Tin doped indium oxide films are widely used in transparent conducting coatings such as flat panel displays, crystal displays and in optical devices such as solar cells and organic light emitting diodes due to the high electrical resistivity and optical transparency in the visible region of solar spectrum. The deposition parameters have a commendable influence on the optical and electrical properties of the thin films. In this study, ITO thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. The properties of the films prepared under varying sputtering power were compared using UV- visible spectrophotometry. Effect of sputtering power on the energy band gap, absorption coefficient and refractive index are investigated.

  6. Microstructural variation in titanium oxide thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pandian, Ramanathaswamy; Natarajan, Gomathi; Kamruddin, M.; Tyagi, A.K.

    2013-01-01

    We report on the microstructural evolution of titanium oxide thin films deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering using titanium metal target. By varying the ratio of sputter-gas mixture containing argon, oxygen and nitrogen various phases of titanium oxide, almost pure rutile, rutile-rich and anatase-rich nano-crystalline, were deposited on Si substrates at room temperature. Using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman techniques the microstructure of the films were revealed. The relationship between the microstructure of the films and the oxygen partial pressure during sputtering is discussed

  7. Basic electrochemical properties of sputtered gold film electrodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Libansky, Milan; Zima, Jiri; Barek, Jiri; Reznickova, Alena; Svorcik, Vaclav; Dejmkova, Hana

    2017-01-01

    Gold nanolayers made by sputtering of pure gold (physical vapour deposition) are commonly used for many biophysical and material applications. However, the use of sputtering method for fabrication of working electrodes for electroanalytical purposes is less common. This paper focuses on the testing and characterization of sputtered working roughened gold nanostructured film electrodes, which fall into category of upcoming desirable new generation of nanostructured gold working electrodes. Gold nanostructured films (80 nm thin) were sputtered onto 50 μm thin PTFE substrates with three different types of treatment: pristine, plasma treated, and plasma treated and subsequently spontaneously grafted with biphenyl-4,4′-dithiol. The characterization of gold nanostructured film electrodes was carried out by examination of the electrode reaction of standard redox probes (ferrocyanide/ferricyanide, hydroquinone/benzoquinone) in different types of supporting electrolytes (BR buffers of various pH, KCl, KNO 3 , H 2 SO 4 ), by exploration of the electrode surface by scanning electron microscopy, by atomic force microscopy accompanied by elementary analysis and contact angle measurements. The testing of electrodes was complemented by an attempt to calculate their real surface areas from Randles-Sevcik equation. All results were compared to conventional bulk gold electrode. The practical applicability of the nanostructured gold electrodes as sensors for the determination of environmental pollutants was verified by voltammetric determination of hydroquinone as a model electrochemically oxidisable organic environmental pollutant.

  8. Influence of sputtering gas pressure on properties of transparent conducting Si-doped zinc oxide films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qin, Hua; Liu, Hunfa; Lei, Chengxin [Shandong Univ. of Technology, Zibo (China). Dept. of Sciences

    2013-10-15

    Si-doped zinc oxide (SZO, Si 3%) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by means of direct current magnetron sputtering under different pressures. The influence of sputtering pressure on structure, morphology, optical and electrical properties of SZO thin films was investigated. The results reveal that the sputtering pressures have a significant impact on the growth rate, crystal quality and electrical properties of the films, but have little impact on the optical properties of the films. SZO thin film samples grown on glasses are polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and have a preferred orientation along the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. When the sputtering pressure increases from 2 to 8 Pa, the film surface becomes compact and smooth, the degree of crystallization of the films increases, and the resistivity of films decreases. However, when the sputtering pressure continues to increase from 8 to 10 Pa, the degree of crystallization of the films decreases, the grain size decreases, and the resistivity of the films increases. SZO(3%) thin film deposited at a sputtering pressure of 8 Pa shows the largest carrier concentration, the largest mobility, the lowest resistivity of 3.0 x 10{sup -4} {Omega} cm and a high overall transmission of 93.3% in the visible range. (orig.)

  9. Composition, structure and magnetic properties of sputter deposited Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape memory thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Annadurai, A.; Nandakumar, A.K.; Jayakumar, S.; Kannan, M.D. [Thin Film Center, Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004 (India); Manivel Raja, M.; Bysak, S. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500 058 (India); Gopalan, R. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500 058 (India)], E-mail: rg_gopy@yahoo.com; Chandrasekaran, V. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500 058 (India)

    2009-03-15

    Polycrystalline Ni-Mn-Ga thin films were deposited by the d.c. magnetron sputtering on well-cleaned substrates of Si(1 0 0) and glass at a constant sputtering power of 36 W. We report the influence of sputtering pressure on the composition, structure and magnetic properties of the sputtered thin films. These films display ferromagnetic behaviour only after annealing at an elevated temperature and a maximum saturation magnetization of 335 emu/cc was obtained for the films investigated. Evolution of martensitic microstructure was observed in the annealed thin films with the increase of sputtering pressure. The thermo-magnetic curves exhibited only magnetic transition in the temperature range of 339-374 K. The thin film deposited at high sputtering pressure of 0.025 mbar was found to be ordered L2{sub 1} austenitic phase.

  10. Sputter deposition of BSCCO films from a hollow cathode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lanagan, M.T.; Kampwirth, R.T.; Doyle, K.; Kowalski, S.; Miller, D.; Gray, K.E.

    1991-01-01

    High-T c superconducting thin films were deposited onto MgO single crystal substrates from a hollow cathode onto ceramic targets with the nominal composition of Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O x . Films similar in composition to those used for the targets were deposited on MgO substrates by rf sputtering. The effects of sputtering time, rf power, and post-annealing on film microstructure and properties were studied in detail. Substrate temperature was found to have a significant influence on the film characteristics. Initial results show that deposition rates from a hollow cathode are an order of magnitude higher than those of a planar magnetron source at equivalent power levels. Large deposition rates allow for the coating of long lengths of wire

  11. Structure of AlN films deposited by magnetron sputtering method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nowakowska-Langier K.

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available AlN films on a Si substrate were synthesized by magnetron sputtering method. A dual magnetron system operating in AC mode was used in the experiment. Processes of synthesis were carried out in the atmosphere of a mixture of Ar/N2. Morphology and phase structure of the AlN films were investigated at different pressures. Structural characterizations were performed by means of SEM and X-ray diffraction methods. Our results show that the use of magnetron sputtering method in a dual magnetron sputtering system is an effective way to produce AlN layers which are characterized by a good adhesion to the silicon substrate. The morphology of the films is strongly dependent on the Ar/N2 gas mixture pressure. An increase of the mixture pressure is accompanied by a columnar growth of the layers. The films obtained at the pressure below 1 Pa are characterized by finer and compacter structure. The AlN films are characterized by a polycrystalline hexagonal (wurtzite structure in which the crystallographic orientation depends on the gas mixture pressure.

  12. Preparation of transparent conducting zinc oxide films by rf reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vasanelli, L.; Valentini, A.; Losacco, A.

    1986-01-01

    Transparent conducting zinc oxide films have been prepared by reactive sputtering in a Ar/H/sub 2/ mixture. The optical and electrical properties of the films are presented and discussed. The effects of some post-deposition thermal treatment have been also investigated. ZnO/CdTe heterojunctions have been prepared by sputtering ZnO films on CdTe single crystals. The photovoltaic conversion efficiencies of the obtained solar cells was 6.8%

  13. The effect of sputtering gas pressure on the structure and optical properties of MgNiO films grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xie, Wuze; Jiao, Shujie, E-mail: shujiejiao@gmail.com; Wang, Dongbo; Gao, Shiyong; Wang, Jinzhong; Yu, Qingjiang; Li, Hongtao

    2017-05-31

    Highlights: • MgNiO thin films were fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. • The structure and optical properties of MgNiO films were studied. • The mechanism of phase separation was discussed in detail. • The effect of different sputtering pressure also was discussed. - Abstract: In this study, MgNiO thin films were grown on quartz substrates by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The influence of different sputtering pressures on the crystalline and optical properties of MgNiO thin films has been studied. X-ray diffraction measurement indicates that the MgNiO films are cubic structure with (200) preferred orientation. UV–vis transmission spectra show that all the MgNiO thin films show more than 75% transmission at visible region, and the absorption edges of all thin films locate at solar-blind region (220 nm–280 nm). The lattice constant and Mg content of MgNiO samples were calculated using X-ray diffraction and transmission spectra data. The phase separation is observed both in the X-ray diffraction patterns and transmission spectra, and the phase separation is studied in detail based on the crystal growth theory and sputtering process.

  14. Low-dose effects in the sputtering of evaporated films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Florio, A.R.O.; Alonso, E.V.; Baragiola, R.A.; Ferron, J. (Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina). Centro Atomico Bariloche)

    1983-05-01

    We report measurements of the dose dependence of the sputtering of evaporated films by 30 keV ions under UHV. An initial (sub-monolayer) enhanced sputtering is attributed to the removal of weakly bound atoms; this enhancement does not depend on the incidence angle of the projectile.

  15. Tuning the optoelectronic properties of amorphous MoOx films by reactive sputtering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fernandes Cauduro, André Luis; Fabrim, Zacarias Eduardo; Ahmadpour, Mehrad

    2015-01-01

    In this letter, we report on the effect of oxygen partial pressure and sputtering power on amorphous DC-sputtered MoOx films. We observe abrupt changes in the optoelectronic properties of the reported films by increasing the oxygen partial pressure from 1.00 ? 10?3 mbar to 1.37 ? 10?3 mbar during...... significantly the microstructure of the studied films. The presence of states within the band gap due to the lack of oxygen is the most probable mechanism for generat- ing a change in electrical conductivity as well as optical absorption in DC-sputtered MoOx. The large tuning range of the optoelectronic...... properties in these films holds strong promise for their implementation in optoelectronic devices....

  16. Room temperature growth of nanocrystalline anatase TiO{sub 2} thin films by dc magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Preetam, E-mail: preetamphy@gmail.co [Functional Nanomaterials Research Lab, Department of Physics and Centre of Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667 (India); Kaur, Davinder [Functional Nanomaterials Research Lab, Department of Physics and Centre of Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667 (India)

    2010-03-01

    We report, the structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline anatase TiO{sub 2} thin films grown on glass substrate by dc magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The influence of sputtering power and pressure over crystallinity and surface morphology of the films were investigated. It was observed that increase in sputtering power activates the TiO{sub 2} film growth from relative lower surface free energy to higher surface free energy. XRD pattern revealed the change in preferred orientation from (1 0 1) to (0 0 4) with increase in sputtering power, which is accounted for different surface energy associated with different planes. Microstructure of the films also changes from cauliflower type to columnar type structures with increase in sputtering power. FESEM images of films grown at low pressure and low sputtering power showed typical cauliflower like structure. The optical measurement revealed the systematic variation of the optical constants with deposition parameters. The films are highly transparent with transmission higher than 90% with sharp ultraviolet cut off. The transmittance of these films was found to be influenced by the surface roughness and film thickness. The optical band gap was found to decrease with increase in the sputtering power and pressure. The refractive index of the films was found to vary in the range of 2.50-2.24 with increase in sputtering pressure or sputtering power, resulting in the possibility of producing TiO{sub 2} films for device applications with different refractive index, by changing the deposition parameters.

  17. Angular dependence of preferential sputtering and composition in aluminum--copper thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rudeck, P.J.; Harper, J.M.E.; Fryer, P.M.

    1989-01-01

    The copper concentration in aluminum--copper alloys can be altered by ion bombardment during film deposition. We have measured the sputtering yields of aluminum and copper in Al--Cu alloys as a function of the Cu concentration (5--13 at. %) and the angle of ion incidence (0--40 0 from normal). During deposition, the films were partially resputtered by 500-eV Ar + ion bombardment from a Kaufman ion source. We found that the Cu sputtering yield decreases by up to a factor of 10 in the alloy, relative to elemental Cu. The Al sputtering yield remains close to the elemental value. The net effect is a strong preferential sputtering of Al relative to Cu, which enhances the Cu concentration in an ion bombarded film. The Al/Cu sputtering yield ratio for normal incidence ion bombardment ranges from 3 to 5 as a function of Cu concentration. This ratio decreases with increasing angle of incidence to as low as 2 for 40 0 incident ions. However, since a higher fraction of the film is resputtered from a sloping surface, a higher Cu concentration is found on a sloping surface relative to a flat surface. These results show that in multicomponent film deposition under ion bombardment, the film composition will vary as a function of the surface topography. We will also show how the level of argon left trapped in the films varies inversely with respect to the ion flux

  18. Ordering process of sputtered FePt films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Y.K.; Ohnuma, M.; Hono, K.

    2003-01-01

    We have investigated the in situ ordering process of sputtered FePt thin films deposited on heated substrates at 300 deg. C with different thicknesses. The films thinner than 50 nm were composed of nanograins (∼5 nm) of disordered FePt phase. Recrystallization occurred when films were grown thicker than 100 nm, and transformation twins were observed in recrystallized grains, in which ordering to the L1 0 structure was confirmed

  19. Low-temperature sputtering of crystalline TiO2 films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Musil, J.; Herman, D.; Sicha, J.

    2006-01-01

    This article reports on the investigation of reactive magnetron sputtering of transparent, crystalline titanium dioxide films. The aim of this investigation is to determine a minimum substrate surface temperature T surf necessary to form crystalline TiO 2 films with anatase structure. Films were prepared by dc pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering using a dual magnetron operating in bipolar mode and equipped with Ti(99.5) and ceramic Ti 5 O 9 targets. The films were deposited on unheated glass substrates and their structure was characterized by x-ray diffraction and surface morphology by atomic force microscopy. Special attention is devoted to the measurement of T surf using thermostrips pasted to the glass substrate. It was found that (1) T surf is considerably higher (approximately by 100 deg. C or more) than the substrate temperature T s measured by the thermocouple incorporated into the substrate holder and (2) T surf strongly depends on the substrate-to-target distance d s-t , the magnetron target power loading, and the thermal conductivity of the target and its cooling. The main result of this study is the finding that (1) the crystallization of sputtered TiO 2 films depends not only on T surf but also on the total pressure p T of sputtering gas (Ar+O 2 ), partial pressure of oxygen p O 2 , the film deposition rate a D , and the film thickness h (2) crystalline TiO 2 films with well developed anatase structure can be formed at T surf =160 deg. C and low values of a D ≅5 nm/min (3) the crystalline structure of TiO 2 film gradually changes from (i) anatase through (ii) anatase+rutile mixture, and (iii) pure rutile to x-ray amorphous structure at T surf =160 deg. C and p T =0.75 Pa when p O 2 decreases and a D increases above 5 nm/min, and (4) crystallinity of the TiO 2 films decreases with decreasing h and T surf . Interrelationships between the structure of TiO 2 film, its roughness, T surf , and a D are discussed in detail. Trends of next development are

  20. Cathodic arc sputtering of functional titanium oxide thin films, demonstrating resistive switching

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shvets, Petr, E-mail: pshvets@innopark.kantiana.ru; Maksimova, Ksenia; Demin, Maxim; Dikaya, Olga; Goikhman, Alexander

    2017-05-15

    The formation of thin films of the different stable and metastable titanium oxide phases is demonstrated by cathode arc sputtering of a titanium target in an oxygen atmosphere. We also show that sputtering of titanium in vacuum yields the formation of titanium silicides on the silicon substrate. The crystal structure of the produced samples was investigated using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. We conclude that cathode arc sputtering is a flexible method suitable for producing the functional films for electronic applications. The functionality is verified by the memory effect demonstration, based on the resistive switching in the titanium oxide thin film structure.

  1. Low-dose effects in the sputtering of evaporated films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Florio, A.R.O.; Alonso, E.V.; Baragiola, R.A.; Ferron, J.

    1983-01-01

    We report measurements of the dose dependence of the sputtering of evaporated films by 30 keV ions under UHV. An initial (sub-monolayer) enhanced sputtering is attributed to the removal of weakly bound atoms; this enhancement does not depend on the incidence angle of the projectile. (author)

  2. Corrosion of thin, magnetron sputtered Nb_2O_5 films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pillis, Marina Fuser; Geribola, Guilherme Altomari; Scheidt, Guilherme; Gonçalves de Araújo, Edval; Lopes de Oliveira, Mara Cristina; Antunes, Renato Altobelli

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Niobium oxide based films were obtained by DC magnetron sputtering. • Different deposition times were tested. • The best corrosion resistance was obtained for the Nb_2O_5 film produced at 15′. • Film porosity determines the corrosion resistance. - Abstract: Niobium oxide based thin films were deposited on AISI 316 stainless steel substrates using reactive DC magnetron sputtering. Structure, composition and corrosion resistance of the niobium oxide films were studied. The corrosion behavior of the specimens was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization. The concentration of niobium and oxygen in the films was obtained by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The film structure was analyzed by X-ray diffractometry. The corrosion resistance of the substrate was improved by the Nb_2O_5 layers. The best protective performance was achieved for the deposition time of 15 min.

  3. Dielectric properties of DC reactive magnetron sputtered Al2O3 thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prasanna, S.; Mohan Rao, G.; Jayakumar, S.; Kannan, M.D.; Ganesan, V.

    2012-01-01

    Alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) thin films were sputter deposited over well-cleaned glass and Si substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering under various oxygen gas pressures and sputtering powers. The composition of the films was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and an optimal O/Al atomic ratio of 1.59 was obtained at a reactive gas pressure of 0.03 Pa and sputtering power of 70 W. X-ray diffraction results revealed that the films were amorphous until 550 °C. The surface morphology of the films was studied using scanning electron microscopy and the as-deposited films were found to be smooth. The topography of the as-deposited and annealed films was analyzed by atomic force microscopy and a progressive increase in the rms roughness of the films from 3.2 nm to 4.53 nm was also observed with increase in the annealing temperature. Al-Al 2 O 3 -Al thin film capacitors were then fabricated on glass substrates to study the effect of temperature and frequency on the dielectric property of the films. Temperature coefficient of capacitance, AC conductivity and activation energy were determined and the results are discussed. - Highlights: ► Al 2 O 3 thin films were deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. ► The films were found to be amorphous up to annealing temperature of 550 C. ► An increase in rms roughness of the films was observed with annealing. ► Al-Al 2 O 3 -Al thin film capacitors were fabricated and dielectric constant was 7.5. ► The activation energy decreased with increase in frequency.

  4. Slow recombination centers in cadmium selenide monocrystalline films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smyntyna, V.A.

    1983-01-01

    As a result of annealing when concentration of selenium Vacancies decreases due to their diffusion towards the surface, show recombination K-centers begin to influence the photoelectric properties of monocrystalline cadmium selenide layers. Energy levels of K-centers are located by 0.23-0.25 eV over the valent zone ceiling. The nature of K-centers is determined by the presence in the cadmium selenide layer structure of intrisic defects-cadmium vacancies in contrast to r-centers of slow recombination which are bound with impurities in a semiconductor material

  5. On the phase formation of sputtered hafnium oxide and oxynitride films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarakinos, K.; Music, D.; Mraz, S.; Baben, M. to; Jiang, K.; Nahif, F.; Braun, A.; Zilkens, C.; Schneider, J. M.; Konstantinidis, S.; Renaux, F.; Cossement, D.; Munnik, F.

    2010-01-01

    Hafnium oxynitride films are deposited from a Hf target employing direct current magnetron sputtering in an Ar-O 2 -N 2 atmosphere. It is shown that the presence of N 2 allows for the stabilization of the transition zone between the metallic and the compound sputtering mode enabling deposition of films at well defined conditions of target coverage by varying the O 2 partial pressure. Plasma analysis reveals that this experimental strategy facilitates control over the flux of the O - ions which are generated on the oxidized target surface and accelerated by the negative target potential toward the growing film. An arrangement that enables film growth without O - ion bombardment is also implemented. Moreover, stabilization of the transition sputtering zone and control of the O - ion flux without N 2 addition is achieved employing high power pulsed magnetron sputtering. Structural characterization of the deposited films unambiguously proves that the phase formation of hafnium oxide and hafnium oxynitride films with the crystal structure of HfO 2 is independent from the O - bombardment conditions. Experimental and theoretical data indicate that the presence of vacancies and/or the substitution of O by N atoms in the nonmetal sublattice favor the formation of the cubic and/or the tetragonal HfO 2 crystal structure at the expense of the monoclinic HfO 2 one.

  6. Low resistivity of Ni–Al co-doped ZnO thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering at low sputtering power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, JongWoo [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, San 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of); Hui, K.N. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Hui, K.S., E-mail: kshui@hanyang.ac.kr [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791 (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Y.R., E-mail: yescho@pusan.ac.kr [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pusan National University, San 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of); Chun, Ho-Hwan [Global Core Research Center for Ships and Offshore Plants (GCRC-SOP), Pusan National University, San 30 Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735 (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-02-28

    Ni–Al co-doped ZnO (NiAl:ZnO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering in Ar using a single ceramic, spark-plasma-sintered target with 2 wt% Al and 5 wt% Ni. The effects of the sputtering power and gas pressure on the NiAl:ZnO films were studied. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Hall effect measurements and UV–vis transmission spectroscopy. As the sputtering power and gas pressure increased, the crystallinity, electrical properties and optical band gap of the films were improved. The NiAl:ZnO film deposited at 40 W at 6.0 mTorr had the strongest (0 0 2) XRD peak and the lowest resistivity of approximately 2.19 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm with an optical transmittance of 90%.

  7. Measurement of the extinction of sputtered TiO/sub 2/ films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Welsch, E; Lieder, G; Walther, H G; Hacker, E

    1982-05-28

    In this paper a method for separate measurement of the extinction of optical thin films is presented. The method combines a laser calorimetric technique and a light-scattering goniophotometer. As an example, the spectral extinction properties of r.f. reactively sputtered TiO/sub 2/ films were measured. Under certain conditions absorption indices of 10/sup -5/ or less can be achieved. Thus light scattering, rather than absorption, is the dominant optical loss mechanism in sputtered TiO/sub 2/ films.

  8. Optoelectronic and low temperature thermoelectric studies on nanostructured thin films of silver gallium selenide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacob, Rajani; Philip, Rachel Reena; Nazer, Sheeba; Abraham, Anitha; Nair, Sinitha B.; Pradeep, B.; Urmila, K. S.; Okram, G. S.

    2014-01-01

    Polycrystalline thin films of silver gallium selenide were deposited on ultrasonically cleaned soda lime glass substrates by multi-source vacuum co-evaporation technique. The structural analysis done by X-ray diffraction ascertained the formation of nano structured tetragonal chalcopyrite thin films. The compound formation was confirmed by X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy. Atomic force microscopic technique has been used for surface morphological analysis. Direct allowed band gap ˜1.78eV with high absorption coefficient ˜106/m was estimated from absorbance spectra. Low temperature thermoelectric effects has been investigated in the temperature range 80-330K which manifested an unusual increase in Seebeck coefficient with negligible phonon drag toward the very low and room temperature regime. The electrical resistivity of these n-type films was assessed to be ˜2.6Ωm and the films showed good photo response.

  9. Heat treatable indium tin oxide films deposited with high power pulse magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horstmann, F.; Sittinger, V.; Szyszka, B.

    2009-01-01

    In this study, indium tin oxide (ITO) films were prepared by high power pulse magnetron sputtering [D. J. Christie, F. Tomasel, W. D. Sproul, D. C. Carter, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 22 (2004) 1415. ] without substrate heating. The ITO films were deposited from a ceramic target at a deposition rate of approx. 5.5 nm*m/min kW. Afterwards, the ITO films were covered with a siliconoxynitride film sputtered from a silicon alloy target in order to prevent oxidation of the ITO film during annealing at 650 deg. C for 10 min in air. The optical and electrical properties as well as the texture and morphology of these films were investigated before and after annealing. Mechanical durability of the annealed films was evaluated at different test conditions. The results were compared with state-of-the art ITO films which were obtained at optimized direct current magnetron sputtering conditions

  10. Sputter deposition of tantalum-nitride films on copper using an rf-plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walter, K.C.; Fetherston, R.P.; Sridharan, K.; Chen, A.; Shamim, M.M.; Conrad, J.R.

    1994-01-01

    A tantalum-nitride film was successfully deposited at ambient temperature on copper with a modified ion-assisted-deposition (IAD) technique. The process uses an argon and nitrogen plasma to sputter deposit from a tantalum rf-cathode and ion implant the deposited film simultaneously. Both argon and nitrogen ions are used for sputtering and ion implantation. Auger spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction were used to characterize the resulting film

  11. Laser micromachining of sputtered DLC films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu, Y.Q.; Luo, J.K.; Flewitt, A.J.; Ong, S.E.; Zhang, S.; Milne, W.I.

    2006-01-01

    DLC films with different thicknesses (from 100 nm to 1.9 μm) were deposited using sputtering of graphite target in pure argon atmosphere without substrate heating. Film microstructures (sp 2 /sp 3 ratio) and mechanical properties (modulus, hardness, stress) were characterized as a function of film thickness. A thin layer of aluminum about 60 nm was deposited on the DLC film surface. Laser micromachining of Al/DLC layer was performed to form microcantilever structures, which were released using a reactive ion etching system with SF 6 plasma. Due to the intrinsic stress in DLC films and bimorph Al/DLC structure, the microcantilevers bent up with different curvatures. For DLC film of 100 nm thick, the cantilever even formed microtubes. The relationship between the bimorph beam bending and DLC film properties (such as stress, modulus, etc.) were discussed in details

  12. Thickness characteristics of YBaCuO system thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furuhashi, Hideo; Jinno, Makoto; Takashima, Osamu; Uchida, Yoshiyuki; Maeda, Akinori; Kojima, Kenzo; Ochiai, Shizuyasu; Ohashi, Asao

    1994-01-01

    The practical use of oxide high temperature superconductors for electronics field has been advanced. The oxide high temperature superconductor thin films is very sensitive to the production conditions, and their making with good reproducibility is difficult. In this study, the method of producing the thin films having good quality with good reproducibility by RF magnetron sputtering, and the relation of the film thickness with the superconductivity characteristics of YBaCuO system thin films in the different methods of substrate washing were examined. The sputtering conditions are shown. For the purpose of preventing the worsening of the film quality due to the reverse sputtering of oxygen negative ions to the thin film surface, sputtering gas pressure was set up high at 30 Pa. The film thickness and the temperature-resistance characteristics were measured. The experimental method and the experimental results are reported. By keeping the temperature on substrate surfaces constant, the reproducibility in the production of the thin films was improved remarkably. The effect of substrate washing was large. (K.I.)

  13. Controlled formation of anatase and rutile TiO2 thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    OpenAIRE

    Rafieian, Damon; Ogieglo, Wojciech; Savenije, T.J.; Lammertink, Rob G H

    2015-01-01

    We discuss the formation of TiO2 thin films via DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The oxygen concentration during sputtering proved to be a crucial parameter with respect to the final film structure and properties. The initial deposition provided amorphous films that crystallise upon annealing to anatase or rutile, depending on the initial sputtering conditions. Substoichiometric films (TiOx), obtained by sputtering at relatively low oxygen concentration, formed rutile upon annealing in air, ...

  14. Sputtering of Thick Deuterium Films by KeV Electrons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thestrup Nielsen, Birgitte; Svendsen, Winnie Edith; Schou, Jørgen

    1994-01-01

    Sputtering of thick films of solid deuterium up to several μm by keV electrons is reported for the first time. The sputtering yield increases within a narrow range of thicknesses around 1.6 μm by about 2 orders of magnitude for 1.5 keV electrons. A similar behavior has not been observed for ion...

  15. Controlled formation of anatase and rutile TiO2 thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damon Rafieian

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available We discuss the formation of TiO2 thin films via DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The oxygen concentration during sputtering proved to be a crucial parameter with respect to the final film structure and properties. The initial deposition provided amorphous films that crystallise upon annealing to anatase or rutile, depending on the initial sputtering conditions. Substoichiometric films (TiOx<2, obtained by sputtering at relatively low oxygen concentration, formed rutile upon annealing in air, whereas stoichiometric films formed anatase. This route therefore presents a formation route for rutile films via lower (<500 °C temperature pathways. The dynamics of the annealing process were followed by in situ ellipsometry, showing the optical properties transformation. The final crystal structures were identified by XRD. The anatase film obtained by this deposition method displayed high carriers mobility as measured by time-resolved microwave conductance. This also confirms the high photocatalytic activity of the anatase films.

  16. RF sputtered HgCdTe films for tandem cell applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, S.L.; Lee, S.H.; Gupta, A.; Compaan, A.D.

    2004-01-01

    Polycrystalline Hg 1-x Cd x Te films were investigated for their potential as bottom cells of a CdTe-based tandem solar cell. The films were deposited by RF sputtering from a cold pressed target containing 30% HgTe+70% CdTe. The as-deposited films were highly resistive with (111) preferred orientation and a bandgap of ∝1.0 eV. Various thermal treatment schemes were investigated under different conditions of ambient and temperature to reduce the resistivity. The film properties were analyzed using infrared transmission spectra, energy dispersive X-ray spectra and X-ray diffraction. N doped p-HgCdTe films were also prepared by reactive sputtering in a N 2 /Ar ambient. P-n junction solar cells were fabricated with CdS films as the heterojunction partner. (copyright 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  17. Characteristics of Bilayer Molybdenum Films Deposited Using RF Sputtering for Back Contact of Thin Film Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sea-Fue Wang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Mo films prepared under a single deposition condition seldom simultaneously obtain a low resistivity and a good adhesion necessary for use in solar cells. In order to surmount the obstacle, bilayer Mo films using DC sputtering at a higher working pressure and a lower working pressure have been attempted as reported in the literature. In this study, RF sputtering with different powers in conjunction with different working pressures was explored to prepare bilayer Mo film. The first bottom layer was grown at a RF sputtering power of 30 W and a working pressure of 12 mTorr, and the second top layer was deposited at 100 W and 4.5 mTorr. The films revealed a columnar growth with a preferred orientation along the (110 plane. The bilayer Mo films reported an electrical resistivity of 6.35 × 10−5 Ω-cm and passed the Scotch tape test for adhesion to the soda-lime glass substrate, thereby qualifying the bilayer Mo films for use as back metal contacts for CIGS substrates.

  18. Optoelectronic and low temperature thermoelectric studies on nanostructured thin films of silver gallium selenide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacob, Rajani; Philip, Rachel Reena; Nazer, Sheeba; Abraham, Anitha; Nair, Sinitha B.; Pradeep, B.; Urmila, K. S.; Okram, G. S.

    2014-01-01

    Polycrystalline thin films of silver gallium selenide were deposited on ultrasonically cleaned soda lime glass substrates by multi-source vacuum co-evaporation technique. The structural analysis done by X-ray diffraction ascertained the formation of nano structured tetragonal chalcopyrite thin films. The compound formation was confirmed by X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy. Atomic force microscopic technique has been used for surface morphological analysis. Direct allowed band gap ∼1.78eV with high absorption coefficient ∼10 6 /m was estimated from absorbance spectra. Low temperature thermoelectric effects has been investigated in the temperature range 80–330K which manifested an unusual increase in Seebeck coefficient with negligible phonon drag toward the very low and room temperature regime. The electrical resistivity of these n-type films was assessed to be ∼2.6Ωm and the films showed good photo response

  19. Methods of making copper selenium precursor compositions with a targeted copper selenide content and precursor compositions and thin films resulting therefrom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Calvin J [Lakewood, CO; Miedaner, Alexander [Boulder, CO; van Hest, Marinus Franciscus Antonius Maria; Ginley, David S [Evergreen, CO; Leisch, Jennifer [Denver, CO; Taylor, Matthew [West Simsbury, CT; Stanbery, Billy J [Austin, TX

    2011-09-20

    Precursor compositions containing copper and selenium suitable for deposition on a substrate to form thin films suitable for semi-conductor applications. Methods of forming the precursor compositions using primary amine solvents and methods of forming the thin films wherein the selection of temperature and duration of heating controls the formation of a targeted species of copper selenide.

  20. Swift heavy ion induced modifications in optical and electrical properties of cadmium selenide thin films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choudhary, Ritika; Chauhan, Rishi Pal

    2017-07-01

    The modification in various properties of thin films using high energetic ion beam is an exciting area of basic and applied research in semiconductors. In the present investigations, cadmium selenide (CdSe) thin films were deposited on ITO substrate using electrodeposition technique. To study the swift heavy ion (SHI) induced effects, the deposited thin films were irradiated with 120 MeV heavy Ag9+ ions using pelletron accelerator facility at IUAC, New Delhi, India. Structural phase transformation in CdSe thin film from metastable cubic phase to stable hexagonal phase was observed after irradiation leading to decrease in the band gap from 2.47 eV to 2.12 eV. The phase transformation was analyzed through X-ray diffraction patterns. During SHI irradiation, Generation of high temperature and pressure by thermal spike along the trajectory of incident ions in the thin films might be responsible for modification in the properties of thin films.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

  1. Sputtered molybdenum thin films and the application in CIGS solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, D.; Zhu, H., E-mail: hongbing1982@hotmail.com; Liang, X.; Zhang, C.; Li, Z.; Xu, Y.; Chen, J.; Zhang, L.; Mai, Y., E-mail: yaohuamai@hbu.edu.cn

    2016-01-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Mo thin films are prepared by magnetron sputtering. • The dynamic deposition rate increases with the increasing discharge power. • The surface structure of Mo films varies with discharge power and working pressure. • High efficiency CIGS thin film solar cell of 15.2% has been obtained. - Abstract: Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are prepared by magnetron sputtering with different discharge powers and working pressures for the application in Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS) thin film solar cells as back electrodes. Properties of these Mo thin films are systematically investigated. It is found that the dynamic deposition rate increases with the increasing discharge power while decreases with the increasing working pressure. The highest dynamic deposition rate of 15.1 nm m/min is achieved for the Mo thin film deposited at the discharge power of 1200 W and at the working pressure of 0.15 Pa. The achieved lowest resistivity of 3.7 × 10{sup −5} Ω cm is attributed to the large grains in the compact thin film. The discharge power and working pressure have great influence on the sputtered Mo thin films. High efficiency of 12.5% was achieved for the Cu(In, Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS) thin film solar cells with Mo electrodes prepared at 1200 W and low working pressures. By further optimizing material and device properties, the conversion efficiency has reached to 15.2%.

  2. Ga-doped ZnO films deposited with varying sputtering powers and substrate temperatures by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering and their property improvement potentials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sanghun; Cheon, Dongkeun; Kim, Won-Jeong; Ham, Moon-Ho; Lee, Woong

    2012-01-01

    Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films were deposited on glass substrates by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering with varying sputtering power and substrate temperature while fixing the Ga concentration in the sputtering target. The application of higher sputtering power by pulsed DC magnetrons sputtering at a moderate temperature of 423 K results in increased carrier concentration and mobility which accompanied improved doping efficiency and crystalline quality. Substrate temperature was found to be the more dominant parameter in controlling the electrical properties and crystallinity, while the sputtering power played synergistic auxiliary roles. Electrical and optical properties of the GZO TCO films fulfilled requirements for transparent electrodes, despite relatively low substrate temperature (423 K) and small thickness (100 nm). In an attempt to improve the electrical properties of the GZO films by hydrogen-treatment, it was observed that the substitutional Ga plays the complex role of carrier generator as donor and carrier suppressor deactivating the oxygen vacancy simultaneously, which would complicate the property improvement by increasing doping efficiency.

  3. Preparation and Characterization of FC Films Coated on PET Substrates by RF Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huang Mei-lin

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Fluorocarbon (FC films were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate (PET plates and PET fabrics respectively by a radiofrequency (RF magnetron sputtering technique using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE as a target. Scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to investigate the morphology, structure and composition of the obtained FC films. The hydrophobicity and uvioresistant properties of the FC film coated fabric were studied. The results show that the FC films were successfully deposited on the PET substrates by a RF magnetron sputtering. The deposited films are made up of four components -CF3, -CF2-, CF- and -C-. The proportions of the four components and surface morphologies of the deposited films vary with the sputtering conditions. Compared with the original fabric samples, the hydrophobicity of the FC film coated fabrics is quite good and improved significantly.

  4. Inhomogeneous strain states in sputter deposited tungsten thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noyan, I.C.; Shaw, T.M.; Goldsmith, C.C.

    1997-01-01

    The results of an x-ray diffraction study of dc-magnetron sputtered tungsten thin films are reported. It is shown that the phase transformation from the β to α W can cause multilayered single-phase films where the layers have very different stress states even if the films are in the 500 nm thickness range. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

  5. Influence of the Preparation Method, DC and RF Sputtering, on theProperties of Thin Film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tri-Mardji-Atmono; Widdi-Usada; Agus-Purwadi; Yunanto; Edi-Suharyadi

    2000-01-01

    The research on the influence of preparation method DC- and RF Sputteringon the properties of Fe-thin films has been done. The measurement with EDAXshows. that the Fe-content of RF-sputtered film increased with the increasingof self-bias voltage in the range of 850 - 1000 V. The observation ofmicrostructure using SEM shows a more homogeneity of thin film and smallergrain size with the increasing of the self-bias voltage. On the other hand,thin films with inhomogeneity of the structure were produced by DC-Sputteringprocess, indicated by the non continuity and the spread of theglow-discharge. Based on the investigation with X-ray diffraction, thin filmprepared by RF-Sputtering was amorphous, while the film produced by theDC-Sputtering is known as crystal structure. Preparation using DC-voltageshows continual sputtering-process at the voltage of 3000 V betweenelectrode. (author)

  6. Stress evolution during and after sputter deposition of thin Cu Al alloy films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pletea, M.; Wendrock, H.; Kaltofen, R.; Schmidt, O. G.; Koch, R.

    2008-06-01

    The stress evolution during and after sputter deposition of thin Cu-Al alloy films containing 1 and 2 at.% Al onto oxidized Si(100) substrates has been studied up to thicknesses of 300 nm by means of in situ substrate curvature measurements. In order to correlate stress and morphology, the microstructure was investigated by focused ion beam microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The evolution of the stress and microstructure of the Cu-Al alloy films is similar to that for sputtered pure Cu films. Film growth proceeds in the Volmer-Weber mode, typical for high mobility metals. It is characterized by nucleation, island, percolation, and channel stages before the films become continuous, as well as lateral grain growth in the compact films. With increasing Al content the overall atom mobility and, thus, the average grain size of the alloy films are reduced. Increase of the sputter pressure from 0.5 to 2 Pa leads to films with larger grain size, rougher surface morphology and higher electrical resistivity.

  7. CO2 gas sensitivity of sputtered zinc oxide thin films

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    TECS

    Gas sensitivity; ZnO; sputtering; XRD patterns; structure; thin films. 1. Introduction. Because zinc ... voltage and absorption properties of those fabricated films have been ... tations are useful in many physical applications. The in- plane (Hegde ...

  8. Controlled formation of anatase and rutile TiO2 thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rafieian Boroujeni, Damon; Ogieglo, Wojciech; Savenije, Tom; Lammertink, Rob G.H.

    2015-01-01

    We discuss the formation of TiO2 thin films via DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The oxygen concentration during sputtering proved to be a crucial parameter with respect to the final film structure and properties. The initial deposition provided amorphous films that crystallise upon annealing to

  9. Effect of deposition conditions on mechanical stresses and microstructure of sputter-deposited molybdenum and reactively sputter-deposited molybdenum nitride films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Y.G.

    2003-01-01

    A combined investigation of mechanical stress generation by in situ substrate curvature measurements during the growth of MoN x thin films, with 0≤x≤0.35, and of structural properties by ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), transmission electron diffraction (TED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) is reported. It was found that the Mo film stresses strongly depended on the Ar sputtering pressure and changed from highly compressive to highly tensile in a relatively narrow pressure range of 6-12 mTorr. For pressures exceeding ∼40 mTorr, the stress in the film was nearly zero. Cross-sectional TEM measurements indicated that the compressively stressed films contained a dense microstructure without any columns, while the films having tensile stress had a very columnar microstructure. High sputtering-gas pressure conditions yielded dendritic-like film growth, resulting in complete relaxation of the mechanical tensile stresses. It was also found that the properties of the deposited MoN x films depended not only on the nitrogen partial pressure in Ar-N 2 gas mixtures but also on the total sputtering-gas pressure. Cross-sectional TEM studies showed that an average column width for 160 nm-thick films near stoichiometry of Mo 2 N was about ∼15-20 nm. Using the electron scattering data collected from a range of crystalline samples for calculating the pair distribution function (PDF) by Fourier transformation in real space, Mo-N and Mo-Mo bonding in the films was also identified. Once the Mo 2 N phase was formed, the density, microstructure and bonding feature were similar and insensitive to the total sputtering pressure used in this study

  10. Effect of residual gas on structural, electrical and mechanical properties of niobium films deposited by magnetron sputtering deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lanruo; Zhong, Yuan; Li, Jinjin; Cao, Wenhui; Zhong, Qing; Wang, Xueshen; Li, Xu

    2018-04-01

    Magnetron sputtering is an important method in the superconducting thin films deposition. The residual gas inside the vacuum chamber will directly affect the quality of the superconducting films. In this paper, niobium films are deposited by magnetron sputtering under different chamber residual gas conditions. The influence of baking and sputtering process on residual gas are studied as well. Surface morphology, electrical and mechanical properties of the films are analysed. The residual gas analysis result before the sputtering process could be regarded as a reference condition to achieve high quality superconducting thin films.

  11. Electrical properties of indium-tin oxide films deposited on nonheated substrates using a planar-magnetron sputtering system and a facing-targets sputtering system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iwase, Hideo; Hoshi, Youichi; Kameyama, Makoto

    2006-01-01

    Distribution of the electrical properties of indium-tin oxide (ITO) film prepared by both a planar-magnetron sputtering system (PMSS) and a facing-targets sputtering system (FTSS) at room temperature were investigated. It was found that the outstanding non-uniformities of the electrical properties in noncrystalline ITO films are mainly due to the variation of the oxygen stoichiometry dependent on film positions on substrate surfaces. Furthermore, ITO film with uniform distribution of electrical properties was obtainable using FTSS

  12. Structural and electrical properties of CuAlMo thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Birkett, Martin, E-mail: martin.birkett@northumbria.ac.uk; Penlington, Roger; Wan, Chaoying; Zoppi, Guillaume

    2013-07-01

    The structural and electrical properties of a low resistivity CuAlMo thin film resistor material were investigated. The thin films were grown on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and glass substrates by direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering. The key electrical properties of sheet resistance, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and resistance stability were investigated as a function of sputtering pressure and post-deposition heat treatment time and temperature. A low sputtering pressure range of 0.13 to 0.40 Pa produced CuAlMo films with sheet resistance in the range 0.1 to 0.2 Ω/□ and resistance stability of 0.45 to 0.65% with a TCR of − 90 ppm/°C which could be shifted to zero following annealing in air at 425 °C. Films grown at higher sputtering pressures of 0.53 to 0.80 Pa had increased sheet resistance in the range 0.4 to 0.6 Ω/□ and inferior stability of 0.8 to 1.7% with a more negative TCR of − 110 to − 180 ppm/°C which could not be shifted to zero following annealing. The stability of the films grown at 0.13 and 0.40 Pa could be further improved to < 0.25% with heat treatment, due to the formation of a protective aluminium oxide layer. A minimum dwell time of 3 h at 425 °C was required to stabilise the films and set the electrical properties. - Highlights: • Thin films of copper–aluminium–molybdenum were sputtered on alumina substrates. • Film properties were investigated with variation in process conditions. • Low sputtering pressure gave improved electrical performance. • Post deposition annealing in air further improved electrical performance.

  13. Structural and electrical properties of CuAlMo thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birkett, Martin; Penlington, Roger; Wan, Chaoying; Zoppi, Guillaume

    2013-01-01

    The structural and electrical properties of a low resistivity CuAlMo thin film resistor material were investigated. The thin films were grown on Al 2 O 3 and glass substrates by direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering. The key electrical properties of sheet resistance, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and resistance stability were investigated as a function of sputtering pressure and post-deposition heat treatment time and temperature. A low sputtering pressure range of 0.13 to 0.40 Pa produced CuAlMo films with sheet resistance in the range 0.1 to 0.2 Ω/□ and resistance stability of 0.45 to 0.65% with a TCR of − 90 ppm/°C which could be shifted to zero following annealing in air at 425 °C. Films grown at higher sputtering pressures of 0.53 to 0.80 Pa had increased sheet resistance in the range 0.4 to 0.6 Ω/□ and inferior stability of 0.8 to 1.7% with a more negative TCR of − 110 to − 180 ppm/°C which could not be shifted to zero following annealing. The stability of the films grown at 0.13 and 0.40 Pa could be further improved to < 0.25% with heat treatment, due to the formation of a protective aluminium oxide layer. A minimum dwell time of 3 h at 425 °C was required to stabilise the films and set the electrical properties. - Highlights: • Thin films of copper–aluminium–molybdenum were sputtered on alumina substrates. • Film properties were investigated with variation in process conditions. • Low sputtering pressure gave improved electrical performance. • Post deposition annealing in air further improved electrical performance

  14. Magnetic properties of permalloy films with different thicknesses deposited onto obliquely sputtered Cu underlayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Xiaoyu; Sun, Xiaojun; Wang, Jianbo; Liu, Qingfang

    2015-01-01

    In this work, the influence of obliquely sputtered Cu underlayer of 10 nm on the magnetic properties of normally sputtered Permalloy thin films with different thicknesses from 10 nm to 150 nm has been investigated. It has been found that the samples with the Permalloy layer thickness ranging from 10 nm to 70 nm exhibit a good in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, and the increase of the film thickness leads to a decrease of the anisotropy field and the natural resonance frequency. The critical Permalloy layer thickness for stripe domain initiation of these films is about 80 nm, which is thinner than that of obliquely sputtered Permalloy thin films without an underlayer. The characteristic shapes of hysteresis loops which can be called ''transcritical'' are observed above the critical thickness. The condition and mechanism of appearing stripe domain structure were discussed and it has been found that the frequency response of permeability of the anisotropic films shows the characteristics of multi-peak resonance. - Highlights: • Py films were fabricated on obliquely sputtered Cu underlayers by RF magnetron sputtering. • Effects of Py layer thickness on anisotropy, ferromagnetic resonance frequency have been studied. • Samples with Py layer (<70 nm) show a good in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. • Samples with Py layer (>80 nm) show stripe domains and multi-peaks in permeability spectra

  15. Preparation of boron-nitrogen films by sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klose, S.; Winde, B.

    1980-01-01

    Hard boron-nitrogen films adherent to various substrates can be prepared by sputtering. IR investigations suggest the existence of cubic boron nitride in certain layers. Transmission electron microscope studies have shown a quasi-amorphous structure irregularly incorporating crystallites of zinc blende structure of some nm in diameter

  16. Characteristics of ZnO/diamond thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

    CERN Document Server

    Park, Y W; Lee, J G; Baik, Y J; Kim, H J; Jung, H J; Choi, W K; Cho, B H; Park, C Y

    1999-01-01

    Due to its high Young's modulus, diamond has the highest acoustic wave velocity among all materials and is expected to be a candidate substrate for high-frequency surface acoustic wave(SAW) devices. In this study, the deposition of ZnO, as a piezoelectric layer, on a diamond substrate is investigated. ZnO has been fabricated by using RF magnetron sputtering with a ZnO target and various Ar/O sub 2 gas ratios, RF powers, and substrate temperatures at a vacuum of 10 sup - sup 5 Torr. The sputtered ZnO films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and I-V characteristics. All the films show only a (002) orientation. The atomic concentration of the sputtered ZnO films is changed by the oxygen gas ratio, and the ZnO films are grown with a homogeneous composition over their entire thickness. The electrical resistivity of the films varied from 4x10 sup 3 to 7x10 sup 8 OMEGA cm, depending on the Ar/O sub 2 gas ratio. The phase...

  17. Decorative black TiCxOy film fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering without importing oxygen reactive gas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ono, Katsushi; Wakabayashi, Masao; Tsukakoshi, Yukio; Abe, Yoshiyuki

    2016-02-01

    Decorative black TiCxOy films were fabricated by dc (direct current) magnetron sputtering without importing the oxygen reactive gas into the sputtering chamber. Using a ceramic target of titanium oxycarbide (TiC1.59O0.31), the oxygen content in the films could be easily controlled by adjustment of total sputtering gas pressure without remarkable change of the carbon content. The films deposited at 2.0 and 4.0 Pa, those are higher pressure when compared with that in conventional magnetron sputtering, showed an attractive black color. In particular, the film at 4.0 Pa had the composition of TiC1.03O1.10, exhibited the L* of 41.5, a* of 0.2 and b* of 0.6 in CIELAB color space. These values were smaller than those in the TiC0.29O1.38 films (L* of 45.8, a* of 1.2 and b* of 1.2) fabricated by conventional reactive sputtering method from the same target under the conditions of gas pressure of 0.3 Pa and optimized oxygen reactive gas concentration of 2.5 vol.% in sputtering gas. Analysis of XRD and XPS revealed that the black film deposited at 4.0 Pa was the amorphous film composed of TiC, TiO and C. The adhesion property and the heat resisting property were enough for decorative uses. This sputtering process has an industrial advantage that the decorative black coating with color uniformity in large area can be easily obtained by plain operation because of unnecessary of the oxygen reactive gas importing which is difficult to be controlled uniformly in the sputtering chamber.

  18. Surface roughness of sputtered ZnO films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Y S [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Dong Hwa University, 1, Sec. 2, Da Hsueh Rd. Shou-Feng, Hualien, Taiwan (China); Hsu, K C [Department of Photonics and Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao-Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan (China); Huang, Y M [Institute of Electronics Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Technology, 1 Nan-Tai Street, Taiwan (China)

    2006-09-01

    ZnO films are grown on Si and glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The crystalline structures are investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Moreover, the roughness characteristics of the films are examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). All films exhibit strong (002) preferential orientation. The influence of the RF power and target-to-substrate distance (D{sub ts}) on the properties of ZnO is studied. Under the optimized conditions of the RF power and D{sub ts}, root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughnesses of <0.8 nm are achieved.

  19. Surface roughness of sputtered ZnO films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Y S; Hsu, K C; Huang, Y M

    2006-01-01

    ZnO films are grown on Si and glass substrates by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The crystalline structures are investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Moreover, the roughness characteristics of the films are examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). All films exhibit strong (002) preferential orientation. The influence of the RF power and target-to-substrate distance (D ts ) on the properties of ZnO is studied. Under the optimized conditions of the RF power and D ts , root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughnesses of <0.8 nm are achieved

  20. Thermal conductivity of sputtered amorphous Ge films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhan, Tianzhuo; Xu, Yibin; Goto, Masahiro; Tanaka, Yoshihisa; Kato, Ryozo; Sasaki, Michiko; Kagawa, Yutaka

    2014-01-01

    We measured the thermal conductivity of amorphous Ge films prepared by magnetron sputtering. The thermal conductivity was significantly higher than the value predicted by the minimum thermal conductivity model and increased with deposition temperature. We found that variations in sound velocity and Ge film density were not the main factors in the high thermal conductivity. Fast Fourier transform patterns of transmission electron micrographs revealed that short-range order in the Ge films was responsible for their high thermal conductivity. The results provide experimental evidences to understand the underlying nature of the variation of phonon mean free path in amorphous solids

  1. Plasma properties during magnetron sputtering of lithium phosphorous oxynitride thin films

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Ane Sælland; Stamate, Eugen; Thydén, Karl Tor Sune

    2015-01-01

    The nitrogen dissociation and plasma parameters during radio frequency sputtering of lithium phosphorus oxynitride thin films in nitrogen gas are investigated by mass appearance spectrometry, electrostatic probes and optical emission spectroscopy, and the results are correlated with electrochemical...... properties and microstructure of the films. Low pressure and moderate power are associated with lower plasma density, higher electron temperature, higher plasma potential and larger diffusion length for sputtered particles. This combination of parameters favors the presence of more atomic nitrogen, a fact...

  2. Some magnetic and magnetoresistive properties of RF-sputtered thin NiFe-Si films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vatskicheva, M.; Vatskichev, Ly.; Dimitrov, I.; Kunev, B.

    The galvanomagnetic properties and some structural peculiarities of rf-sputtered alloy films (NI80Fe20)100-xSix at 0 < x < 30 at. % were studied and compared with the corresponding properties of evaporated films of the same thickness and composition. The content of silicon increased with the increasing of the velocity of deposition and led to the amorphousation of the films. Coercivity decreased with the velocity of growth but it did not depend on the thickness and on the velocity of film deposition. The magnetoresistance ratio Dr/r of the sputtered films was about three times higher then that of the evaporated films.

  3. Magnetostrictive thin films prepared by RF sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carabias, I.; Martinez, A.; Garcia, M.A.; Pina, E.; Gonzalez, J.M.; Hernando, A.; Crespo, P.

    2005-01-01

    Fe 80 B 20 thin films have been prepared by ion beam sputtering magnetron on room temperature. The films were fabricated on different substrates to compare the different magnetic and structural properties. In particular the growth of films on flexible substrates (PDMS, Kapton) has been studied to allow a simple integration of the system in miniaturized magnetostrictive devices. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that films are mainly amorphous although the presence of some Fe nanoparticles cannot be ruled out. The coercive field of thin films ranges between 15 and 35 Oe, depending on substrate. Magnetostriction measurements indicate the strong dependence of the saturation magnetostriction with the substrate. Samples on flexible substrates exhibit a better performance than samples deposited onto glass substrates

  4. Structural and morphological evolution in magnetron co-sputtered (Zn, Cr)O films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Y M; Chiou, J W; Han, T C; Chen, Y T; Hsu, C W; Chen, G J; Chou, W Y; Chang, J; Hsu, J Y; Yu, Y C

    2008-01-01

    In this study, x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, x-ray absorption near-edge structure and particle-induced x-ray emission are used to characterize the microstructure of (Zn, Cr)O films prepared using a co-sputtering method. We found that the Cr ions did not substitute for the Zn sites but instead formed Cr nano-particles and secondary oxide phases (SOPs) of Cr 2 O 3 and/or ZnCr 2 O 4 in co-sputtered Zn 1-x Cr x O films with Cr content x ≥ 0.1. Evidence is presented for the evolution of SOPs formed in (Zn, Cr)O films with increasing Cr sputtering power. Based on the inspection of the Cr and Zn contents in (Zn, Cr)O films, we conclude that the formation of the Cr 2 O 3 phase is driven by a substantial increase in the atomic ratio of Cr/Zn, followed by the formation of a ZnCr 2 O 4 phase promoted by a higher content of Cr than of Zn in film with increasing Cr sputtering power. It seems that a strong preference of Cr for octahedral rather than tetrahedral coordination with oxygen would trigger the formation of SOPs rather than the substitution of Cr into Zn sites and could be an obstacle for achieving a real Cr-substituted ZnO dilute magnetic oxide.

  5. Reactively sputtered TeO/sub x/ thin films for optical recording systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Di Giulio, M.; Micocci, G.; Rella, R.; Tepore, A.

    1988-01-01

    Tellurium suboxide (TeO/sub x/ ) thin films have been obtained by rf reactive sputtering deposition by using a Te target and an Ar--O 2 gas mixture. Different samples were prepared by changing both the rf power (80--200 W) and the oxygen concentration in the sputtering gas. The transmissivity and the reflectivity of these films change markedly by thermal treatment at critical temperatures in the range 120--150 0 C. This property makes these films suitable for optical disk recording with a low-output power laser diode

  6. SERS spectra of pyridine adsorbed on nickel film prepared by magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Daoyong; Ouyang, Yu; Chen, Li; Cao, Weiran; Shi, Shaohua

    2011-02-01

    As a repeating well and cheaper enhancement substrate, the nickel film was fabricated with magnetron sputtering coating instrument. Surface enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) of pyridine adsorbed on this nickel film are compared with the experimental values of gaseous pyridine, the theoretical value of pyridine solution listed in other literatures and our method is better than electro-chemical etching electrode method for large scale preparation. The enhancement factor of the nickel film is calculated and the result indicates that magnetron sputtering coating technology is feasible for obtaining good SERS active surface.

  7. Indium zinc oxide films deposited on PET by LF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Eun Lyoung; Jung, Sang Kooun; Sohn, Sang Ho; Park, Duck Kyu

    2007-01-01

    Indium zinc oxide (IZO) has attracted much attention recently for use in transparent oxide films compared with the ITO film. We carried out the deposition of IZO on a polyethylene terapthalate (PET) substrate at room temperature by a low-frequency (LF) magnetron sputtering system. These films have amorphous structures with excellent electrical stability, surface uniformity and high optical transmittance. The effects of LF applied voltage and O 2 flow rate were investigated. The electrical and optical properties were studied. At optimal deposition conditions, thin films of IZO with a sheet resistance of 32 Ω/sq and an optical transmittance of over 80% in the visible spectrum range were achieved. The IZO thin films fabricated by this method do not require substrate heating during the film preparation of any additional post-deposition annealing treatment. The experimental results show that films with good qualities of surface morphology, transmittance and electrical conduction can be grown by the LF magnetron sputtering method on PET which is recommendable

  8. Co-sputtered ZnO:Si thin films as transparent conductive oxides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Faure, C. [CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux, ICMCB, UPR 9048, F33600 Pessac (France); Clatot, J. [LRCS, 33 Rue St Leu, F-80039 Amiens (France); Teule-Gay, L.; Campet, G. [CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux, ICMCB, UPR 9048, F33600 Pessac (France); Labrugere, C. [CeCaMA, Universite de Bordeaux, ICMCB, 87 avenue du Dr. A. Schweitzer, Pessac, F-33608 (France); Nistor, M. [National Institute for Lasers, Plasmas and Radiation Physics, L22, PO Box MG-36, 77125 Bucharest-Magurele (Romania); Rougier, A., E-mail: rougier@icmcb-bordeaux.cnrs.fr [CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux, ICMCB, UPR 9048, F33600 Pessac (France)

    2012-12-01

    Silicon doped Zinc Oxide thin films, so-called SZO, were deposited at room temperature on glass and plastic substrates by co-sputtering of ZnO and SiO{sub 2} targets. The influence of the SiO{sub 2} target power supply (from 30 to 75 W) on the SZO thin film composition and crystallinity is discussed. Si/Zn atomic ratio, determined by X-ray microprobe, increases from 1.2 to 8.2 at.%. For Si/Zn ratio equal and lower than 3.9%, SZO (S{sub 3.9}ZO) thin films exhibit the Wurzite structure with the (0 0 2) preferred orientation. Larger Si content leads to a decrease in crystallinity. With Si addition, the resistivity decreases down to 3.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3} Ohm-Sign {center_dot}cm for SZO thin film containing 3.9 at.% of Si prior to an increase. The mean transmittance of S{sub 3.9}ZO thin film on glass substrate approaches 80% (it is about 90% for the film itself) in the visible range (from 400 to 750 nm). Co-sputtered SZO thin films are suitable candidates for large area transparent conductive oxides. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Si doped ZnO thin films by co-sputtering of ZnO and SiO{sub 2} targets. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Minimum of resistivity for Si doped ZnO thin films containing 3.9% of Si. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Si and O environments by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

  9. The effect of annealing on structural, optical and photosensitive properties of electrodeposited cadmium selenide thin films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somnath Mahato

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Cadmium selenide (CdSe thin films have been deposited on indium tin oxide coated glass substrate by simple electrodeposition method. X-ray Diffraction (XRD studies identify that the as-deposited CdSe films are highly oriented to [002] direction and they belong to nanocrystalline hexagonal phase. The films are changed to polycrystalline structure after annealing in air for temperatures up to 450 °C and begin to degrade afterwards with the occurrence of oxidation and porosity. CdSe completely ceases to exist at higher annealing temperatures. CdSe films exhibit a maximum absorbance in the violet to blue-green region of an optical spectrum. The absorbance increases while the band gap decreases with increasing annealing temperature. Surface morphology also shows that the increase of the annealing temperature caused the grain growth. In addition, a number of distinct crystals is formed on top of the film surface. Electrical characteristics show that the films are photosensitive with a maximum sensitivity at 350 °C.

  10. Rutile TiO2 thin films grown by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agnarsson, B.; Magnus, F.; Tryggvason, T.K.; Ingason, A.S.; Leosson, K.; Olafsson, S.; Gudmundsson, J.T.

    2013-01-01

    Thin TiO 2 films were grown on Si(001) substrates by reactive dc magnetron sputtering (dcMS) and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) at temperatures ranging from 300 to 700 °C. Optical and structural properties of films were compared both before and after post-annealing using scanning electron microscopy, low angle X-ray reflection (XRR), grazing incidence X-ray diffractometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Both dcMS- and HiPIMS-grown films reveal polycrystalline rutile TiO 2 , even prior to post-annealing. The HiPIMS-grown films exhibit significantly larger grains compared to that of dcMC-grown films, approaching 100% of the film thickness for films grown at 700 °C. In addition, the XRR surface roughness of HiPIMS-grown films was significantly lower than that of dcMS-grown films over the whole temperature range 300–700 °C. Dispersion curves could only be obtained for the HiPIMS-grown films, which were shown to have a refractive index in the range of 2.7–2.85 at 500 nm. The results show that thin, rutile TiO 2 films, with high refractive index, can be obtained by HiPIMS at relatively low growth temperatures, without post-annealing. Furthermore, these films are smoother and show better optical characteristics than their dcMS-grown counterparts. - Highlights: • We demonstrate growth of rutile TiO 2 on Si (111) by high power impulse magnetron sputtering. • The films exhibit significantly larger grains than dc magnetron sputtered films • TiO 2 films with high refractive index are obtained without post-growth annealing

  11. Magnetic and other properties and sputtering behavior of Co-base amorphous alloy films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayashi, K.; Hayakawa, M.; Ochiai, Y.; Matsuda, H.; Ishikawa, W.; Iwasaki, Y.; Aso, K.

    1987-01-01

    Magnetic and other properties of Co-base amorphous alloy films prepared by sputtering are investigated. A detailed magnetic phase diagram with saturation magnetic flux density, crystallization temperature, and zero-magnetostrictive line on Co-Ta-Zr amorphous alloys were obtained, and the technical knowhow to make a film with well-reproducible characteristics by widely changing the sputtering conditions was related with these physical properties. Especially on alloy sputtering, a phenomenological model for elucidating a composition difference between film and target is presented. After these studies, the film characteristics of B/sub s/ = 12 kG, T/sub x/ = 450 0 C, chemical bondλ/sub s/chemical bond -8 , H/sub c/<10 mOe, and permeabilities of μ(1 MHz) = 7000, μ(100 MHz) = 2000 for the single film of 2 μm in thickness and of μ(1 MHz) = 4000, μ(100 MHz) = 800 for the insulator-sandwiched multilayered film of 10 μm are obtained, and these well-balanced values enable us to apply the materials for high-frequency recording head

  12. Physical characterization of sputter-deposited amorphous tungsten oxynitride thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nunez, O.R.; Moreno Tarango, A.J. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 (United States); Murphy, N.R. [Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Dayton, OH 45433 (United States); Phinney, L.C.; Hossain, K. [Amethyst Research Inc., 123 Case Circle, Ardmore, OK 73401 (United States); Ramana, C.V., E-mail: rvchintalapalle@utep.edu [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Tungsten oxynitride (W–O–N) thin films were deposited onto silicon (100) and quartz substrates using direct current (DC) sputtering. Composition variations in the W–O–N films were obtained by varying the nitrogen gas flow rate from 0 to 20 sccm, while keeping the total gas flow constant at 40 sccm using 20 sccm of argon with the balance comprised of oxygen. The resulting crystallinity, optical properties, and chemical composition of the DC sputtered W–O–N films were evaluated. All the W–O–N films measured were shown to be amorphous using X-ray diffraction. Spectrophotometry results indicate that the optical parameters, namely, the transmission magnitude and band gap (E{sub g}), are highly dependent on the nitrogen content in the reactive gas mixture. Within the W–O–N system, E{sub g} was able to be precisely tailored between 2.9 eV and 1.9 eV, corresponding to fully stoichiometric WO{sub 3} and highly nitrided W–O–N, respectively. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) coupled with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements indicate that the composition of the films varies from WO{sub 3} to W–O–N composite oxynitride films. - Highlights: • W–O–N films of ~ 100 nm thick were sputter-deposited by varying nitrogen gas flow rate. • Nitrogen incorporation into W-oxide is effective at or after 9 sccm flow rate of nitrogen. • The band gap significantly decreases from ~ 3.0 eV to ~ 2.1 eV with progressive increase in nitrogen content. • A composite oxide-semiconductor of W–O–N is proposed to explain the optical properties.

  13. Dielectric properties of DC reactive magnetron sputtered Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Prasanna, S. [Thin Film Center, Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, 641 004 (India); Mohan Rao, G. [Department of Instrumentation, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, 560 012 (India); Jayakumar, S., E-mail: s_jayakumar_99@yahoo.com [Thin Film Center, Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, 641 004 (India); Kannan, M.D. [Thin Film Center, Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, 641 004 (India); Ganesan, V. [Low Temperature Lab, UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research (CSR), Indore, 452 017 (India)

    2012-01-31

    Alumina (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) thin films were sputter deposited over well-cleaned glass and Si < 100 > substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering under various oxygen gas pressures and sputtering powers. The composition of the films was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and an optimal O/Al atomic ratio of 1.59 was obtained at a reactive gas pressure of 0.03 Pa and sputtering power of 70 W. X-ray diffraction results revealed that the films were amorphous until 550 Degree-Sign C. The surface morphology of the films was studied using scanning electron microscopy and the as-deposited films were found to be smooth. The topography of the as-deposited and annealed films was analyzed by atomic force microscopy and a progressive increase in the rms roughness of the films from 3.2 nm to 4.53 nm was also observed with increase in the annealing temperature. Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Al thin film capacitors were then fabricated on glass substrates to study the effect of temperature and frequency on the dielectric property of the films. Temperature coefficient of capacitance, AC conductivity and activation energy were determined and the results are discussed. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin films were deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The films were found to be amorphous up to annealing temperature of 550 C. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer An increase in rms roughness of the films was observed with annealing. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Al-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Al thin film capacitors were fabricated and dielectric constant was 7.5. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The activation energy decreased with increase in frequency.

  14. Fabricating Pinhole-Free YSZ Sub-Microthin Films by Magnetron Sputtering for Micro-SOFCs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Hill

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Submicron thin yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ films were prepared on a variety of substrates with different surface morphologies by magnetron sputtering followed by thermal oxidation. Pinholes were observed in the films deposited on nanoporous alumina substrates. Initial dense Y/Zr films developed nanocracks after thermal oxidation on smooth Si wafer substrates. At optimal sputtering and oxidation conditions, smooth and crack/pore-free films were achieved on Si wafer substrates. The thin YSZ films exhibited fully ionic conduction with ionic conductivities, and activation energy corroborated well with the values from commercial YSZ plates. The thin YSZ films can be utilized in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs for intermediate temperature operations.

  15. Magnetron sputtering of Fe-oxides on the top of HTS YBCO films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nurgaliev, T. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Blagoev, B. [Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, 95 Gajowicka Str., 53-421 Wroclaw (Poland); Buchkov, K. [Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Mateev, E. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Gajda, G. [Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, 95 Gajowicka Str., 53-421 Wroclaw (Poland); Nedkov, I. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Kovacheva, D. [Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Street, bl. 10, 1113 Sofia (Bulgaria); Slavov, L. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, 95 Gajowicka Str., 53-421 Wroclaw (Poland); Starbova, I.; Starbov, N. [Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Nankovski, M. [Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chausse, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria); Sofia university “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Physics, 5 James Bourchier Blvd., 1164 Sofia (Bulgaria)

    2017-05-01

    The possibilities for preparation of bilayers containing magnetic Fe-oxide (Fe-O) and high temperature superconducting (HTS) YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−x} (YBCO) thin films were investigated. For this purpose, Fe-O films were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering at comparatively low temperatures T≤250 °C onto dielectric (for example, LaAlO{sub 3} (LAO)) substrates, covered with a HTS YBCO film. The sputtering of the Fe-O layer at such conditions did not lead to a crucial damage of the critical temperature T{sub C} of the YBCO film, but could affect the width of the superconducting transition. A decrease of the critical temperature of the (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO bilayer kept at ambient conditions was observed, possibly due to the negative effects of the water vapour on the sample characteristics. The double peak structure of the imaginary component of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field, observed in such a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO sample, was ascribed from two possible views: as a consequence of morphology determined inter- and intra-granular contributions and/or as transitions from dominant irreversible processes as Bean-Livingston barrier to vortex state chains formation. - Highlights: • Iron-oxide (Fe-O) film sputtered on the top of superconducting HTS YBCO film at not very high temperatures. • No crucially damaged superconducting properties of YBCO film during Fe-O sputtering process. • A negative effect of the ambient conditions on the critical temperature of the obtained samples. • A double peak structure of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field in a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO is observed.

  16. Magnetron sputtering of Fe-oxides on the top of HTS YBCO films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nurgaliev, T.; Blagoev, B.; Buchkov, K.; Mateev, E.; Gajda, G.; Nedkov, I.; Kovacheva, D.; Slavov, L.; Starbova, I.; Starbov, N.; Nankovski, M.

    2017-01-01

    The possibilities for preparation of bilayers containing magnetic Fe-oxide (Fe-O) and high temperature superconducting (HTS) YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−x (YBCO) thin films were investigated. For this purpose, Fe-O films were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering at comparatively low temperatures T≤250 °C onto dielectric (for example, LaAlO 3 (LAO)) substrates, covered with a HTS YBCO film. The sputtering of the Fe-O layer at such conditions did not lead to a crucial damage of the critical temperature T C of the YBCO film, but could affect the width of the superconducting transition. A decrease of the critical temperature of the (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO bilayer kept at ambient conditions was observed, possibly due to the negative effects of the water vapour on the sample characteristics. The double peak structure of the imaginary component of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field, observed in such a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO sample, was ascribed from two possible views: as a consequence of morphology determined inter- and intra-granular contributions and/or as transitions from dominant irreversible processes as Bean-Livingston barrier to vortex state chains formation. - Highlights: • Iron-oxide (Fe-O) film sputtered on the top of superconducting HTS YBCO film at not very high temperatures. • No crucially damaged superconducting properties of YBCO film during Fe-O sputtering process. • A negative effect of the ambient conditions on the critical temperature of the obtained samples. • A double peak structure of the response signal to the AC harmonic magnetic field in a (Fe-O)/YBCO/LAO is observed.

  17. Linear Electrooptic Effect In Sputtered Polycrystalline LiNbO3 Films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffel, G.; Ruschin, Shlomo; Croitoru, Nathan I.

    1989-02-01

    Light guiding and modulation was demonstrated in sputtered LiNbO3 films deposited on glass substrates. The films exhibit exceptionally low attenuation (< 2dB/cm) and the highest electrooptical coefficient reported so far for this kind of films (1.34 x 10-12 m/V).

  18. Ion beam and dual ion beam sputter deposition of tantalum oxide films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cevro, Mirza; Carter, George

    1994-11-01

    Ion beam sputter deposition (IBS) and dual ion beam sputter deposition (DIBS) of tantalum oxide films was investigated at room temperature and compared with similar films prepared by e-gun deposition. Optical properties ie refractive index and extinction coefficient of IBS films were determined in the 250 - 1100 nm range by transmission spectrophotometry and at (lambda) equals 632.8 nm by ellipsometry. They were found to be mainly sensitive to the partial pressure of oxygen used as a reactive gas in the deposition process. The maximum value of the refractive index of IBS deposited tantalum oxide films was n equals 2.15 at (lambda) equals 550 nm and the extinction coefficient of order k equals 2 X 10-4. Films deposited by e-gun deposition had refractive index n equals 2.06 at (lambda) equals 550 nm. Films deposited using DIBS ie deposition assisted by low energy Ar and O2 ions (Ea equals 0 - 300 eV) and low current density (Ji equals 0 - 40 (mu) A/cm2) showed no improvement in the optical properties of the films. Preferential sputtering occurred at Ea(Ar) equals 300 eV and Ji equals 20 (mu) A/cm2 and slightly oxygen deficient films were formed. Different bonding states in the tantalum-oxide films were determined by x-ray spectroscopy while composition of the film and contaminants were determined by Rutherford scattering spectroscopy. Tantalum oxide films formed by IBS contained relatively high Ar content (approximately equals 2.5%) originating from the reflected argon neutrals from the sputtering target while assisted deposition slightly increased the Ar content. Stress in the IBS deposited films was measured by the bending technique. IBS deposited films showed compressive stress with a typical value of s equals 3.2 X 109 dyn/cm2. Films deposited by concurrent ion bombardment showed an increase in the stress as a function of applied current density. The maximum was s approximately equals 5.6 X 109 dyn/cm2 for Ea equals 300 eV and Ji equals 35 (mu) A/cm2. All

  19. Ion-beam and dual-ion-beam sputter deposition of tantalum oxide films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cevro, Mirza; Carter, George

    1995-02-01

    Ion-beam sputter deposition (IBS) and dual-ion-beam sputter deposition (DIBS) of tantalum oxide films was investigated at room temperature and compared with similar films prepared by e-gun deposition. The optical properties, i.e., refractive index and extinction coefficient, of IBS films were determined in the 250- to 1100-nm range by transmission spectrophotometry and at (lambda) equals 632.8 nm by ellipsometry. They were found to be mainly sensitive to the partial pressure of oxygen used as a reactive gas in the deposition process. The maximum value of the refractive index of IBS deposited tantalum oxide films was n equals 2.15 at (lambda) equals 550 nm and the extinction coefficient of order k equals 2 X 10-4. Films deposited by e-gun deposition had refractive index n 2.06 at (lambda) equals 550 nm. Films deposited using DIBS, i.e., deposition assisted by low energy Ar and O2 ions (Ea equals 0 to 300 eV) and low current density (Ji equals 0 to 40 (mu) A/cm2), showed no improvement in the optical properties of the films. Preferential sputtering occurred at Ea(Ar) equals 300 eV and Ji equals 20 (mu) A/cm2 and slightly oxygen deficient films were formed. Different bonding states in the tantalum-oxide films were determined by x-ray spectroscopy, whereas composition of the film and contaminants were determined by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). Tantalum oxide films formed by IBS contained relatively high Ar content (approximately equals 2.5%) originating from the reflected argon neutrals from the sputtering target whereas assisted deposition slightly increased the Ar content. Stress in the IBS-deposited films was measured by the bending technique. IBS-deposited films showed compressive stress with a typical value of s equals 3.2 X 109 dyn/cm2. Films deposited by concurrent ion bombardment showed an increase in the stress as a function of applied current density. The maximum was s approximately equals 5.6 X 109 dyn/cm2 for Ea equals 300 eV and Ji equals

  20. Study on helium-charged titanium films deposited by DC-magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Liqun; Jin Qinhua; Liu Chaozhuo; Xu Shilin; Zhou Zhuying

    2005-01-01

    Helium trapping in the Ti films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering with a He/Ar mixture was studied. He atoms with a surprisingly high concentration (He/Ti atomic ratio is as high as 56%) incorporate evenly in deposited film. The trapped amount of He can be controlled by the helium partial amount. The introduction of the helium with no extra damage (or very low damage) can be realized by choosing suitable deposition conditions. It was also found that because of the formation of nanophase Ti film a relative high He flux for bubble formation is needed and the amount of the retaining He in sputtering Ti films is much higher than that in the coarse-grain Ti films. The nanophase Ti film can accommodate larger concentration of trapped sites to He, which results in a high density and small size of the He bubbles. With increasing He irradiation flux, the grain size of Ti film decreases and the lattice spacing and width of the X-ray diffraction peak increase due to the He introduction, and the film tends to amorphous phase. (authors)

  1. Fabrication, microstructure and stress effects in sputtered TiNi thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grummon, D.S.

    2000-01-01

    Sputtered thin films of equiatomic TiNi and TiNiX ternary alloys have excellent mechanical properties and exhibit robust shape-memory and transformational superelasticity. Furthermore, the energetic nature of the sputter deposition process allows the creation of highly refined microstructures that are difficult to achieve by melt-solidification. The present paper will present recent work on the relationship between processing, microstructure and properties of binary TiNi thin films, focusing primarily on residual stresses, kinetics of stress-relaxation and crystallization, and fine grain sizes achievable using hot-substrate direct crystallization. (orig.)

  2. Construction of sputtering system and preparation of high temperature superconducting thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaynak, E.

    2000-01-01

    The preparation of high T c superconducting thin film is important both for the understanding of fundamental behaviours of these materials and for the investigations on the usefulness of technological applications. High quality thin films can be prepared by various kinds of techniques being used today. Among these, sputtering is the most preferred one. The primary aim of this work is the construction of a r. f. and c. magnetron sputtering system. For this goal, a magnetron sputtering system was designed and constructed having powers up to 500W (r.f.) and 1KW (d.c.) that enables to deposit thin films of various kinds of materials: metals, ceramics and magnetic materials. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistance of the films was investigated by using four-point probe method. The zero resistance and the transition with of the films were measured as 80-85 K, and 2-9 K, respectively. The A.C. susceptibility experiments were done by utilising the system that was designed and constructed. The applied field dependence of the real and imaginary components of the susceptibility that were measured between the 77-120 K temperature interval and at a fixed frequency was investigated

  3. Magnetic properties of in-plane oriented barium hexaferrite thin films prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Xiaozhi; Yue, Zhenxing, E-mail: yuezhx@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn; Meng, Siqin; Yuan, Lixin [State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

    2014-12-28

    In-plane c-axis oriented Ba-hexaferrite (BaM) thin films were prepared on a-plane (112{sup ¯}0) sapphire (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) substrates by DC magnetron sputtering followed by ex-situ annealing. The DC magnetron sputtering was demonstrated to have obvious advantages over the traditionally used RF magnetron sputtering in sputtering rate and operation simplicity. The sputtering power had a remarkable influence on the Ba/Fe ratio, the hematite secondary phase, and the grain morphology of the as-prepared BaM films. Under 80 W of sputtering power, in-plane c-axis highly oriented BaM films were obtained. These films had strong magnetic anisotropy with high hysteresis loop squareness (M{sub r}/M{sub s} of 0.96) along the in-plane easy axis and low M{sub r}/M{sub s} of 0.03 along the in-plane hard axis. X-ray diffraction patterns and pole figures revealed that the oriented BaM films grew via an epitaxy-like growth process with the crystallographic relationship BaM (101{sup ¯}0)//α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}(112{sup ¯}0)//Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(112{sup ¯}0)

  4. The optical properties and applications of AlN thin films prepared by a helicon sputtering system

    CERN Document Server

    Chiu, W Y; Kao, H L; Jeng, E S; Chen, J S; Jaing, C C

    2002-01-01

    AlN thin films were grown on SiO sub 2 /Si and quartz substrates using a helicon sputtering system. The dependence of film quality on growth parameters, such as total sputtering pressure, substrate temperature, and nitrogen concentration has been studied. There is a good correlation of thin film crystallinity addressed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and spectroscopic ellipsometer. The optimized films exhibit highly oriented, with only (002) peak shown in a theta-2 theta scan XRD pattern, and extremely smooth surface with rms roughness of 2 Aa. The extinction coefficient of the film was 4x10 sup - sup 4 , which is lower than that of AlN films grown by conventional sputtering. Double-layer antireflection (DLAR) coating using AlN and Al sub 3 O sub 3 grown on quartz has been demonstrated. The transmittance of DLAR was high as 96% compared to 93% of bare substrates with the measurement error less than 0.2%. AlN films prepared by Helicon sputtering thus are potential for optical application.

  5. Stoichiometry of Silicon Dioxide Films Obtained by Ion-Beam Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telesh, E. V.; Dostanko, A. P.; Gurevich, O. V.

    2018-03-01

    The composition of SiOx films produced by ion-beam sputtering (IBS) of silicon and quartz targets were studied by infrared spectrometry. Films with thicknesses of 150-390 nm were formed on silicon substrates. It was found that increase in the partial pressure of oxygen in the working gas, increase in the temperature of the substrate, and the presence of a positive potential on the target during reactive IBS of silicon shifted the main absorption band νas into the high-frequency region and increased the composition index from 1.41 to 1.85. During IBS of a quartz target the stoichiometry of the films deteriorates with increase of the energy of the sputtering argon ions. This may be due to increase of the deposition rate. Increase in the current of the thermionic compensator, increase of the substrate temperature, and addition of oxygen led to the formation of SiOx films with improved stoichiometry.

  6. Evolution of film temperature during magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaginyan, L.R.; Han, J.G.; Shaginyan, V.R.; Musil, J.

    2006-01-01

    We report on the results of measurements of the temperature T F surf which developed on the surface of films deposited by magnetron sputtering of chromium and copper targets on cooling and non-cooling silicon substrates. The T F surf and substrate temperature (T s ) were simultaneously measured using high-resolution IR camera and thermocouple, respectively. We revealed that the T F surf steeply grows, keeps constant when it achieves saturation level, and rapidly drops to the value of the T s after stopping the deposition. At the same time, the T s either does not change for the case of cooling substrate or increases to a certain level for noncooling substrate. However, in both cases the T s remains several times lower than the T F surf . The T F surf is proportional to the flux of energy delivered to the growth surface by sputtered atoms and other fast particles, weakly depends on the depositing metal and can achieve several hundreds of deg. C. This phenomenon is explained by a model assuming formation of a hot thin surface layer (HTSL) on the top of the growing film, which exists only during film deposition and exhibits extremely low thermal conductivity. Due to this unique property the temperature T F surf of HTSL is several times higher than the T s . Variations in the T F surf fairly correlate with structure changes of Cr films along thickness investigated in detail previously

  7. Piezoelectric Response Evaluation of ZnO Thin Film Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng Da-Long

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The most important parameter of piezoelectric materials is piezoelectric coefficient (d33. In this study, the piezoelectric ZnO thin films were deposited on the SiNx/Si substrate. The 4 inches substrate is diced into 8 cm× 8 cm piece. During the deposition process, a zinc target (99.999 wt% of 2 inches diameter was used. The vertical distance between the target and the substrate holder was fixed at 5 cm. The piezoelectric response of zinc oxide (ZnO thin films were obtained by using a direct measurement system. The system adopts a mini impact tip to generate an impulsive force and read out the piezoelectric signals immediately. Experimentally, a servo motor is used to produce a fixed quantity of force, for giving an impact against to the piezoelectric film. The ZnO thin films were deposited using the reactive radio frequency (RF magnetron sputtering method. The electric charges should be generated because of the material’s extrusion. This phenomenon was investigated through the oscilloscope by one shot trigger. It was apparent that all ZnO films exhibit piezoelectric responses evaluated by our measurement system, however, its exhibit a significant discrepancy. The piezoelectric responses of ZnO thin film at various deposition positions were measured and the crystal structures of the sputtering pressure were also discussed. The crystalline characteristics of ZnO thin films are investigated through the XRD and SEM. The results show the ZnO thin film exhibits good crystalline pattern and surface morphology with controlled sputtering condition. The ZnO thin films sputtered using 2 inches target present various piezoelectric responses. With the exactly related position, a best piezoelectric response of ZnO thin film can be achieved.

  8. Comparison on electrically pumped random laser actions of hydrothermal and sputtered ZnO films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Canxing; Jiang, Haotian; Li, Yunpeng; Ma, Xiangyang; Yang, Deren

    2013-01-01

    Random lasing (RL) in polycrystalline ZnO films is an intriguing research subject. Here, we have comparatively investigated electrically pumped RL behaviors of two metal-insulator-semiconductor structured devices using the hydrothermal and sputtered ZnO films as the semiconductor components, i.e., the light-emitting layers, respectively. It is demonstrated that the device using the hydrothermal ZnO film exhibits smaller threshold current and larger output optical power of the electrically pumped RL. The morphological characterization shows that the hydrothermal ZnO film is somewhat porous and is much rougher than the sputtered one, suggesting that in the former stronger multiple light scattering can occur. Moreover, the photoluminescence characterization indicates that there are fewer defects in the hydrothermal ZnO film than in the sputtered one, which means that the photons can pick up larger optical gain through stimulated emission in the hydrothermal ZnO film. Therefore, it is believed that the stronger multiple light scattering and larger optical gain contribute to the improved performance of the electrically pumped RL from the device using the hydrothermal ZnO film

  9. Intrinsic anomalous surface roughening of TiN films deposited by reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auger, M. A.; Vazquez, L.; Sanchez, O.; Cuerno, R.; Castro, M.; Jergel, M.

    2006-01-01

    We study surface kinetic roughening of TiN films grown on Si(100) substrates by dc reactive sputtering. The surface morphology of films deposited for different growth times under the same experimental conditions were analyzed by atomic force microscopy. The TiN films exhibit intrinsic anomalous scaling and multiscaling. The film kinetic roughening is characterized by a set of local exponent values α loc =1.0 and β loc =0.39, and global exponent values α=1.7 and β=0.67, with a coarsening exponent of 1/z=0.39. These properties are correlated to the local height-difference distribution function obeying power-law statistics. We associate this intrinsic anomalous scaling with the instability due to nonlocal shadowing effects that take place during thin-film growth by sputtering

  10. Surface chemistry and cytotoxicity of reactively sputtered tantalum oxide films on NiTi plates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McNamara, K. [Materials and Surface Science Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland); Department of Physics & Energy, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland); Kolaj-Robin, O.; Belochapkine, S.; Laffir, F. [Materials and Surface Science Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland); Gandhi, A.A. [Materials and Surface Science Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland); Department of Physics & Energy, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland); Tofail, S.A.M., E-mail: tofail.syed@ul.ie [Materials and Surface Science Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland); Department of Physics & Energy, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland)

    2015-08-31

    NiTi, an equiatomic alloy containing nickel and titanium, exhibits unique properties such as shape memory effect and superelasticity. NiTi also forms a spontaneous protective titanium dioxide (TiO{sub 2}) layer that allows its use in biomedical applications. Despite the widely perceived biocompatibility there remain some concerns about the sustainability of the alloy's biocompatibility due to the defects in the TiO{sub 2} protective layer and the presence of high amount of sub-surface Ni, which can give allergic reactions. Many surface treatments have been investigated to try to improve both the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of this layer. For such purposes, we have sputter deposited tantalum (Ta) oxide thin films onto the surface of the NiTi alloy. Despite being one of the promising metals for biomedical applications, Ta, and its various oxides and their interactions with cells have received relatively less attention. The oxidation chemistry, crystal structure, morphology and biocompatibility of these films have been investigated. In general, reactive sputtering especially in the presence of a low oxygen mixture yields a thicker film with better control of the film quality. The sputtering power influenced the surface oxidation states of Ta. Both microscopic and quantitative cytotoxicity measurements show that Ta films on NiTi are biocompatible with little to no variation in cytotoxic response when the surface oxidation state of Ta changes. - Highlights: • Reactive sputtering in low oxygen mixture yields thicker better quality films. • Sputtering power influenced surface oxidation states of Ta. • Cytotoxicity measurements show Ta films on NiTi are biocompatible. • Little to no variation in cytotoxic response when oxidation state changes.

  11. Influence of oblique-angle sputtered transparent conducting oxides on performance of Si-based thin film solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leem, Jung Woo; Yu, Jae Su

    2011-01-01

    The transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films with low-refractive-index (low-n) are fabricated by the oblique-angle sputtering method. By using the experimentally measured physical data of the fabricated low-n TCO films as the simulation parameters, the effect of low-n TCOs on the performance of a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem thin film solar cells is investigated using Silvaco ATLAS. The Al-doped zinc oxide, indium tin oxide (ITO), and Sb-doped tin oxide films are deposited at the flux incidence angles of θ i = 0 (normal sputtering) and θ i = 80 from the sputtering target during the sputtering process. The oblique-angle sputtered films at θ i = 80 show the inclined columnar nanostructures compared to those at θ i = 0 , modifying the optical properties of the films. This is caused mainly by the increase of porosity within the film which leads to its low-n characteristics. The a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem thin film solar cell incorporated with the low-n ITO film exhibits an improvement in the conversion efficiency of ∝1% under AM1.5g illumination because of its higher transmittance and lower absorption compared to that with the ITO film at θ i = 0 , indicating a conversion efficiency of 13.75%. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  12. A review of basic phenomena and techniques for sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auciello, O. (Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA) North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering); Ameen, M.S.; Kingon, A.I.; Lichtenwalner, D.J. (North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering); Krauss, A.R. (Argonne National Lab., IL (USA))

    1990-01-01

    The processes involved in plasma and ion beam sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting thin films are critically reviewed. Recent advances in the development of these techniques are discussed in relation to basic physical phenomena, specific to each technique, which must be understood before high quality films can be produced. Control of film composition is a major issue in sputter-deposition of multicomponent materials. Low temperature processing of films is a common goal for each technique, particularly in relation to integrating high temperature superconducting films with the current microelectronics technology. It has been understood for some time that for Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} deposition, the most intensely studied high-{Tc} compound, incorporation of sufficient oxygen into the film during deposition is necessary to produce as-deposited superconducting films at relatively substrate temperatures. Recent results have shown that with the use of suitable buffer layers, high quality Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} sputtered films can be obtained on Si substrates without the need for post-deposition anneal processing. This review is mainly focussed on issues related to sputter-deposition of Y{sub 1}Ba{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} thin films, although representative results concerning the bismuth and thallium based compounds are included. 143 refs., 11 figs.

  13. Vacuum Pumping Performance Comparison of Non-Evaporable Getter Thin Films Deposited Using Argon and Krypton as Sputtering Gases

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, Xianghong; He, Yun; Li, Yulin

    2005-01-01

    Owing to the outstanding vacuum performance and the low secondary electron yield, non-evaporable getter (NEG) thin film deposited onto interior walls has gained widespread acceptance and has been incorporated into many accelerator vacuum system designs. The titanium-zirconium-vanadium (T-Zr-V) NEG thin films were deposited onto the interior wall of stainless steel pipes via DC magnetron sputtering method using either argon or krypton gas as sputtering gas. Vacuum pumping evaluation tests were carried out to compare vacuum pumping performances of the Ti-Zr-V NEG thin films deposited using argon or krypton. The results showed much higher initial pumping speed for the Kr-sputtered NEG film than the Ar-sputtered film, though both films have similar activation behavior. The compositions and textures of both thin films were measured to correlate to the pumping performances.

  14. Setup for in situ X-ray diffraction studies of thin film growth by magnetron sputtering

    CERN Document Server

    Ellmer, K; Weiss, V; Rossner, H

    2001-01-01

    A novel method is described for the in situ-investigation of nucleation and growth of thin films during magnetron sputtering. Energy dispersive X-ray diffraction with synchrotron light is used for the structural analysis during film growth. An in situ-magnetron sputtering chamber was constructed and installed at a synchrotron radiation beam line with a bending magnet. The white synchrotron light (1-70 keV) passes the sputtering chamber through Kapton windows and hits one of the substrates on a four-fold sample holder. The diffracted beam, observed under a fixed diffraction angle between 3 deg. and 10 deg., is energy analyzed by a high purity Ge-detector. The in situ-EDXRD setup is demonstrated for the growth of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering from a metallic target.

  15. Nitrogen incorporation in sputter deposited molybdenum nitride thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stöber, Laura, E-mail: laura.stoeber@tuwien.ac.at; Patocka, Florian, E-mail: florian.patocka@tuwien.ac.at; Schneider, Michael, E-mail: michael.schneider@tuwien.ac.at; Schmid, Ulrich, E-mail: ulrich.e366.schmid@tuwien.ac.at [Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems, TU Wien, Gußhausstraße 27-29, A-1040 Vienna (Austria); Konrath, Jens Peter, E-mail: jenspeter.konrath@infineon.com; Haberl, Verena, E-mail: verena.haberl@infineon.com [Infineon Technologies Austria AG, Siemensstraße 2, 9500 Villach (Austria)

    2016-03-15

    In this paper, the authors report on the high temperature performance of sputter deposited molybdenum (Mo) and molybdenum nitride (Mo{sub 2}N) thin films. Various argon and nitrogen gas compositions are applied for thin film synthetization, and the amount of nitrogen incorporation is determined by Auger measurements. Furthermore, effusion measurements identifying the binding conditions of the nitrogen in the thin film are performed up to 1000 °C. These results are in excellent agreement with film stress and scanning electron microscope analyses, both indicating stable film properties up to annealing temperatures of 500 °C.

  16. Electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured Ti:WO3 thin films grown by sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karuppasamy, A., E-mail: karuppasamy@psnacet.edu.in

    2015-12-30

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Dendrite structured Ti doped WO{sub 3} (WTO) thin films are grown by co-sputtering. • Sputtering condition influences structure and surface morphology of WTO films. • Titanium doping and annealing lead to dendritic surface structures in WTO films. • Structural, optical, electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of WTO films. • Enhanced electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured WTO thin films. - Abstract: Titanium doped tungsten oxide (Ti:WO{sub 3}) thin films with dendrite surface structures were grown by co-sputtering titanium and tungsten in Ar + O{sub 2} atmosphere. Ti:WO{sub 3} thin films were deposited at oxygen flow rates corresponding to pressures in the range 1.0 × 10{sup −3}–5.0 × 10{sup −3} mbar. Argon flow rate and sputtering power densities for titanium (2 W/cm{sup 2}) and tungsten (3 W/cm{sup 2}) were kept constant. Ti:WO{sub 3} films deposited at an oxygen pressure of 5 × 10{sup −3} mbar are found to be better electrochromic and photocatalytic. They have high optical modulation (80% at λ = 550 nm), coloration efficiency (60 cm{sup 2}/C at λ = 550 nm), electron/ion storage and removal capacity (Qc: −22.01 mC/cm{sup 2}, Qa: 17.72 mC/cm{sup 2}), reversibility (80%) and methylene blue decomposition rate (−1.38 μmol/l d). The combined effects of titanium doping, dendrite surface structures and porosity leads to significant enhancement in the electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of Ti:WO{sub 3} films.

  17. Electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured Ti:WO3 thin films grown by sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karuppasamy, A.

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Dendrite structured Ti doped WO 3 (WTO) thin films are grown by co-sputtering. • Sputtering condition influences structure and surface morphology of WTO films. • Titanium doping and annealing lead to dendritic surface structures in WTO films. • Structural, optical, electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of WTO films. • Enhanced electrochromism and photocatalysis in dendrite structured WTO thin films. - Abstract: Titanium doped tungsten oxide (Ti:WO 3 ) thin films with dendrite surface structures were grown by co-sputtering titanium and tungsten in Ar + O 2 atmosphere. Ti:WO 3 thin films were deposited at oxygen flow rates corresponding to pressures in the range 1.0 × 10 −3 –5.0 × 10 −3 mbar. Argon flow rate and sputtering power densities for titanium (2 W/cm 2 ) and tungsten (3 W/cm 2 ) were kept constant. Ti:WO 3 films deposited at an oxygen pressure of 5 × 10 −3 mbar are found to be better electrochromic and photocatalytic. They have high optical modulation (80% at λ = 550 nm), coloration efficiency (60 cm 2 /C at λ = 550 nm), electron/ion storage and removal capacity (Qc: −22.01 mC/cm 2 , Qa: 17.72 mC/cm 2 ), reversibility (80%) and methylene blue decomposition rate (−1.38 μmol/l d). The combined effects of titanium doping, dendrite surface structures and porosity leads to significant enhancement in the electrochromic and photocatalytic properties of Ti:WO 3 films.

  18. Deposition of Cu-doped PbS thin films with low resistivity using DC sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hariyadi Soetedjo

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Investigation of the electrical resistivity of Cu-doped PbS thin films has been carried out. The films were prepared using a DC sputtering technique. The doping was achieved by introducing the Cu dopant plate material directly on the surface of the PbS sputtering target plate. SEM-EDX data shows the Cu concentration in the PbS film to be proportional to the Cu plate diameter. The XRD pattern indicates the film is in crystalline cubic form. The Hall effect measurement shows that Cu doping yields an increase in the carrier concentration to 3.55 × 1019 cm−3 and a significant decrease in electrical resistivity. The lowest resistivity obtained was 0.13 Ωcm for a Cu concentration of 18.5%. Preferential orientation of (1 1 1 and (2 0 0 occurs during deposition. Keywords: Thin films, Lead sulfide, Sputtering, Resistivity, Semiconductor, Infrared

  19. Reduction of residual gas in a sputtering system by auxiliary sputter of rare-earth metal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Dejie

    2002-01-01

    In film deposition by sputtering, the oxidation and nitrification of the sputtered material lead to degradation of film quality, particularly with respect to metal sulfide films. We propose to use auxiliary sputtering as a method to produce a fresh film of rare-earth metal, usually dysprosium (Dy), that absorbs the active gases in a sputtering system, greatly reducing the background pressure and protecting the film from oxidation and nitrification effectively. The influence of the auxiliary sputtering power consumption, sputtering time, and medium gas pressure on the background pressure in the vacuum chamber is investigated in detail. If the auxiliary sputtering power exceeds 120 W and the sputtering time is more than 4 min, the background pressure is only one fourth of the ultimate pressure pumped by an oil diffusion pump. The absorption activity of the sputtered Dy film continues at least an hour after completion of the auxiliary sputter. Applied to film deposition of Ti and ZnS, this technique has been proven to be effective. For the Ti film, the total content of N and O is reduced from 45% to 20% when the auxiliary sputtering power of Dy is 120 W, and the sputtering time is 20 min. In the case of ZnS, the content of O is reduced from 8% to 2%

  20. Sputtered Modified Barium Titanate for Thin-Film Capacitor Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Mamazza

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available New apparatus and a new process for the sputter deposition of modified barium titanate thin-films were developed. Films were deposited at temperatures up to 900 °C from a Ba0.96Ca0.04Ti0.82Zr0.18O3 (BCZTO target directly onto Si, Ni and Pt surfaces and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS. Film texture and crystallinity were found to depend on both deposition temperature and substrate: above 600 °C, the as-deposited films consisted of well-facetted crystallites with the cubic perovskite structure. A strongly textured Pt (111 underlayer enhanced the (001 orientation of BCZTO films deposited at 900 °C, 10 mtorr pressure and 10% oxygen in argon. Similar films deposited onto a Pt (111 textured film at 700 °C and directly onto (100 Si wafers showed relatively larger (011 and diminished intensity (00ℓ diffraction peaks. Sputter ambients containing oxygen caused the Ni underlayers to oxidize even at 700 °C: Raising the process temperature produced more diffraction peaks of NiO with increased intensities. Thin-film capacitors were fabricated using ~500 nm thick BCZTO dielectrics and both Pt and Ni top and bottom electrodes. Small signal capacitance measurements were carried out to determine capacitance and parallel resistance at low frequencies and from these data, the relative permittivity (er and resistivity (r of the dielectric films were calculated; values ranged from ~50 to >2,000, and from ~104 to ~1010 Ω∙cm, respectively.

  1. Weak antilocalization and low-temperature characterization of sputtered polycrystalline bismuth selenide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahu, Protyush; Chen, Jun-Yang; Myers, Jason C.; Wang, Jian-Ping

    2018-03-01

    We report a thorough crystal and transport characterization of sputtered polycrystalline BixSe1 -x (20 nm), grown on a thermally oxidized silicon substrate. The crystal and grain structures of the sample are characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Selected-area electron diffraction shows a highly polycrystalline structure. Transport measurements suggest semiconducting behavior of the BixSe1 -x film with a very high carrier concentration (˜1020 cm3) and low mobility [˜8 cm2/(V s)]. High-field magnetoresistance measurements reveal weak antilocalization, to which both the low mobility and the angular dependence suggest an impurity-dominated contribution. Fitting parameters are obtained from 2D magnetoconductivity using the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka equation. The variation of the phase coherence length with temperature suggests electron-electron scattering for phase decoherence. Electron-electron interaction theory is used to analyze the low-temperature conductivity.

  2. Growth and surface characterization of sputter-deposited molybdenum oxide thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramana, Chintalapalle V.; Atuchin, Victor V.; Kesler, V. G.; Kochubey, V. A.; Pokrovsky, L. D.; Shutthanandan, V.; Becker, U.; Ewing, Rodney C.

    2007-04-15

    Molybdenum oxide thin films were produced by magnetron sputtering using a molybdenum (Mo) target. The sputtering was performed in a reactive atmosphere of argon-oxygen gas mixture under varying conditions of substrate temperature (Ts) and oxygen partial pressure (pO2). The effect of Ts and pO2 on the growth and microstructure of molybdenum oxide films was examined in detail using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. The analyses indicate that the effect of Ts and pO2 on the microstructure and phase of the grown molybdenum oxide thin films is remarkable. RHEED and RBS results indicate that the films grown at 445 *C under 62.3% O2 pressure were stoichiometric and polycrystalline MoO3. Films grown at lower pO2 were nonstoichiometric MoOx films with the presence of secondary phase. The microstructure of the grown Mo oxide films is discussed and conditions were optimized to produce phase pure, stoichiometric, and highly textured polycrystalline MoO3 films.

  3. Investigation of optical and microstructural properties of RF magnetron sputtered PTFE films for hydrophobic applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tripathi, S.; Haque, S. Maidul; Rao, K. Divakar; De, Rajnarayan; Shripathi, T.; Deshpande, U.; Ganesan, V.; Sahoo, N.K.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Polytetrafluoroethylene films were made by RF sputtering by varying deposition time. • With increasing deposition time, thickness shows unusual trend due to backsputtering. • Major contribution of CF 2 and CF 3 bonds in the samples is seen by ATR-FTIR. • Deposition time influences film thickness but all samples remain hydrophobic. • XPS spectra show strong CF x bonds at the surface. - Abstract: The deposition time dependence of optical, structural and morphological properties of thin as well as ultrathin Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sputtered films have been explored in the present communication. The films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering under high vacuum condition, as a function of deposition time. The ellipsometry as well as X-ray reflectivity data show a drastic reduction in film thickness as the deposition time increases from 5 s to 10 s, possibly as a consequence of back sputtering. With subsequent deposition, back sputtering component decreases and hence, thickness increases with increase in deposition time. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show a slight change in growth morphology although roughness is independent of deposition time. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) measurements showed the presence of C−C and CF x (x = 1–3) bonds in all the PTFE films. Supporting this, corresponding X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) curves fitted for C-1s and F-1s peaks revealed a major contribution from CF 2 bonds along with significant contribution from CF 3 bonds leading to an F/C ratio of ∼1.5 giving hydrophobic nature of all the films.

  4. Fabrication of hydroxyapatite thin films on polyetheretherketone substrates using a sputtering technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ozeki, K., E-mail: kazuhide.ozeki.365@vc.ibaraki.ac.jp [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ibaraki University, 4-12-1, Nakanarusawa, Hitachi, Ibaraki 316-8511 (Japan); Masuzawa, T. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ibaraki University, 4-12-1, Nakanarusawa, Hitachi, Ibaraki 316-8511 (Japan); Aoki, H. [International Apatite Institute Co., Ltd., 2-12-9, Misaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0061 (Japan)

    2017-03-01

    Hydroxyapatite (HA) thin films were coated on a polyetheretherketone (PEEK) substrate using a sputtering technique. A thin titanium (Ti) intermediate layer was formed between the HA and the PEEK surface to improve adhesion of the HA film to the PEEK substrate. The coated films were recrystallized using a hydrothermal treatment to reduce the dissolution of the HA film. The films were then characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. A pull-out test was performed to measure the film-to-substrate adhesion strength, and an immersion test was performed in ultra-pure water. In the XRD patterns of the sputtered film with the Ti intermediate layer on the PEEK substrate, small HA peaks and large Ti peaks were observed. After the hydrothermal treatment, the intensity of the HA peaks increased. The transmittance of the HA films with 5 and 10 nm Ti intermediate layers was > 79% and 68%, respectively, in the visible light wavelength region (400–700 nm) after the hydrothermal treatment. The adhesion strength of the hydrothermally treated HA films increased with decreasing thickness of the Ti intermediate layer, and the strength reached 2.7 MPa with the 5-nm-thick Ti intermediate layer. In the immersion test, the HA film with a 5-nm-thick Ti intermediate layer without hydrothermal treatment exhibited a released Ti concentration of 42.0 ± 2.4 ppb. After hydrothermal treatment, the released Ti concentration decreased to 17.3 ± 1.1 ppb. - Highlights: • Hydroxyapatite (HA) thin films were coated on a polyetheretherketone (PEEK) substrate using a sputtering technique. • A thin Ti intermediate layer was formed between the HA and the PEEK surface to improve adhesion of the HA film. • The adhesion strength of the HA films with the Ti intermediate layer increased with decreasing thickness of the Ti layer.

  5. Fabrication of hydroxyapatite thin films on polyetheretherketone substrates using a sputtering technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozeki, K.; Masuzawa, T.; Aoki, H.

    2017-01-01

    Hydroxyapatite (HA) thin films were coated on a polyetheretherketone (PEEK) substrate using a sputtering technique. A thin titanium (Ti) intermediate layer was formed between the HA and the PEEK surface to improve adhesion of the HA film to the PEEK substrate. The coated films were recrystallized using a hydrothermal treatment to reduce the dissolution of the HA film. The films were then characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. A pull-out test was performed to measure the film-to-substrate adhesion strength, and an immersion test was performed in ultra-pure water. In the XRD patterns of the sputtered film with the Ti intermediate layer on the PEEK substrate, small HA peaks and large Ti peaks were observed. After the hydrothermal treatment, the intensity of the HA peaks increased. The transmittance of the HA films with 5 and 10 nm Ti intermediate layers was > 79% and 68%, respectively, in the visible light wavelength region (400–700 nm) after the hydrothermal treatment. The adhesion strength of the hydrothermally treated HA films increased with decreasing thickness of the Ti intermediate layer, and the strength reached 2.7 MPa with the 5-nm-thick Ti intermediate layer. In the immersion test, the HA film with a 5-nm-thick Ti intermediate layer without hydrothermal treatment exhibited a released Ti concentration of 42.0 ± 2.4 ppb. After hydrothermal treatment, the released Ti concentration decreased to 17.3 ± 1.1 ppb. - Highlights: • Hydroxyapatite (HA) thin films were coated on a polyetheretherketone (PEEK) substrate using a sputtering technique. • A thin Ti intermediate layer was formed between the HA and the PEEK surface to improve adhesion of the HA film. • The adhesion strength of the HA films with the Ti intermediate layer increased with decreasing thickness of the Ti layer.

  6. Sputter-deposited Mg-Al-O thin films: linking molecular dynamics simulations to experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Georgieva, V; Bogaerts, A; Saraiva, M; Depla, D; Jehanathan, N; Lebelev, O I

    2009-01-01

    Using a molecular dynamics model the crystallinity of Mg x Al y O z thin films with a variation in the stoichiometry of the thin film is studied at operating conditions similar to the experimental operating conditions of a dual magnetron sputter deposition system. The films are deposited on a crystalline or amorphous substrate. The Mg metal content in the film ranged from 100% (i.e. MgO film) to 0% (i.e. Al 2 O 3 film). The radial distribution function and density of the films are calculated. The results are compared with x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses of experimentally deposited thin films by the dual magnetron reactive sputtering process. Both simulation and experimental results show that the structure of the Mg-Al-O film varies from crystalline to amorphous when the Mg concentration decreases. It seems that the crystalline Mg-Al-O films have a MgO structure with Al atoms in between.

  7. Influence of oblique-angle sputtered transparent conducting oxides on performance of Si-based thin film solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leem, Jung Woo; Yu, Jae Su [Department of Electronics and Radio Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seocheon-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 446-701 (Korea, Republic of)

    2011-09-15

    The transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films with low-refractive-index (low-n) are fabricated by the oblique-angle sputtering method. By using the experimentally measured physical data of the fabricated low-n TCO films as the simulation parameters, the effect of low-n TCOs on the performance of a-Si:H/{mu}c-Si:H tandem thin film solar cells is investigated using Silvaco ATLAS. The Al-doped zinc oxide, indium tin oxide (ITO), and Sb-doped tin oxide films are deposited at the flux incidence angles of {theta}{sub i} = 0 (normal sputtering) and {theta}{sub i} = 80 from the sputtering target during the sputtering process. The oblique-angle sputtered films at {theta}{sub i} = 80 show the inclined columnar nanostructures compared to those at {theta}{sub i} = 0 , modifying the optical properties of the films. This is caused mainly by the increase of porosity within the film which leads to its low-n characteristics. The a-Si:H/{mu}c-Si:H tandem thin film solar cell incorporated with the low-n ITO film exhibits an improvement in the conversion efficiency of {proportional_to}1% under AM1.5g illumination because of its higher transmittance and lower absorption compared to that with the ITO film at {theta}{sub i} = 0 , indicating a conversion efficiency of 13.75%. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  8. Characterization of copper thin films prepared by metal self-ion beam sputter deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gotoh, Yasuhito; Amioka, Takao; Tsuji, Hiroshi; Ishikawa, Junzo

    1994-01-01

    New deposition technique, 'metal-ion beam self-sputtering' method has been developed. Using metal ions which is the same element with the target material, no contamination with noble gas atoms, which are often used in the conventional sputtering, will occur. In this paper, fundamental measurement of the film purity is reported. As a result of PIXE measurements, it was clarified that only slight amount of iron is incorporated in the films. (author)

  9. Indium--tin oxide films radio frequency sputtered from specially formulated high density indium--tin oxide targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kulkarni, S.; Bayard, M.

    1991-01-01

    High density ITO (indium--tin oxide) targets doped with Al 2 O 3 and SiO 2 manufactured in the Tektronix Ceramics Division have been used to rf sputter ITO films of various thicknesses on borosilicate glass substrates. Sputtering in an oxygen--argon gas mixture and annealing in forming gas, resulted in ITO films exhibiting 90% transmission at 550 nm and a sheet resistance of 15 Ω/sq for a thickness of 1100 A. Sputtering in an oxygen--argon gas mixture and annealing in air increased sheet resistance without a large effect on the transmission. Films sputtered in argon gas alone were transparent in the visible and the sheet resistance was found to be 100--180 Ω/sq for the same thickness, without annealing

  10. Characterization of Niobium Oxide Films Deposited by High Target Utilization Sputter Sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chow, R; Ellis, A D; Loomis, G E; Rana, S I

    2007-01-01

    High quality, refractory metal, oxide coatings are required in a variety of applications such as laser optics, micro-electronic insulating layers, nano-device structures, electro-optic multilayers, sensors and corrosion barriers. A common oxide deposition technique is reactive sputtering because the kinetic mechanism vaporizes almost any solid material in vacuum. Also, the sputtered molecules have higher energies than those generated from thermal evaporation, and so the condensates are smoother and denser than those from thermally-evaporated films. In the typical sputtering system, target erosion is a factor that drives machine availability. In some situations such as nano-layered capacitors, where the device's performance characteristics depends on thick layers, target life becomes a limiting factor on the maximizing device functionality. The keen interest to increase target utilization in sputtering has been addressed in a variety of ways such as target geometry, rotating magnets, and/or shaped magnet arrays. Also, a recent sputtering system has been developed that generates a high density plasma, directs the plasma beam towards the target in a uniform fashion, and erodes the target in a uniform fashion. The purpose of this paper is to characterize and compare niobia films deposited by two types of high target utilization sputtering sources, a rotating magnetron and a high density plasma source. The oxide of interest in this study is niobia because of its high refractive index. The quality of the niobia films were characterized spectroscopically in optical transmission, ellipsometrically, and chemical stoichiometry with X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy. The refractive index, extinction coefficients, Cauchy constants were derived from the ellipsometric modeling. The mechanical properties of coating density and stress are also determined

  11. Initial Growth Process of Magnetron Sputtering 321 Stainless Steel Films Observed by Afm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Yongzhong; Wu, Wei; Liu, Dongliang; Chen, Jian; Sun, Yali

    To investigate the initial morphological evolution of 321 stainless steel (SS) films, we examined the effect of sputtering time on the morphology of 321 SS film. In this study, a group of samples were prepared at nine different sputtering times within 20 s using radio-frequency (r.f.) magnetron sputtering and characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Only globular-like grains were formed on mica substrates within 6 s, whose average grain size is ~ 21-44 nm. Meanwhile, few grains with larger size are subject to settle at the defect sites of mica substrates. At 8 s, we found large columnar crystallites with the average grain size of 61 nm. From 10 to 14 s, islands grew continuously and coalesced in order to form an interconnected structure containing irregular channels or grooves, with a depth of ~ 3.5-5 nm. Up to 16 s, a nearly continuous film was formed and some new globular-like grains were again present on the film. Study of the AFM image at 20 s suggests that the watercolor masking method designed by us is an effective method, by which we can prepare thin films with steps for the measurement of the thickness of continuous thin films. It is also found that the coverage rate of films increases with the increase in sputtering time (from 2 to 16 s). On the other hand, the increase in root mean square (RMS) roughness is much more significant from 6 to 10 s, and there is a maximum value, 2.81 nm at 10 s due to more islands during deposition. However, RMS roughness decreases with the decrease in length and width of channels or grooves from 10 to 16 s. Especially, a lower RMS roughness of 0.73 nm occurs at 16 s, because of the continuous film produced with a large coverage rate of 98.43%.

  12. Sputtered thin films for high density tape recording

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nguyen, L.T.

    This thesis describes the investigation of sputtered thin film media for high density tape recording. As discussed in Chapter 1, to meet the tremendous demand of data storage, the density of recording tape has to be increased continuously. For further increasing the bit density the key factors are:

  13. Applying RF Magnetron sputtering to prepare ZnO thin films and their characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saad, M.; Kassis, A.

    2009-05-01

    ZnO thin films were prepared using Rf magnetron sputtering under several preparation conditions (different values of deposition pressure, Rf power, substrate temperature). The optical properties of these films were investigated by measuring their transmission in the spectral range (300-1000 nm), and the electrical properties were investigated by measuring their electrical resistance. Results have been discussed in terms of the modified Thornton model for sputtered thin metal oxide films. Preparation conditions for depositing the highly resistive transparent i-ZnO buffer layer and the highly conducting transparent n-ZnO window layer for solar cells were proposed. (author)

  14. A Mossbauer study of Kr incorporations in sputtered a-Si films

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rosu, M.F; Niesen, L; van Veen, A.; Sloof, W.G.

    1996-01-01

    Krypton atoms incorporated in sputtered a-silicon films are investigated by means of Kr-83 Mosssbauer spectroscopy. The hyperfine parameters of the (RbI)-Rb-83 source were determined by taking a spectrum against solid krypton. Mossbauer spectra were taken for films containing krypton concentrations

  15. Study on re-sputtering during CN{sub x} film deposition through spectroscopic diagnostics of plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liang, Peipei; Yang, Xu; Li, Hui; Cai, Hua [Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Sun, Jian; Xu, Ning [Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Ultra-Precision Optical Manufacturing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Wu, Jiada, E-mail: jdwu@fudan.edu.cn [Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Ultra-Precision Optical Manufacturing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China); Engineering Research Center of Advanced Lighting Technology, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China)

    2015-10-15

    A nitrogen-carbon plasma was generated during the deposition of carbon nitride (CN{sub x}) thin films by pulsed laser ablation of a graphite target in a discharge nitrogen plasma, and the optical emission of the generated nitrogen-carbon plasma was measured for the diagnostics of the plasma and the characterization of the process of CN{sub x} film deposition. The nitrogen-carbon plasma was recognized to contain various species including nitrogen molecules and molecular ions excited in the ambient N{sub 2} gas, carbon atoms and atomic ions ablated from the graphite target and CN radicals. The temporal evolution and spatial distribution of the CN emission and their dependence on the substrate bias voltage show two groups of CN radicals flying in opposite directions. One represents the CN radicals formed as the products of the reactions occurring in the nitrogen-carbon plasma, revealing the reactive deposition of CN{sub x} film due to the reactive expansion of the ablation carbon plasma in the discharge nitrogen plasma and the effective formation of gaseous CN radicals as precursors for CN{sub x} film growth. The other one represents the CN radicals re-sputtered from the growing CN{sub x} film by energetic plasma species, evidencing the re-sputtering of the growing film accompanying film growth. And, the re-sputtering presents ion-induced sputtering features.

  16. X-Ray diffraction analysis of thermally evaporated copper tin selenide thin films at different annealing temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Amirul Syafiq Mohd Yunos; Zainal Abidin Talib; Wan Mahmood Mat Yunus; Josephine Liew Ying Chyi; Wilfred Sylvester Paulus

    2010-01-01

    Semiconductor thin films Copper Tin Selenide, Cu 2 SnSe 3 , a potential compound for semiconductor radiation detector or solar cell applications were prepared by thermal evaporation method onto well-cleaned glass substrates. The as-deposited films were annealed in flowing purified nitrogen, N 2 , for 2 hours in the temperature range from 100 to 500 degree Celsius. The structure of as-deposited and annealed films has been studied by X-ray diffraction technique. The semi-quantitative analysis indicated from the Reitveld refinement show that the samples composed of Cu 2 SnSe 3 and SnSe. These studies revealed that the films were structured in mixed phase between cubic space group F-43 m (no. 216) and orthorhombic space group P n m a (no. 62). The crystallite size and lattice strain were determined from Scherrer calculation method. The results show that increasing in annealing temperature resulted in direct increase in crystallite size and decrease in lattice strain. (author)

  17. Fabrication and characterization of He-charged ODS-FeCrNi films deposited by a radio-frequency plasma magnetron sputtering technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Liang; Wang, Xianping; Wang, Le; Zhang, Ying; Liu, Wang; Jiang, Weibing; Zhang, Tao; Fang, Qianfeng; Liu, Changsong

    2017-04-01

    He-charged oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) FeCrNi films were prepared by a radio-frequency (RF) plasma magnetron sputtering method in a He and Ar mixed atmosphere at 150 °C. As a comparison, He-charged FeCrNi films were also fabricated at the same conditions through direct current (DC) plasma magnetron sputtering. The doping of He atoms and Y2O3 in the FeCrNi films was realized by the high backscattered rate of He ions and Y2O3/FeCrNi composite target sputtering method, respectively. Inductive coupled plasma (ICP) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirmed the existence of Y2O3 in FeCrNi films, and Y2O3 content hardly changed with sputtering He/Ar ratio. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the FeCrNi films were composed of dense columnar nanocrystallines and the thickness of the films was obviously dependent on He/Ar ratio. Nanoindentation measurements revealed that the FeCrNi films fabricated through DC/RF plasma magnetron sputtering methods exhibited similar hardness values at each He/Ar ratio, while the dispersion of Y2O3 apparently increased the hardness of the films. Elastic recoil detection (ERD) showed that DC/RF magnetron sputtered FeCrNi films contained similar He amounts (˜17 at.%). Compared with the minimal change of He level with depth in DC-sputtered films, the He amount decreases gradually in depth in the RF-sputtered films. The Y2O3-doped FeCrNi films were shown to exhibit much smaller amounts of He owing to the lower backscattering possibility of Y2O3 and the inhibition effect of nano-sized Y2O3 particles on the He element.

  18. Polarity inversion of AlN film grown on nitrided a-plane sapphire substrate with pulsed DC reactive sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marsetio Noorprajuda

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The effect of oxygen partial pressure (PO2 on polarity and crystalline quality of AlN films grown on nitrided a-plane sapphire substrates by pulsed direct current (DC reactive sputtering was investigated as a fundamental study. The polarity inversion of AlN from nitrogen (−c-polarity to aluminum (+c-polarity occurred during growth at a high PO2 of 9.4×103 Pa owing to Al-O octahedral formation at the interface of nitrided layer and AlN sputtered film which reset the polarity of AlN. The top part of the 1300 nm-thick AlN film sputtered at the high PO2 was polycrystallized. The crystalline quality was improved owing to the high kinetic energy of Al sputtered atom in the sputtering phenomena. Thinner AlN films were also fabricated at the high PO2 to eliminate the polycrystallization. For the 200 nm-thick AlN film sputtered at the high PO2, the full width at half-maximum values of the AlN (0002 and (10−12 X-ray diffraction rocking curves were 47 and 637 arcsec, respectively.

  19. Thin films preparation of the Ti-Al-O system by rf-sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montes de Oca, J. A.; Ceballos A, J.; Galaviz P, J.; Manaud, J. P.; Lahaye, M.; Munoz S, J.

    2010-01-01

    In the present work Ti-Al-O thin films were synthesized by rf-sputtering technique on glass and silicon (Si) substrates using Ti Al and Ti 3 Al targets in a sputtering chamber with an Ar-O 2 atmosphere. Ti-Al-O thin films were obtained varying experimental parameters such as oxygen percent fed to the reaction chamber, plasma power density and substrate temperature. The films deposited on glass substrates were used to evaluate their optical properties, while those deposited on Si substrates were used to evaluate mechanical and morphological properties. The crystalline structure, morphology, chemical composition and optical properties of the films were evaluated by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, Auger electron microscopy and visible UV spectroscopy. Films thicknesses were measured using a profiler. The roughness and mechanical properties such as hardness and Young modulus were analyzed by atomic force microscopy and nano indentation technique, respectively. (Author)

  20. High quality aluminium doped zinc oxide target synthesis from nanoparticulate powder and characterisation of sputtered thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Isherwood, P.J.M., E-mail: P.J.M.Isherwood@lboro.ac.uk [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Neves, N. [Innovnano, S. A., Rua Coimbra Inovação Parque, IParque Lote 13, 3040-570 Antanhol, Coimbra (Portugal); Bowers, J.W. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Newbatt, P. [Innovnano, S. A., Rua Coimbra Inovação Parque, IParque Lote 13, 3040-570 Antanhol, Coimbra (Portugal); Walls, J.M. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

    2014-09-01

    Nanoparticulate aluminium-doped zinc oxide powder was synthesised through detonation and subsequent rapid quenching of metallic precursors. This technique allows for precise compositional control and rapid nanoparticle production. The resulting powder was used to form sputter targets, which were used to deposit thin films by radio frequency sputtering. These films show excellent sheet resistance and transmission values for a wide range of deposition temperatures. Crystal structure analysis shows that crystals in the target have a random orientation, whereas the crystals in the films grow perpendicular to the substrate surface and propagate preferentially along the (002) axis. Higher temperature deposition reduces crystal quality with a corresponding decrease in refractive index and an increase in sheet resistance. Films deposited between room temperature and 300 °C were found to have sheet resistances equivalent to or better than indium tin oxide films for a given average transmission value. - Highlights: • Nanoparticulate AZO powder was used to produce sputter targets. • The powder synthesis technique allows for precise compositional control. • Sputtered films show excellent optical, electronic and structural properties. • High temperature films show reduced electrical and structural quality. • For a given transmission, films show equivalent sheet resistances to ITO.

  1. Deposition of nanostructured fluorocarbon plasma polymer films by RF magnetron sputtering of polytetrafluoroethylene

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kylian, Ondrej, E-mail: ondrej.kylian@gmail.com; Drabik, Martin; Polonskyi, Oleksandr; Cechvala, Juraj; Artemenko, Anna; Gordeev, Ivan; Choukourov, Andrei; Matolinova, Iva; Slavinska, Danka; Biederman, Hynek, E-mail: bieder@kmf.troja.mff.cuni.cz

    2011-07-29

    The RF magnetron sputtering of polytetrafluoroethylene target is studied with the aim to find out conditions leading to the deposition of super-hydrophobic thin films. It is shown that such coatings can be prepared at elevated pressures and a longer distance between the sputtered target and the substrate. This is explained by an increase in the density of longer C{sub x}F{sub y} molecules that reach the substrate and a lower flux of ions and CF{sub 2} radicals on the surface of growing film under such deposition conditions, as observed by optical emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Such changes in plasma composition result in a deposition of rough films having F/C ratio close to 2 as observed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. These findings clearly distinguish our results from the previous investigations of polytetrafluoroethylene sputtering performed at shorter distances from the target, where either low F/C ratio or low roughness of the deposited films did not allow reaching super-hydrophobic character of the coatings.

  2. RHEED oscillations in spinel ferrite epitaxial films grown by conventional planar magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ojima, T.; Tainosho, T.; Sharmin, S.; Yanagihara, H.

    2018-04-01

    Real-time in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) observations of Fe3O4, γ-Fe2O3, and (Co,Fe)3O4 films on MgO(001) substrates grown by a conventional planar magnetron sputtering was studied. The change in periodical intensity of the specular reflection spot in the RHEED images of three different spinel ferrite compounds grown by two different sputtering systems was examined. The oscillation period was found to correspond to the 1/4 unit cell of each spinel ferrite, similar to that observed in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) experiments. This suggests that the layer-by-layer growth of spinel ferrite (001) films is general in most physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes. The surfaces of the films were as flat as the surface of the substrate, consistent with the observed layer-by-layer growth process. The observed RHEED oscillation indicates that even a conventional sputtering method can be used to control film thickness during atomic layer depositions.

  3. RHEED oscillations in spinel ferrite epitaxial films grown by conventional planar magnetron sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Ojima

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Real-time in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED observations of Fe3O4, γ-Fe2O3, and (Co,Fe3O4 films on MgO(001 substrates grown by a conventional planar magnetron sputtering was studied. The change in periodical intensity of the specular reflection spot in the RHEED images of three different spinel ferrite compounds grown by two different sputtering systems was examined. The oscillation period was found to correspond to the 1/4 unit cell of each spinel ferrite, similar to that observed in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE and pulsed laser deposition (PLD experiments. This suggests that the layer-by-layer growth of spinel ferrite (001 films is general in most physical vapor deposition (PVD processes. The surfaces of the films were as flat as the surface of the substrate, consistent with the observed layer-by-layer growth process. The observed RHEED oscillation indicates that even a conventional sputtering method can be used to control film thickness during atomic layer depositions.

  4. Linear electro-optic effect in sputtered polycrystalline LiNbO3 films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffel, G.; Ruschin, S.; Croitoru, N.

    1989-04-01

    Light guiding and modulation was demonstrated in sputtered LiNbO3 films deposited on glass substrates. We report on films' exceptionally low attenuation (<2 dB/cm) and the highest electro-optical coefficient reported so far for this kind of film (1.34×10-12 m/V).

  5. Substrate dependent hierarchical structures of RF sputtered ZnS films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalana, S. R.; Mahadevan Pillai, V. P.

    2018-05-01

    RF magnetron sputtering technique was employed to fabricate ZnS nanostructures with special emphasis given to study the effect of substrates (quartz, glass and quartz substrate pre-coated with Au, Ag, Cu and Pt) on the structure, surface evolution and optical properties. Type of substrate has a significant influence on the crystalline phase, film morphology, thickness and surface roughness. The present study elucidates the suitability of quartz substrate for the deposition of stable and highly crystalline ZnS films. We found that the role of metal layer on quartz substrate is substantial in the preparation of hierarchical ZnS structures and these structures are of great importance due to its high specific area and potential applications in various fields. A mechanism for morphological evolution of ZnS structures is also presented based on the roughness of substrates and primary nonlocal effects in sputtering. Furthermore, the findings suggest that a controlled growth of hierarchical ZnS structures may be achieved with an ordinary RF sputtering technique by changing the substrate type.

  6. Investigation of blister formation in sputtered Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} absorbers for thin film solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bras, Patrice, E-mail: patrice.bras@angstrom.uu.se [Midsummer AB, Elektronikhöjden 6, SE-17543 Järfälla, Sweden and Solid State Electronics, Angström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Box 534, SE-75121 Uppsala (Sweden); Sterner, Jan [Midsummer AB, Elektronikhöjden 6, SE-17543 Järfälla (Sweden); Platzer-Björkman, Charlotte [Solid State Electronics, Angström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Box 534, SE-75121 Uppsala (Sweden)

    2015-11-15

    Blister formation in Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} (CZTS) thin films sputtered from a quaternary compound target is investigated. While the thin film structure, composition, and substrate material are not correlated to the blister formation, a strong link between sputtering gas entrapment, in this case argon, and blistering effect is found. It is shown that argon is trapped in the film during sputtering and migrates to locally form blisters during the high temperature annealing. Blister formation in CZTS absorbers is detrimental for thin film solar cell fabrication causing partial peeling of the absorber layer and potential shunt paths in the complete device. Reduced sputtering gas entrapment, and blister formation, is seen for higher sputtering pressure, higher substrate temperature, and change of sputtering gas to larger atoms. This is all in accordance with previous publications on blister formation caused by sputtering gas entrapment in other materials.

  7. Nanocrystalline magnetite thin films grown by dual ion-beam sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prieto, Pilar; Ruiz, Patricia; Ferrer, Isabel J.; Figuera, Juan de la; Marco, José F.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We have grown tensile and compressive strained nanocrystalline magnetite thin films by dual ion beam sputtering. • The magnetic and thermoelectric properties can be controlled by the deposition conditions. • The magnetic anisotropy depends on the crystalline grain size. • The thermoelectric properties depend on the type of strain induced in the films. • In plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy develops in magnetite thin films with grain sizes ⩽20 nm. - Abstract: We have explored the influence of an ion-assisted beam in the thermoelectric and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline magnetite thin films grown by ion-beam sputtering. The microstructure has been investigated by XRD. Tensile and compressive strained thin films have been obtained as a function of the parameters of the ion-assisted beam. The evolution of the in-plane magnetic anisotropy was attributed to crystalline grain size. In some films, magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements reveal the existence of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy induced by the deposition process related with a small grain size (⩽20 nm). Isotropic magnetic properties have observed in nanocrystalline magnetite thin film having larger grain sizes. The largest power factor of all the films prepared (0.47 μW/K 2 cm), obtained from a Seebeck coefficient of −80 μV/K and an electrical resistivity of 13 mΩ cm, is obtained in a nanocrystalline magnetite thin film with an expanded out-of-plane lattice and with a grain size ≈30 nm

  8. Chemical mechanical polishing characteristics of ITO thin film prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Kang-Yeon; Choi, Gwon-Woo; Kim, Yong-Jae; Choi, Youn-Ok; Kim, Nam-Oh

    2012-01-01

    Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin films have attracted intensive interest because of their unique properties of good conductivity, high optical transmittance over the visible region and easy patterning ability. ITO thin films have found many applications in anti-static coatings, thermal heaters, solar cells, flat panel displays (FPDs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescent devices, sensors and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). ITO thin films are generally fabricated by using various methods, such as spraying, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), evaporation, electron gun deposition, direct current electroplating, high frequency sputtering, and reactive sputtering. In this research, ITO films were grown on glass substrates by using a radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method. In order to achieve a high transmittance and a low resistivity, we examined the various film deposition conditions, such as substrate temperature, working pressure, annealing temperature, and deposition time. Next, in order to improve the surface quality of the ITO thin films, we performed a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) with different process parameters and compared the electrical and the optical properties of the polished ITO thin films. The best CMP conditions with a high removal rate, low nonuniformity, low resistivity and high transmittance were as follows: platen speed, head speed, polishing time, and slurry flow rate of 30 rpm, 30 rpm, 60 sec, and 60 ml/min, respectively.

  9. Structure and soft magnetic properties of sputter deposited MnZn-ferrite films

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gillies, M.F.; Coehoorn, R.; van Zon, J.B.A.D.; Alders, D.

    1998-01-01

    In this paper we report the soft magnetic properties of thin films of sputtered MnZn ferrite deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates. A high deposition temperature, 600¿°C, together with the addition of water vapor to the sputtering gas was found to improve the initial ac permeability, µ. The

  10. Microstructure of thin film platinum electrodes on yttrium stabilized zirconia prepared by sputter deposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toghan, Arafat, E-mail: arafat.toghan@pci.uni-hannover.de [Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3-3a, D-30167 Hannover (Germany); Khodari, M. [Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, 83523 (Egypt); Steinbach, F.; Imbihl, R. [Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Leibniz University of Hannover, Callinstrasse 3-3a, D-30167 Hannover (Germany)

    2011-09-01

    (111) oriented thin film Pt electrodes were prepared on single crystals of yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) by sputter deposition of platinum. The electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and by profilometry. SEM images of the as-sputtered platinum film show a compact amorphous Pt film covering uniformly the substrate. Upon annealing at 1123 K, gaps and pores at the interface develop leading to a partial dewetting of the Pt film. Increasing the annealing temperature to 1373 K transforms the polycrystalline Pt film into single crystalline grains exhibiting a (111) orientation towards the substrate.

  11. Experimental investigation on photoelectric properties of ZAO thin film deposited on flexible substrate by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hao, Ming [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, 3-11 WenHua Rd., 319#, Shenyang, 110004 (China); Liu, Kun, E-mail: kliu@mail.neu.edu.cn [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, 3-11 WenHua Rd., 319#, Shenyang, 110004 (China); Liu, Xinghua [Hubei Aerospace Industry Technology Academe Special Vehicle Technology Center, Wuhan (China); Wang, Dongyang; Ba, Dechun; Xie, Yuanhua; Du, Guangyu; Ba, Yaoshuai [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, 3-11 WenHua Rd., 319#, Shenyang, 110004 (China)

    2016-12-01

    Highlights: • ZAO thin films were deposited on PET substrate. • A set of experimental parameters were systematically investigated. • Change rule of film photoelectric properties was obtained. • ZAO films with optimal properties were obtained at our working conditions. - Abstract: Transparent conductive ZAO (Zinc Aluminum Oxide) films on flexible substrates have a great potential for low-cost mass-production solar cells. ZAO thin films were achieved on flexible PET (polyethylene terephthalate) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technology. The surface morphology and element content, the transmittance and the sheet resistance of the films were measured to determine the optical process parameters. The results show that the ZAO thin film shows the best parameters in terms of photoelectric performance including sputtering power, working pressure, sputtering time, substrate temperature (100 W, 1.5 Pa, 60 min, 125 °C). The sheet resistance of 510 Ω and transmittance in visible region of 92% were obtained after characterization. Surface morphology was uniform and compact with a good crystal grain.

  12. Experimental investigation on photoelectric properties of ZAO thin film deposited on flexible substrate by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hao, Ming; Liu, Kun; Liu, Xinghua; Wang, Dongyang; Ba, Dechun; Xie, Yuanhua; Du, Guangyu; Ba, Yaoshuai

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • ZAO thin films were deposited on PET substrate. • A set of experimental parameters were systematically investigated. • Change rule of film photoelectric properties was obtained. • ZAO films with optimal properties were obtained at our working conditions. - Abstract: Transparent conductive ZAO (Zinc Aluminum Oxide) films on flexible substrates have a great potential for low-cost mass-production solar cells. ZAO thin films were achieved on flexible PET (polyethylene terephthalate) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technology. The surface morphology and element content, the transmittance and the sheet resistance of the films were measured to determine the optical process parameters. The results show that the ZAO thin film shows the best parameters in terms of photoelectric performance including sputtering power, working pressure, sputtering time, substrate temperature (100 W, 1.5 Pa, 60 min, 125 °C). The sheet resistance of 510 Ω and transmittance in visible region of 92% were obtained after characterization. Surface morphology was uniform and compact with a good crystal grain.

  13. Microstructure and tri biological properties of sputtered NbTex thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kassem, M.; Langlade, C.; Fayeulle, S.; Mathy, Y.; Pailharey, D.

    1997-01-01

    Thin NbTex films were deposited on steel by sputtering. Annealing was performed at several temperatures. Phase transition phenomena were analysed by X-ray diffraction (0-20 and grazing incidence). Depending on the conditions (Sputtering and annealing) the structure of the films changed from the NbTe2 (Two-dimensional) to the Nb3Te4 (Three-dimensional with linear channels) structural type and the intercalation of Te of Nb atoms within the parent structures was suggested. Films were evaluated under fretting conditions at 1 Hz in a dry environment. The displacement was ± 50 μ m and the contact pressure was 300 MPa. Friction coefficients were low, ranging from 0.08 to 0.18 depending on the film structure. The classical dependence of friction coefficient on pressure, well known for solid lubricants, was observed for NbTe2. Thickness and annealing temperature were shown to have a major effect of endurance. (author). 21 Refs., 7 Figs

  14. Preparation and characterization of sputtered Fe1-xN x films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Easton, E. Bradley; Buhrmester, Th.; Dahn, J.R.

    2005-01-01

    Iron nitride films have been prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. The composition of Fe 1-x N x was varied over a range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5 by controlling the nitrogen flow rate during sputtering. These films were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and electron microprobe analysis. We found that the nitrogen content in the films increased with nitrogen gas partial pressure. XRD experiments revealed an evolution through the α-Fe, γ'-Fe 4 N, ε-Fe 2+z N, ζ-Fe 2 N, γ'''-FeN and γ'-FeN phases, when the nitrogen gas mole percentage was increased from 0% up to 70%. Above 70%, only the γ'-FeN phase was formed despite a measurable increase in the nitrogen content of the film with nitrogen gas partial pressure. Rietveld analysis of powder X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that this behavior is due to an increase in the nitrogen site occupation factor within the lattice

  15. Structural and magnetic properties of NiZn-ferrite thin films prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Yingli; Li Yuanxun; Zhang Huaiwu; Chen Daming; Mu Chunhong

    2011-01-01

    Polycrystalline NiZn-ferrite thin films were deposited on Si(100) substrate by rf magnetron sputtering, using targets with a nominal composition of Ni 0.5 Zn 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 . The effects of substrate condition, sputtering pressure, and postannealing on the structure and magnetic properties of thin films have been investigated. Our results show that the preferred orientation of the NiZn spinel film changed from (311) to (400) with increasing the Ar pressure from 0.8 to 1.6 Pa, meanwhile, the grain size also increased. Atomic force microscopy analysis indicates that perfect surface morphology of the film can be obtained at a relatively lower sputtering pressure of 1.0 Pa. The relative percentage of residual oxygen increases significantly on a condition of lower sputtering pressure, and plays an important role in film structure due to the strong molecular adsorption tendency of oxygen on the film surface during the deposition process. A thin film with a typical thickness of 1 μm, a saturation magnetization of 150 emu/cm 3 , and a coercivity of 8.8 kA/m has been obtained after annealing at 800 deg. C, which has the potential application in magnetic integrated circuits.

  16. Aluminum oxide films deposited in low pressure conditions by reactive pulsed dc magnetron sputtering

    CERN Document Server

    Seino, T

    2002-01-01

    The reactive pulsed dc sputtering technique is widely used for the deposition of oxide films. The operating pressure for sputtering is commonly above 0.13 Pa. In this study, however, aluminum oxide (alumina) films were deposited at operating pressures from 0.06 to 0.4 Pa using a sputtering system equipped with a scanning magnetron cathode and a pulsed dc power supply. The pulsed dc power was found to be useful not only to reduce arcing, but also to sustain the discharge at low pressure. The electrical breakdown field, intrinsic stress, O/Al ratio, refractive index, and surface roughness were investigated. Both a low intrinsic stress and an O/Al ratio around the stoichiometry were required to get the film having a high breakdown field. A low operating pressure of 0.1 Pa was found to provide the necessary stress and O/Al ratio targets. A 50-nm-thick alumina film having a maximum breakdown field of 7.4 MV/cm was obtained.

  17. Sputter-Deposited Indium–Tin Oxide Thin Films for Acetaldehyde Gas Sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Umut Cindemir

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Reactive dual-target DC magnetron sputtering was used to prepare In–Sn oxide thin films with a wide range of compositions. The films were subjected to annealing post-treatment at 400 °C or 500 °C for different periods of time. Compositional and structural characterizations were performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering and scanning electron microscopy. Films were investigated for gas sensing at 200 °C by measuring their resistance response upon exposure to acetaldehyde mixed with synthetic air. We found that the relative indium-to-tin content was very important and that measurable sensor responses could be recorded at acetaldehyde concentrations down to 200 ppb, with small resistance drift between repeated exposures, for both crystalline SnO2-like films and for amorphous films consisting of about equal amounts of In and Sn. We also demonstrated that it is not possible to prepare crystalline sensors with intermediate indium-to-tin compositions by sputter deposition and post-annealing up to 500 °C.

  18. Growth and surface characterization of sputter-deposited molybdenum oxide thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramana, C.V. [Nanoscience and Surface Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)]. E-mail: ramanacv@umich.edu; Atuchin, V.V. [Laboratory of Optical Materials and Structures, Institute of Semiconductor Physics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Kesler, V.G. [Technical Centre, Institute of Semiconductor Physics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Kochubey, V.A. [Laboratory of Optical Materials and Structures, Institute of Semiconductor Physics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Pokrovsky, L.D. [Laboratory of Optical Materials and Structures, Institute of Semiconductor Physics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Shutthanandan, V. [Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352 (United States); Becker, U. [Nanoscience and Surface Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Ewing, R.C. [Nanoscience and Surface Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)

    2007-04-15

    Molybdenum oxide thin films were produced by magnetron sputtering using a molybdenum (Mo) target. The sputtering was performed in a reactive atmosphere of an argon-oxygen gas mixture under varying conditions of substrate temperature (T {sub s}) and oxygen partial pressure (pO{sub 2}). The effect of T {sub s} and pO{sub 2} on the growth and microstructure of molybdenum oxide films was examined in detail using reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. The analyses indicate that the effect of T {sub s} and pO{sub 2} on the microstructure and phase of the grown molybdenum oxide thin films is remarkable. RHEED and RBS results indicate that the films grown at 445 deg. C under 62.3% O{sub 2} pressure were stoichiometric and polycrystalline MoO{sub 3}. Films grown at lower pO{sub 2} were non-stoichiometric MoO {sub x} films with the presence of secondary phase. The microstructure of the grown Mo oxide films is discussed and conditions were optimized to produce phase pure, stoichiometric, and highly textured polycrystalline MoO{sub 3} films.

  19. Superconducting oxide thin films by ion beam sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kobrin, P.H.; DeNatale, J.F.; Housley, R.M.; Flintoff, J.F.; Harker, A.B.

    1987-01-01

    Superconducting thin films of ternary copper oxides from the Y-Ba-Cu-O and La-Sr-Cu-O systems have been deposited by ion beam sputtering of ceramic targets. Crystallographic orientation of the polycrystalline films has been shown to vary with substrate identity, deposition temperature and annealing temperature. The onset of the superconductive transition occurs near 90K in the Y-Ba-Cu-O system. Fe impurities of < 0.2% have been found to inhibit the superconducting transition, probably by migrating to the grain boundaries

  20. Experimental investigation on photoelectric properties of ZAO thin film deposited on flexible substrate by magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Ming; Liu, Kun; Liu, Xinghua; Wang, Dongyang; Ba, Dechun; Xie, Yuanhua; Du, Guangyu; Ba, Yaoshuai

    2016-12-01

    Transparent conductive ZAO (Zinc Aluminum Oxide) films on flexible substrates have a great potential for low-cost mass-production solar cells. ZAO thin films were achieved on flexible PET (polyethylene terephthalate) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technology. The surface morphology and element content, the transmittance and the sheet resistance of the films were measured to determine the optical process parameters. The results show that the ZAO thin film shows the best parameters in terms of photoelectric performance including sputtering power, working pressure, sputtering time, substrate temperature (100 W, 1.5 Pa, 60 min, 125 °C). The sheet resistance of 510 Ω and transmittance in visible region of 92% were obtained after characterization. Surface morphology was uniform and compact with a good crystal grain.

  1. Near band edge emission characteristics of sputtered nano-crystalline ZnO films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunj, Saurabh; Sreenivas, K.

    2016-01-01

    Sputtered zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films deposited on unheated glass substrate under different sputtering gas mixtures (Ar+O_2) have been investigated using X-ray diffraction and photo luminescence spectroscopy. Earlier reported studies on ZnO films prepared by different techniques exhibit either a sharp/broad near band edge (NBE) emission peak depending on the crystalline quality of the film. In the present study zinc oxide films, grown on unheated substrates, are seen to possess a preferred (002) orientation with a microstructure consisting of clustered nano-sized crystallites. The splitting in the near band edge emission (NBE) into three characteristic peaks is attributed to quantum confinement effect, and is observed specifically under an excitation of 270 nm. Deep level emission (DLE) in the range 400 to 700 nm is not observed indicating absence of deep level radiative defects.

  2. Near band edge emission characteristics of sputtered nano-crystalline ZnO films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunj, Saurabh; Sreenivas, K.

    2016-05-01

    Sputtered zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films deposited on unheated glass substrate under different sputtering gas mixtures (Ar+O2) have been investigated using X-ray diffraction and photo luminescence spectroscopy. Earlier reported studies on ZnO films prepared by different techniques exhibit either a sharp/broad near band edge (NBE) emission peak depending on the crystalline quality of the film. In the present study zinc oxide films, grown on unheated substrates, are seen to possess a preferred (002) orientation with a microstructure consisting of clustered nano-sized crystallites. The splitting in the near band edge emission (NBE) into three characteristic peaks is attributed to quantum confinement effect, and is observed specifically under an excitation of 270 nm. Deep level emission (DLE) in the range 400 to 700 nm is not observed indicating absence of deep level radiative defects.

  3. Near band edge emission characteristics of sputtered nano-crystalline ZnO films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kunj, Saurabh; Sreenivas, K. [Department of Physics & Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007 INDIA (India)

    2016-05-06

    Sputtered zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films deposited on unheated glass substrate under different sputtering gas mixtures (Ar+O{sub 2}) have been investigated using X-ray diffraction and photo luminescence spectroscopy. Earlier reported studies on ZnO films prepared by different techniques exhibit either a sharp/broad near band edge (NBE) emission peak depending on the crystalline quality of the film. In the present study zinc oxide films, grown on unheated substrates, are seen to possess a preferred (002) orientation with a microstructure consisting of clustered nano-sized crystallites. The splitting in the near band edge emission (NBE) into three characteristic peaks is attributed to quantum confinement effect, and is observed specifically under an excitation of 270 nm. Deep level emission (DLE) in the range 400 to 700 nm is not observed indicating absence of deep level radiative defects.

  4. Reactive sputtering of TiN films at large substrate to target distances

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Musil, J.; Kadlec, S.

    1990-01-01

    This paper is a critical review of the present status of the magnetron ion sputter plating of thin CiN films. Thus different possibilities of extracting high ion currents 1 s from the magnetron discharge to substrates located not only at standard target to substrate distances d S-T of about 50 mm but also at larger distances d S-T are discussed in detail. Special attention is devoted to magnetron sputtering systems with enhanced ionization, to plasma confinement in the magnetron sputtering systems and to the discharge characteristics of an unbalanced magnetron (UM). It is shown that a UM can be operated in the regime of a double-site-sustained discharge (DSSD) and in this case large 1 s can be extracted to substrates located in large D S-T of about 200 mm and even at high pressures p = 5 Pa. A physical comparison of the conventional magnetron (CM), UM and DSSD is also given. Considerable attention is also devoted to the effect of ion bombardment on properties of TiN films created in the sputtering system using DSSD. (author)

  5. The microstructure and properties of titanium dioxide films synthesized by unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leng, Y.X.; Chen, J.Y.; Yang, P.; Sun, H.; Huang, N.

    2007-01-01

    In this work, titanium oxide films were deposited on Ti6Al4V and Si (1 0 0) by DC unbalanced magnetron sputtering method at different oxygen pressure. X-ray diffraction (XRD), microhardness tests, pin-on-disk wear experiments, surface contact angle tests and platelet adhesion investigation were conducted to evaluate the properties of the films. The corrosion behavior of titanium dioxide films was characterized by potentiodynamic polarization. The results showed that titanium oxide films deposited by unbalance magnetron sputtering were compact and could obviously enhance microhardness, wear resistance of titanium alloy substrate. Potentiodynamic polarization curves showed that Ti-6Al-4V deposited with titanium dioxide films had lower dissolution currents than that of the uncoated one. The results of in vitro hemocompatibility analyses indicated that the blood compatibility of the titanium dioxide films with bandgap 3.2 eV have better blood compatibility

  6. Growth and surface morphology of ion-beam sputtered Ti-Ni thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, Ambati Pulla; Sunandana, C.S.

    2008-01-01

    Titanium-nickel thin films have been deposited on float glass substrates by ion beam sputtering in 100% pure argon atmosphere. Sputtering is predominant at energy region of incident ions, 1000 eV to 100 keV. The as-deposited films were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). In this paper we attempted to study the surface morphology and elemental composition through AFM and XPS, respectively. Core level as well as valence band spectra of ion-beam sputtered Ti-Ni thin films at various Ar gas rates (5, 7 and 12 sccm) show that the thin film deposited at 3 sccm possess two distinct peaks at binding energies 458.55 eV and 464.36 eV mainly due to TiO 2 . Upon increasing Ar rate oxidation of Ti-Ni is reduced and the Ti-2p peaks begin approaching those of pure elemental Ti. Here Ti-2p peaks are observed at binding energy positions of 454.7 eV and 460.5 eV. AFM results show that the average grain size and roughness decrease, upon increasing Ar gas rate, from 2.90 μm to 0.096 μm and from 16.285 nm to 1.169 nm, respectively

  7. Preparation of Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 Thin Films by Plasma-Assisted Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hioki, Tsuyoshi; Akiyama, Masahiko; Ueda, Tomomasa; Onozuka, Yutaka; Suzuki, Kouji

    1999-09-01

    A novel plasma-assisted RF magnetron sputtering system with an immersed coil antenna between a target and a substrate was applied for preparing Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films. The antenna enabled the generation of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) independently of the target RF source. The plasma assisted by the antenna resulted in the changes of ion fluxes and these energy distributions irradiating to the substrate. The crystalline phase of the deposited PZT thin films was occupied by the perovskite phase depending on the antenna power. In addition, a high deposition rate, modified uniformity of film thickness, and a dense film structure with large columnar grains were obtained as a result of effects of the assisted plasma. The application of the plasma-assisted sputtering method may enable the preparation of PZT thin films that haveexcellent properties.

  8. Microstructural evaluation of NiTi-based films deposited by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crăciunescu, Corneliu M., E-mail: corneliu.craciunescu@upt.ro; Mitelea, Ion, E-mail: corneliu.craciunescu@upt.ro; Budău, Victor, E-mail: corneliu.craciunescu@upt.ro [Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Politehnica University of Timisoara (Romania); Ercuţa, Aurel [Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Politehnica University of Timisoara and Department of Physics, West University Timisoara (Romania)

    2014-11-24

    Shape memory alloy films belonging to the NiTi-based systems were deposited on heated and unheated substrates, by magnetron sputtering in a custom made system, and their structure and composition was analyzed using electron microscopy. Several substrates were used for the depositions: glass, Cu-Zn-Al, Cu-Al-Ni and Ti-NiCu shape memory alloy ribbons and kapton. The composition of the Ti-Ni-Cu films showed limited differences, compared to the one of the target and the microstructure for the DC magnetron sputtering revealed crystallized structure with features determined on peel off samples from a Si wafer. Both inter and transcrystalline fractures were observed and related to the interfacial stress developed on cooling from deposition temperature.

  9. Investigation of the optical property and structure of WO3 thin films with different sputtering depositions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hsi-Chao; Jan, Der-Jun; Chen, Chien-Han; Huang, Kuo-Ting; Lo, Yen-Ming; Chen, Sheng-Hui

    2011-09-01

    The purpose of this research was to compare the optical properties and structure of tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films that was deposited by different sputtering depositions. WO3 thin films deposited by two different depositions of direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering and pulsed DC sputtering. A 99.95% WO3 target was used as the starting material for these depositions. These WO3 thin films were deposited on the ITO glass, PET and silicon substrate by different ratios of oxygen and argon. A shadow moiré interferometer would be introduced to measure the residual stress for PET substrate. RF magnetron sputtering had the large residual stress than the other's depositions. A Raman spectrum could exhibit the phase of oxidation of WO3 thin film by different depositions. At the ratio of oxygen and argon was about 1:1, and the WO3 thin films had the best oxidation. However, it was important at the change of the transmittance (ΔT = Tbleached - Tcolored) between the coloring and bleaching for the smart window. Therefore, we also found the WO3 thin films had the large variation of transmittance between the coloring and bleaching at the gas ratios of oxygen and argon of 1:1.

  10. Transparent conducting thin films by co-sputtering of ZnO-ITO targets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carreras, Paz; Antony, Aldrin; Roldan, Ruben; Nos, Oriol; Frigeri, Paolo Antonio; Asensi, Jose Miguel; Bertomeu, Joan [Grup d' Energia Solar, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)

    2010-04-15

    Transparent and conductive Zn-In-Sn-O (ZITO) amorphous thin films have been deposited at room temperature by the rf magnetron co-sputtering of ITO and ZnO targets. Co-sputtering gives the possibility to deposit multicomponent oxide thin films with different compositions by varying the power to one of the targets. In order to make ZITO films with different Zn content, a constant rf power of 50 W was used for the ITO target, where as the rf power to ZnO target was varied from 25 W to 150 W. The as deposited films showed an increase in Zn content ratio from 17 to 67% as the power to ZnO target was increased from 25 to 150 W. The structural, electrical and optical properties of the as deposited films are reported. The films showed an average transmittance over 80% in the visible wavelength range. The electrical resistivity and optical band gap of the ZITO films were found to depend on the Zn content in the film. The ZITO films deposited at room temperature with lower Zn content ratios showed better optical transmission and electrical properties compared to ITO film. (copyright 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  11. High quality TmIG films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy grown by sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, C. N.; Tseng, C. C.; Yeh, S. L.; Lin, K. Y.; Cheng, C. K.; Fanchiang, Y. T.; Hong, M.; Kwo, J.

    Ferrimagnetic thulium iron garnet (TmIG) films grown on gadolinium gallium garnet substrates recently showed stress-induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), attractive for realization of quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) of topological insulator (TI) films via the proximity effect. Moreover, current induced magnetization switching of Pt/TmIG has been demonstrated for the development of room temperature (RT) spintronic devices. In this work, high quality TmIG films (about 25nm) were grown by sputtering at RT followed by post-annealing. We showed that the film composition is tunable by varying the growth parameters. The XRD results showed excellent crystallinity of stoichiometric TmIG films with an out-of-plane lattice constant of 1.2322nm, a narrow film rocking curve of 0.017 degree, and a film roughness of 0.2 nm. The stoichiometric films exhibited PMA and the saturation magnetization at RT was 109 emu/cm3 (RT bulk value 110 emu/cm3) with a coercive field of 2.7 Oe. In contrast, TmIG films of Fe deficiency showed in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The high quality sputtered TmIG films will be applied to heterostructures with TIs or metals with strong spin-orbit coupling for novel spintronics.

  12. Control of composition and crystallinity in hydroxyapatite films deposited by electron cyclotron resonance plasma sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akazawa, Housei; Ueno, Yuko

    2014-01-01

    Hydroxyapatite (HAp) films were deposited by electron cyclotron resonance plasma sputtering under a simultaneous flow of H2O vapor gas. Crystallization during sputter-deposition at elevated temperatures and solid-phase crystallization of amorphous films were compared in terms of film properties. When HAp films were deposited with Ar sputtering gas at temperatures above 460 °C, CaO byproducts precipitated with HAp crystallites. Using Xe instead of Ar resolved the compositional problem, yielding a single HAp phase. Preferentially c-axis-oriented HAp films were obtained at substrate temperatures between 460 and 500 °C and H2O pressures higher than 1×10-2 Pa. The absorption signal of the asymmetric stretching mode of the PO43- unit (ν3) in the Fourier-transform infrared absorption (FT-IR) spectra was the narrowest for films as-crystallized during deposition with Xe, but widest for solid-phase crystallized films. While the symmetric stretching mode of PO43- (ν1) is theoretically IR-inactive, this signal emerged in the FT-IR spectra of solid-phase crystallized films, but was absent for as-crystallized films, indicating superior crystallinity for the latter. The Raman scattering signal corresponding to ν1 PO43- sensitively reflected this crystallinity. The surface hardness of as-crystallized films evaluated by a pencil hardness test was higher than that of solid-phase crystallized films.

  13. Structural investigation of ZnO:Al films deposited on the Si substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Y.Y.; Yang, J.R.; Cheng, S.L.; Shiojiri, M.

    2013-01-01

    ZnO:Al films 400 nm thick were prepared on (100) Si substrates by magnetron sputtering. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that in the initial stage of the deposition, an amorphous silicon oxide layer about 4 nm thick formed from damage to the Si substrate due to sputtered particle bombardment and the incorporation of Si atoms with oxygen. Subsequently, a crystalline Si (Zn) layer about 30 nm thick grew on the silicon oxide layer by co-deposition of Si atoms sputtered away from the substrate with Zn atoms from the target. Finally, a ZnO:Al film with columnar grains was deposited on the Si (Zn) layer. The sputtered particle bombardment greatly influenced the structure of the object films. The (0001) lattice fringes of the ZnO:Al film were observed in high-resolution TEM images, and the forbidden 0001 reflection spots in electron diffraction patterns were attributed to double diffraction. Therefore, the appearance of the forbidden reflection did not imply any ordering of Al atoms and/or O vacancies in the ZnO:Al film. - Highlights: • ZnO:Al films were deposited on (100) Si substrate using magnetron sputtering. • An amorphous silicon oxide layer with a thickness of 4 nm was formed on Si substrate. • Crystalline Si (Zn) layer about 30 nm thick grew on amorphous silicon oxide layer. • ZnO:Al film comprising columnar grains was deposited on the Si(Zn) layer. • Lattice image of the ZnO:Al film has been interpreted

  14. Structural and optical properties of zirconia thin films deposited by reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Xiaoli; Jin, Jie [Tianjin University, School of Electronic Information Engineering, Tianjin (China); Cheng, Jui-Ching, E-mail: juiching@ntut.edu.tw [Chang-Gung University, Department of Electronics, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China); Lee, Jyh-Wei [Ming Chi University of Technology, College of Materials Engineering, New Taipei City, Taiwan (China); Wu, Kuo-Hong [Chang-Gung University, Department of Electronics, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China); Lin, Kuo-Cheng; Tsai, Jung-Ruey [Asia University, Department of Photonics and Communication Engineering, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Liu, Kou-Chen, E-mail: jacobliu@mail.cgu.edu.tw [Chang-Gung University, Department of Electronics, Taoyuan, Taiwan (China)

    2014-11-03

    Zirconia films are deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technology on glass and indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/glass substrates. Preparation, microstructure and optical characteristics of the films have been studied. During deposition, the influence of the target power and duty cycle on the peak current–voltage and power density has been observed in oxide mode. Transparent thin films under different oxygen proportions are obtained on the two substrates. Atomic force microscopy measurements showed that the surface roughness of the films was lower by reactive HiPIMS than DC sputtering for all oxygen contents. The transmission and reflectance properties of differently grown zirconia films were also investigated using an ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer. The optical transmittance of films grown on glass substrates by HiPIMS reached maximum values above 90%, which exceeded that by DC sputtering. The band edge near 5.86 eV shifted to a lower wavelength for zirconia films prepared with oxygen flow rates lower than 4.5 sccm. For the films prepared on ITO/glass substrates, the transmittance and the band gap of zirconia films were limited by ITO films; a maximum average transmittance of 84% was obtained at 4.5 sccm O{sub 2} and the energy band gap was in the range of 3.7–3.8 eV for oxygen flow rates ranging from 3.5 to 5.0 sccm. Finally, the electrical properties of zirconia films have also been discussed. - Highlights: • Zirconia films are deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering. • Low roughness films are obtained. • Films show a high transmittance (> 90%). • Films prepared on glass have a band gap of 5.9 eV.

  15. Comparison of lanthanum substituted bismuth titanate (BLT) thin films deposited by sputtering and pulsed laser deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besland, M.P.; Djani-ait Aissa, H.; Barroy, P.R.J.; Lafane, S.; Tessier, P.Y.; Angleraud, B.; Richard-Plouet, M.; Brohan, L.; Djouadi, M.A.

    2006-01-01

    Bi 4-x La x Ti 3 O 12 (BLT x ) (x = 0 to 1) thin films were grown on silicon (100) and platinized substrates Pt/TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si using RF diode sputtering, magnetron sputtering and pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Stoichiometric home-synthesized targets were used. Reactive sputtering was investigated in argon/oxygen gas mixture, with a pressure ranging from 0.33 to 10 Pa without heating the substrate. PLD was investigated in pure oxygen, at a chamber pressure of 20 Pa for a substrate temperature of 400-440 deg. C. Comparative structural, chemical, optical and morphological characterizations of BLT thin films have been performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Spectro-ellipsometric measurements (SE) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Both sputtering techniques allow to obtain uniform films with thickness ranging from 200 to 1000 nm and chemical composition varying from (Bi,La) 2 Ti 3 O 12 to (Bi,La) 4.5 Ti 3 O 12 , depending on deposition pressure and RF power. In addition, BLT films deposited by magnetron sputtering, at a pressure deposition ranging from 1.1 to 5 Pa, were well-crystallized after a post-deposition annealing at 650 deg. C in oxygen. They exhibit a refractive index and optical band gap of 2.7 and 3.15 eV, respectively. Regarding PLD, single phase and well-crystallized, 100-200 nm thick BLT films with a stoichiometric (Bi,La) 4 Ti 3 O 12 chemical composition were obtained, exhibiting in addition a preferential orientation along (200). It is worth noting that BLT films deposited by magnetron sputtering are as well-crystallized than PLD ones

  16. The Effect of Sputtering Parameters on the Film Properties of Molybdenum Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peng-cheng Huang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Molybdenum (Mo thin films are widely used as a back contact for CIGS-based solar cells. This paper determines the optimal settings for the sputtering parameters for an Mo thin film prepared on soda lime glass substrates, using direct current (dc magnetron sputtering, with a metal Mo target, in an argon gas environment. A Taguchi method with an L9 orthogonal array, the signal-to-noise ratio, and an analysis of variances is used to determine the performance characteristics of the coating operation. The main sputtering parameters, such as working pressure (mTorr, dc power (W, and substrate temperature (°C, are optimized with respect to the structural features, surface morphology, and electrical properties of the Mo films. An adhesive tape test is performed on each film to determine the adhesion strength of the films. The experimental results show that the working pressure has the dominant effect on electrical resistivity and reflectance. The intensity of the main peak (110 for the Mo film increases and the full width at half maximum decreases gradually as the sputtering power is increased. Additionally, the application of an Mo bilayer demonstrates good adherence and low resistivity.

  17. Characteristics of sputtered Al-doped ZnO films for transparent electrodes of organic thin-film transistor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Yong Seob; Kim, Han-Ki

    2011-01-01

    Aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) thin-films were deposited with various RF powers at room temperature by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method. The electrical properties of the AZO film were improved with the increasing RF power. These results can be explained by the improvement of the crystallinity in the AZO film. We fabricated the organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) of the bottom gate structure using pentacene active and poly-4-vinyl phenol gate dielectric layers on the indium tin oxide gate electrode, and estimated the device properties of the OTFTs including drain current-drain voltage (I D -V D ), drain current-gate voltage (I D -V G ), threshold voltage (V T ), on/off ratio and field effect mobility. The AZO film that grown at 160 W RF power exhibited low resistivity (1.54 x 10 -3 Ω.cm), high crystallinity and uniform surface morphology. The pentacene thin-film transistor using the AZO film that's fabricated at 160 W RF power exhibited good device performance such as the mobility of 0.94 cm 2 /V s and the on/off ratio of ∼ 10 5 . Consequently, the performance of the OTFT such as larger field-effect carrier mobility was determined the conductivity of the AZO source/drain (S/D) electrode. AZO films prepared at room temperature by the sputtering method are suitable for the S/D electrodes in the OTFTs.

  18. Impurity incorporation, deposition kinetics, and microstructural evolution in sputtered Ta films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitacre, Jay Fredric

    There is an increasing need to control the microstructure in thin sputtered Ta films for application as high-temperature coatings or diffusion barriers in microelectronic interconnect structures. To this end, the relationship between impurity incorporation, deposition kinetics, and microstructural evolution was examined for room-temperature low growth rate DC magnetron sputtered Ta films. Impurity levels present during deposition were controlled by pumping the chamber to various base pressures before growth. Ar pressures ranging from 2 to 20 mTorr were used to create contrasting kinetic environments in the sputter gas. This affected both the distribution of adatom kinetic energies at the substrate as well as the rate of impurity desorption from the chamber walls: at higher Ar pressures adatoms has lower kinetic energies, and there was an increase in impurity concentration. X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM), transmission electron diffraction (TED), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and x-ray photoelectron. spectroscopy (XPS) were used to examine film crystallography, microstructure, and composition. A novel laboratory-based in-situ x-ray diffractometer was constructed. This new set-up allowed for the direct observation of microstructural evolution during growth. Films deposited at increasingly higher Ar pressures displayed a systematic decrease in grain size and degree of texturing, while surface morphology was found to vary from a nearly flat surface to a rough surface with several length scales of organization. In-situ x-ray results showed that the rate of texture evolution was found to be much higher in films grown using lower Ar pressures. These effects were studied in films less than 200 A thick using high resolution x-ray diffraction in conjunction with a synchrotron light source (SSRL B.L. 7-2). Films grown using higher Ar pressures (above 10 mTorr) with a pre-growth base

  19. Effect of sputtering power on structure, adhesion strength and corrosion resistance of nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon thin films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khun, N W; Liu, E

    2011-06-01

    Nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon (DLC:N) thin films were deposited on highly conductive p-Si substrates using a DC magnetron sputtering deposition system. The DLC:N films were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), micro-Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurement and micro-scratch test. The XPS and Raman results indicated that the sputtering power significantly influenced the properties of the films in terms of bonding configuration in the films. The corrosion performance of the DLC:N films was investigated in a 0.6 M NaCl solution by means of potentiodynamic polarization testing. It was found that the corrosion performance of the films could be enhanced by higher sputtering powers.

  20. Structural and electrochemical analysis of chemically synthesized microcubic architectured lead selenide thin films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhat, T. S.; Shinde, A. V.; Devan, R. S.; Teli, A. M.; Ma, Y. R.; Kim, J. H.; Patil, P. S.

    2018-01-01

    The present work deals with the synthesis of lead selenide (PbSe) thin films by simple and cost-effective chemical bath deposition method with variation in deposition time. The structural, morphological, and electrochemical properties of as-deposited thin films were examined using characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. XRD reveals formation of rock salt phase cubic structured PbSe. FE-SEM images show the formation of microcubic structured morphology. The existence of the PbSe is confirmed from the XPS analysis. On the other hand, CV curves show four reaction peaks corresponding to oxidation [PbSe and Pb(OH)2] and reduction (PbO2 and Pb(OH)2) at the surface of PbSe thin films. The PbSe:2 sample deposited for 80 min. shows maximum specific capacitance of 454 ± 5 F g- 1 obtained at 0.25 mA cm- 2 current density. The maximum energy density of 69 Wh kg- 1 was showed by PbSe:2 electrode with a power density of 1077 W kg- 1. Furthermore, electrochemical impedance studies of PbSe:2 thin film show 80 ± 3% cycling stability even after 500 CV cycles. Such results show the importance of microcubic structured PbSe thin film as an anode in supercapacitor devices.

  1. Stability of sputter deposited ZnO:Cr films against acids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shinoda, Makoto; Nishide, Toshikazu; Sawada, Yutaka; Hosaka, Masato; Matsumoto, Toshihiko.

    1993-01-01

    ZnO:Cr films were deposited on water-cooled soda-lime glass substrates at room temperature in an Ar atmosphere by rf magnetron sputtering of a ZnO target on which Cr chips were placed. The films exhibited extraordinary stability against acids such as HCl or HNO 3 , and also high resistivities similar to those of ZnO films. The addition of Cr suppressed the growth of ZnO grains which resulted in the formation of a dense film with a smooth surface. The stability and high resistivity displayed by the ZnO:Cr films can be attributed to the formation of a chromium-oxide-rich grain boundary. (author)

  2. Roll-to-Roll sputtered ITO/Cu/ITO multilayer electrode for flexible, transparent thin film heaters and electrochromic applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sung-Hyun; Lee, Sang-Mok; Ko, Eun-Hye; Kim, Tae-Ho; Nah, Yoon-Chae; Lee, Sang-Jin; Lee, Jae Heung; Kim, Han-Ki

    2016-09-22

    We fabricate high-performance, flexible, transparent electrochromic (EC) films and thin film heaters (TFHs) on an ITO/Cu/ITO (ICI) multilayer electrode prepared by continuous roll-to-roll (RTR) sputtering of ITO and Cu targets. The RTR-sputtered ICI multilayer on a 700 mm wide PET substrate at room temperature exhibits a sheet resistance of 11.8 Ω/square and optical transmittance of 73.9%, which are acceptable for the fabrication of flexible and transparent EC films and TFHs. The effect of the Cu interlayer thickness on the electrical and optical properties of the ICI multilayer was investigated in detail. The bending and cycling fatigue tests demonstrate that the RTR-sputtered ICI multilayer was more flexible than a single ITO film because of high strain failure of the Cu interlayer. The flexible and transparent EC films and TFHs fabricated on the ICI electrode show better performances than reference EC films and TFHs with a single ITO electrode. Therefore, the RTR-sputtered ICI multilayer is the best substitute for the conventional ITO film electrode in order to realize flexible, transparent, cost-effective and large-area EC devices and TFHs that can be used as flexible and smart windows.

  3. DC Magnetron sputtering of Y-Ba-Cu-O thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larsson, Gunnar.

    1990-01-01

    I have been studying dc magnetron sputtering of thin film YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6+x , one of the recently discovered high- temperatures superconductors. In the introduction a brief review of the subjects sputtering and superconductivity is given. Since partial pressure measurements, especially for oxygen, have been important in the work I include a short description of the operating principles of mass spectroscopy. Experimental results in addition to what is given in the papers concerning plasma are presented in an appendix at the end of the introduction. (au)

  4. Effects of spacer layer on growth, stress and magnetic properties of sputtered permalloy film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng, S.F.; Lubitz, P.; Zheng, Y.; Edelstein, A.S.

    2004-01-01

    A microelectromechanical (MEMS) flux concentrator (J. Appl. phys. 91 (2002) 7795), is a device that will minimize 1/f noise in magnetic sensors by modulating the magnetic field at the position of the sensor. This requires high permeability and low stress permalloy (Py) films to be deposited on the MEMS flaps (J. Appl. phys. 91 (2002) 7795). Py (Ni 80 Fe 20 ) films from 100 to 560 nm thick were deposited on Si substrates using DC magnetron sputtering. The effects of deposition conditions on the grain morphology, texture, stress and magnetic properties were studied. Lower sputtering pressure changes film stress from tension to compression and increases the out of film plane texture, while higher power increases tension and texture. Neutral film stress was obtained with 100 W of sputtering power and 1.25 mTorr of Ar gas pressure. With increasing thickness, the Py film was found to develop a stripe-like domain configuration at low fields because of strong out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy. The critical thickness is around 180 nm.This may be explained by a competition between planar demagnetization fields and columnar magnetic anisotropy. Adding 5 nm of Ta or Cr layer as spacer successfully broke up the continuity of the magnetic structure and allowed us to produce high-permeability films by fabricating (Ta/Py) or (Cr/Py) multilayer films with each Py layer thinner than the critical thickness

  5. Fabrication of high-quality single-crystal Cu thin films using radio-frequency sputtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seunghun; Kim, Ji Young; Lee, Tae-Woo; Kim, Won-Kyung; Kim, Bum-Su; Park, Ji Hun; Bae, Jong-Seong; Cho, Yong Chan; Kim, Jungdae; Oh, Min-Wook; Hwang, Cheol Seong; Jeong, Se-Young

    2014-08-29

    Copper (Cu) thin films have been widely used as electrodes and interconnection wires in integrated electronic circuits, and more recently as substrates for the synthesis of graphene. However, the ultra-high vacuum processes required for high-quality Cu film fabrication, such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), restricts mass production with low cost. In this work, we demonstrated high-quality Cu thin films using a single-crystal Cu target and radio-frequency (RF) sputtering technique; the resulting film quality was comparable to that produced using MBE, even under unfavorable conditions for pure Cu film growth. The Cu thin film was epitaxially grown on an Al2O3 (sapphire) (0001) substrate, and had high crystalline orientation along the (111) direction. Despite the 10(-3) Pa vacuum conditions, the resulting thin film was oxygen free due to the high chemical stability of the sputtered specimen from a single-crystal target; moreover, the deposited film had >5× higher adhesion force than that produced using a polycrystalline target. This fabrication method enabled Cu films to be obtained using a simple, manufacturing-friendly process on a large-area substrate, making our findings relevant for industrial applications.

  6. Study on the preparation of boron-rich film by magnetron sputtering in oxygen atmosphere

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pan, Zhangmin; Yang, Yiming; Huang, Jian; Ren, Bing; Yu, Hongze; Xu, Run; Ji, Huanhuan; Wang, Lin; Wang, Linjun, E-mail: ljwang@shu.edu.cn

    2016-12-01

    Highlights: • Boron ({sup 10}B) oxide films were successfully grown using RF magnetron sputtering. • Effects of oxygen partial pressure on the property of the films were studied. • Substrates were covered with B-rich film and film surface was covered with B{sub 2}O{sub 3}. • The growth mechanism of films in oxygen atmosphere was analyzed using XPS. - Abstract: In this paper, the growth of boron ({sup 10}B) oxide films on (1 0 0) silicon substrate were achieved by radio frequency (r.f.) magnetron sputtering under the different oxygen partial pressure with a target of boron and boron oxide. The structure and properties of deposited films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The results showed that the substrate was covered with boron-rich films tightly and the surface of films was covered with B{sub 2}O{sub 3}. And the growth mechanism of boron-rich film in oxygen atmosphere was also analyzed.

  7. Helium-Charged La-Ni-Al Thin Films Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Liqun; Chen Deming; Xu Shilin; Liu Chaozhu; Hao Wanli; Zhou Zhuyin

    2005-01-01

    An advanced implantation of low energy helium-4 atoms during the La-Ni-Al film growth by adopting magnetron sputtering with Ar/He mixture gases is discussed. Both proton backscattering spectroscopy (PBS) and elastic recoil detection (ERD) analyses were adopted to measure helium concentration of the films and distribution in the near-surface region. Helium atoms with a high concentration incorporate evenly in deposited film. The introduction of the helium with no extra irradiation damage is expected by choosing suitable deposition conditions. It was found that amorphous and crystalline LaNi 5 -type structures can be achieved when sputtered with pure Ar and Ar/He mixture gases at room temperature, respectively. Thermal desorption experiments proposes that a part of hydrogen atoms are bound to trapped helium at crystal and releases together with helium. Only a small fraction of helium is released from the helium-vacancy clusters in lower temperature range and most of helium is released from small size helium bubbles in the high temperature range

  8. The mechanism of sputter-induced orientation change in YBCO films on MgO (001)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Y.; Vuchic, B.V.; Baldo, P.; Merkle, K.L.; Buchholz, D.B.; Mahajan, S.; Lei, J.S.; Markworth, P.R.; Chang, R.P.H.

    1996-12-01

    The mechanisms of the sputter-induced orientation change in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (YBCO) films grown on MgO (001) substrates by pulsed organometallic beam epitaxy (POMBE) are investigated by x-ray diffraction. Rutherford backscatter spectroscopy (RBS), cross-section TEM (XTEM) and microanalysis. It is found that the W atom implantation concurring with the ion sputtering plays an important role in effecting the orientation change. This implantation changes the surface structure of the substrate and induces an intermediate layer in the initial growth of the YBCO film, which in turn acts as a template that induces the orientation change. It seems that the surface morphology change caused by ion sputtering has only a minor effect on the orientation change

  9. Direct current magnetron sputter-deposited ZnO thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoon, Jian-Wei; Chan, Kah-Yoong; Krishnasamy, Jegenathan; Tou, Teck-Yong; Knipp, Dietmar

    2011-01-01

    Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a very promising electronic material for emerging transparent large-area electronic applications including thin-film sensors, transistors and solar cells. We fabricated ZnO thin films by employing direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering deposition technique. ZnO films with different thicknesses ranging from 150 nm to 750 nm were deposited on glass substrates. The deposition pressure and the substrate temperature were varied from 12 mTorr to 25 mTorr, and from room temperature to 450 deg. C, respectively. The influence of the film thickness, deposition pressure and the substrate temperature on structural and optical properties of the ZnO films was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer. The experimental results reveal that the film thickness, deposition pressure and the substrate temperature play significant role in the structural formation and the optical properties of the deposited ZnO thin films.

  10. Optical properties of aluminum nitride thin films grown by direct-current magnetron sputtering close to epitaxy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stolz, A. [Institut d' Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), UMR CNRS 8520, PRES Lille, Université Nord de France, Avenue Poincaré, 59652 Villeneuve d' Ascq Cedex (France); Soltani, A., E-mail: ali.soltani@iemn.univ-lille1.fr [Institut d' Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), UMR CNRS 8520, PRES Lille, Université Nord de France, Avenue Poincaré, 59652 Villeneuve d' Ascq Cedex (France); Abdallah, B. [Department of Materials Physics, Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, Damascus, P.O. Box 6091 (Syrian Arab Republic); Charrier, J. [Fonctions Optiques pour les Technologies de l' informatiON (FOTON), UMR CNRS 6082, 6, rue de Kerampont CS 80518, 22305 Lannion Cedex (France); Deresmes, D. [Institut d' Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), UMR CNRS 8520, PRES Lille, Université Nord de France, Avenue Poincaré, 59652 Villeneuve d' Ascq Cedex (France); Jouan, P.-Y.; Djouadi, M.A. [Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel – IMN, UMR CNRS 6502, 2, rue de la Houssinère BP 32229, 44322 Nantes (France); Dogheche, E.; De Jaeger, J.-C. [Institut d' Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), UMR CNRS 8520, PRES Lille, Université Nord de France, Avenue Poincaré, 59652 Villeneuve d' Ascq Cedex (France)

    2013-05-01

    Low-temperature Aluminum Nitride (AlN) thin films with a thickness of 3 μm were deposited by Direct-Current magnetron sputtering on sapphire substrate. They present optical properties similar to those of epitaxially grown films. Different characterization methods such as X-Ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were used to determine the structural properties of the films such as its roughness and crystallinity. Newton interferometer was used for stress measurement of the films. Non-destructive prism-coupling technique was used to determine refractive index and thickness homogeneity by a mapping on the whole sample area. Results show that AlN films grown on AlGaN layer have a high crystallinity close to epitaxial films, associated to a low intrinsic stress for low thickness. These results highlight that it is possible to grow thick sample with microstructure and optical properties close to epitaxy, even on a large surface. - Highlights: ► Aluminum Nitride sputtering technique with a low temperature growth process ► Epitaxial quality of two microns sputtered Aluminum Nitride film ► Optics as a non-destructive accurate tool for acoustic wave investigation.

  11. Crystalline silicon films grown by pulsed dc magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reinig, Peter; Fenske, Frank; Fuhs, Walther; Selle, Burkhardt [Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin, Abt. Silizium-Photovoltaik, Kekulestr. 5, D-12489 Berlin (Germany)

    2002-04-01

    Pulsed dc magnetron sputtering is used as a novel method for the deposition of crystalline silicon films on glass substrates. Hydrogen-free polycrystalline Si-films are deposited with high deposition rates at temperatures of 400-450 C and pulse frequencies f in the range 0-250 kHz. Strong preferential (100) orientation of the crystallites is observed with increasing f. High frequency and similarly high negative substrate bias cause an increase of the Ar content and an enhancement of structural disorder. Measurements of the transient floating potential suggest that the observed structural effects are related to bombardment of the growing film by Ar{sup +} ions of high energy.

  12. Characterisation of magnetron sputtered SmCo5 thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Y.; Sood, D.K.; Kothari

    1999-01-01

    SmCo 5 thin films were deposited using DC magnetron sputtering on single crystal silicon substrate with chromium and SiO 2 top layers. Deposition was carried out at three different substrate temperatures: room temperature, 400 deg C and 600 deg C. Films were characterised by using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) and SQUID magnetometer. RBS analysis indicated that the films have excellent stoichiometry with the Sm to Co ratio of 1:5. This analysis also showed that the films deposited or annealed at high temperatures (≥600 deg C) indicated significant inter-diffusion at the interface between the barrier layer and the film. Oxygen was found to be the major impurity in the films. XRD data indicated that the films formed 1:5 and 2:17 phases under different deposition conditions. The preliminary studies of these films using magnetic force microscopy revealed the presence of magnetic domains

  13. Properties of indium tin oxide films deposited using High Target Utilisation Sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calnan, S.; Upadhyaya, H.M.; Thwaites, M.J.; Tiwari, A.N.

    2007-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) films were deposited on soda lime glass and polyimide substrates using an innovative process known as High Target Utilisation Sputtering (HiTUS). The influence of the oxygen flow rate, substrate temperature and sputtering pressure, on the electrical, optical and thermal stability properties of the films was investigated. High substrate temperature, medium oxygen flow rate and moderate pressure gave the best compromise of low resistivity and high transmittance. The lowest resistivity was 1.6 x 10 -4 Ω cm on glass while that on the polyimide was 1.9 x 10 -4 Ω cm. Substrate temperatures above 100 deg. C were required to obtain visible light transmittance exceeding 85% for ITO films on glass. The thermal stability of the films was mainly influenced by the oxygen flow rate and thus the initial degree of oxidation. The film resistivity was either unaffected or reduced after heating in vacuum but generally increased for oxygen deficient films when heated in air. The greatest increase in transmittance of oxygen deficient films occurred for heat treatment in air while that of the highly oxidised films was largely unaffected by heating in both media. This study has demonstrated the potential of HiTUS as a favourable deposition method for high quality ITO suitable for use in thin film solar cells

  14. Iron selenide films by aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition from single source organometallic precursor in the presence of surfactants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hussain, Raja Azadar [Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320 Islamabad (Pakistan); Badshah, Amin, E-mail: aminbadshah@yahoo.com [Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320 Islamabad (Pakistan); Younis, Adnan [School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, NSW (Australia); Khan, Malik Dilshad [Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320 Islamabad (Pakistan); Akhtar, Javeed [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad (Pakistan)

    2014-09-30

    This article presents the synthesis and characterization (multinuclear nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, carbon–hydrogen–nitrogen–sulfur analyzer, atomic absorption spectrometry and thermogravimetric analysis) of a single source organometallic precursor namely 1-acetyl-3-(4-ferrocenylphenyl)selenourea for the fabrication of iron selenide (FeSe) films on glass substrates using aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD). The changes in the morphologies of the films have been monitored by the use of two different surfactants i.e. triton X-100 and tetraoctylphosphonium bromide during AACVD. The role of surfactant has been evaluated by examining the interaction of the surfactants with the precursor by using UV–vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The fabricated FeSe films have been characterized with powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. - Highlights: • Ferrocene incorporated selenourea (FIS) has been synthesized and characterized. • FeSe thin films have been fabricated from FIS. • Mechanism of film growth was studied with cyclic voltammetry and UV–vis spectroscopy.

  15. Stress and stability of sputter deposited A-15 and bcc crystal structure tungsten thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O' Keefe, M.J.; Stutz, C.E.

    1997-07-01

    Magnetron sputter deposition was used to fabricate body centered cubic (bcc) and A-15 crystal structure W thin films. Previous work demonstrated that the as-deposited crystal structure of the films was dependent on the deposition parameters and that the formation of a metastable A-15 structure was favored over the thermodynamically stable bcc phase when the films contained a few atomic percent oxygen. However, the A-15 phase was shown to irreversibly transform into the bcc phase between 500 C and 650 C and that a significant decrease in the resistivity of the metallic films was measured after the transformation. The current investigation of 150 nm thick, sputter deposited A-15 and bcc tungsten thin films on silicon wafers consisted of a series of experiments in which the stress, resistivity and crystal structure of the films was measured as a function of temperatures cycles in a Flexus 2900 thin film stress measurement system. The as-deposited film stress was found to be a function of the sputtering pressure and presputter time; under conditions in which the as-deposited stress of the film was {approximately}1.5 GPa compressive delamination of the W film from the substrate was observed. Data from the thermal studies indicated that bcc film stress was not affected by annealing but transformation of the A-15 structure resulted in a large tensile increase in the stress of the film, regardless of the as-deposited stress of the film. In several instances, complete transformation of the A-15 structure into the bcc phase resulted in {ge}1 GPa tensile increase in film stress.

  16. Stress and stability of sputter deposited A-15 and bcc crystal structure tungsten thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Keefe, M.J.; Stutz, C.E.

    1997-01-01

    Magnetron sputter deposition was used to fabricate body centered cubic (bcc) and A-15 crystal structure W thin films. Previous work demonstrated that the as-deposited crystal structure of the films was dependent on the deposition parameters and that the formation of a metastable A-15 structure was favored over the thermodynamically stable bcc phase when the films contained a few atomic percent oxygen. However, the A-15 phase was shown to irreversibly transform into the bcc phase between 500 C and 650 C and that a significant decrease in the resistivity of the metallic films was measured after the transformation. The current investigation of 150 nm thick, sputter deposited A-15 and bcc tungsten thin films on silicon wafers consisted of a series of experiments in which the stress, resistivity and crystal structure of the films was measured as a function of temperatures cycles in a Flexus 2900 thin film stress measurement system. The as-deposited film stress was found to be a function of the sputtering pressure and presputter time; under conditions in which the as-deposited stress of the film was approximately1.5 GPa compressive delamination of the W film from the substrate was observed. Data from the thermal studies indicated that bcc film stress was not affected by annealing but transformation of the A-15 structure resulted in a large tensile increase in the stress of the film, regardless of the as-deposited stress of the film. In several instances, complete transformation of the A-15 structure into the bcc phase resulted in ge1 GPa tensile increase in film stress

  17. Microstructure and mechanical properties of Zr-Si-N films prepared by rf-reactive sputtering

    CERN Document Server

    Nose, M; Zhou, M; Mae, T; Meshii, M

    2002-01-01

    ZrN and ZrSiN films were prepared in an rf sputtering apparatus that has a pair of targets facing each other (referred to as the facing target--type rf sputtering). Films were deposited on silicon wafers without bias application or substrate heating in order to examine only the effect of silicon addition to the transition metal nitride films. The contents of zirconium, nitrogen, and silicon of the films were determined with an electron probe microanalyzer. The transmission electron microscopy studies were carried out in addition to x-ray diffraction. For the high resolution transmission electron microscopy observation, the field emission type transmission electron microscope was used, which provides a point-to-point resolution of 0.1 nm. The samples were observed both parallel and perpendicular to the film surface, which were plane and cross sectional views, respectively. In order to investigate the relationship between the mechanical properties and microstructure of films, the hardness was measured by a nano...

  18. Temperature Dependence on Structural, Tribological, and Electrical Properties of Sputtered Conductive Carbon Thin Films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Yong Seob; Hong, Byung You; Cho, Sang Jin; Boo, Jin Hyo

    2011-01-01

    Conductive carbon films were prepared at room temperature by unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UBMS) on silicon substrates using argon (Ar) gas, and the effects of post-annealing temperature on the structural, tribological, and electrical properties of carbon films were investigated. Films were annealed at temperatures ranging from 400 .deg. C to 700 .deg. C in increments of 100 .deg. C using a rapid thermal annealing method by vacuum furnace in vacuum ambient. The increase of annealing temperature contributed to the increase of the ordering and formation of aromatic rings in the carbon film. Consequently, with increasing annealing temperature the tribological properties of sputtered carbon films are deteriorated while the resistivity of carbon films significantly decreased from 4.5 x 10 -3 to 1.0 x 10 -6 Ω-cm and carrier concentration as well as mobility increased, respectively. This behavior can be explained by the increase of sp 2 bonding fraction and ordering sp 2 clusters in the carbon networks caused by increasing annealing temperature

  19. Reactive sputter deposition

    CERN Document Server

    Mahieu, Stijn

    2008-01-01

    In this valuable work, all aspects of the reactive magnetron sputtering process, from the discharge up to the resulting thin film growth, are described in detail, allowing the reader to understand the complete process. Hence, this book gives necessary information for those who want to start with reactive magnetron sputtering, understand and investigate the technique, control their sputtering process and tune their existing process, obtaining the desired thin films.

  20. In vitro behaviour of nanocrystalline silver-sputtered thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Piedade, A P; Vieira, M T; Martins, A; Silva, F

    2007-01-01

    Silver thin films were deposited with different preferential orientations and special attention was paid to the bioreactivity of the surfaces. The study was essentially focused on the evaluation of the films by x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and contact angle measurements. The deposited thin films were characterized before and after immersion in S-enriched simulated human plasma in order to estimate the influence of the preferential crystallographic orientation on the in vitro behaviour. Silver thin films with and without (111) preferential crystallographic orientation were deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering to yield nanocrystalline coatings, high compact structures, very hydrophobic surfaces and low roughness. These properties reduce the chemisorption of reactive species onto the film surface. The in vitro tests indicate that silver thin films can be used as coatings for biomaterials applications

  1. Sputtering of thin and intermediately thick films of solid deuterium by keV electrons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svendsen, Winnie Edith; Thestrup Nielsen, Birgitte; Schou, Jørgen

    1995-01-01

    Sputtering of films of solid deuterium by keV electrons was studied in a cryogenic set-up. The sputtering yield shows a minimum yield of about 4 D2/electron for 1.5 and 2 keV electrons at a thickness slightly larger than the average projected range of the electrons. We suggest that the yield around...... the minimum represents the value closest to a bulk-yield induced by electron bombardment. It may also include contributions from the mechanisms that enhance the yield for thin and very thick films....

  2. Synthesis and characterization of DC magnetron sputtered ZnO thin films under high working pressures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hezam, M.; Tabet, N.; Mekki, A.

    2010-01-01

    ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates using direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering under high working pressures. A pure zinc target was used, and sputtering was carried out in an oxygen atmosphere. The working pressure was varied between 50 and 800 mTorr. XRD characterization showed that for a window of working pressures between 300 and 500 mTorr, the deposited films were polycrystalline, with strong preferential orientation of grains along the c-axis. The film deposited at 400 mTorr had the highest (002) peak with the largest estimated grain size. Outside this window, the crystallinity and c-orientation of grains are lost. The microstructure of the films was investigated by Atomic Force microscopy (AFM). Optical transparency of the films was about 85%. The films produced were highly resistive, which might provide new alternatives for the synthesis of ZnO thin films aimed for SAW devices.

  3. Photocatalytic activity of bipolar pulsed magnetron sputter deposited TiO{sub 2}/TiWO{sub x} thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weng, Ko-Wei; Hu, Chung-Hsuan; Hua, Li-Yu; Lee, Chin-Tan [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Quemoy University, 1 Daxue Road, Jinning Township, Kinmen 89250, Taiwan, ROC (China); Zhao, Yu-Xiang [Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Quemoy University, Taiwan, ROC (China); Chang, Julian; Yang, Shu-Yi [Department of Applied English, National Quemoy University, Taiwan, ROC (China); Han, Sheng, E-mail: shenghan@nutc.edu.tw [Center for General Education, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, 129 San-min Road, Section 3, Taichung 40401, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2016-08-15

    Highlights: • TiO{sub 2}/TiWO{sub x} films were fabricated by a bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering apparatus. • Titanium oxide being sputtered tungsten enhanced the highly oriented of TiO{sub 2} (1 0 1) plane of the specimen assemblies. • The mechanism WO{sub 3}(h{sup +}, e{sup −})/TiO{sub 2}(h{sup +}, e{sup −}) → WO{sub 3}(e{sup −})/TiO{sub 2}(h{sup +}) shows the higher hydrophilicity and lower contact angle. - Abstract: Titanium oxide films were formed by sputtering and then TiWO{sub x} films were deposited by bipolar pulsed magnetron sputtering with pure titanium and tungsten metal targets. The sputtering of titanium oxide with tungsten enhanced the orientation of the TiO{sub 2} (1 0 1) plane of the specimen assemblies. The main varying parameter was the tungsten pulse power. Titanium oxide sputtered with tungsten using a pulsing power of 50 W exhibited a superior hydrophilic property, and a contact angle of 13.1°. This fabrication conditions maximized the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue solution. The mechanism by which the titanium oxide was sputtered with tungsten involves the photogeneration of holes and electron traps, inhibiting the hole–electron recombination, enhancing hydrophilicity and reducing the contact angle.

  4. Physical, optical and electrical properties of copper selenide (CuSe) thin films deposited by solution growth technique at room temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gosavi, S.R.; Deshpande, N.G.; Gudage, Y.G.; Sharma, Ramphal

    2008-01-01

    Copper selenide (CuSe) thin films are grown onto amorphous glass substrate from an aqueous alkaline medium using solution growth technique (SGT) at room temperature. The preparative parameters were optimized to obtain good quality of thin films. The as-deposited films were characterized for physical, optical and electrical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern reveals that the films are polycrystalline in nature. Energy dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDAX) shows formation of stoichiometric CuSe compound. Uniform deposition of CuSe thin films on glass substrate was observed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) micrographs. Average grain size was determined to 144.53 ± 10 nm using atomic force microscopy. The band gap was found to be 2.03 eV with direct band-to-band transition. Semi-conducting behaviour was observed from resistivity measurements. Ohmic behaviour was seen from I-V curve with good electrical conductivity

  5. Intrinsic ZnO films fabricated by DC sputtering from oxygen-deficient targets for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cell application

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Chongyin Yang; DongyunWan; Zhou Wang; Fuqiang Huang

    2011-01-01

    Intrinsic zinc oxide films, normally deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering, are fabricated by direct current (DC) sputtering. The oxygen-deficient targets are prepared via a newly developed double crucible method. The 800-nm-thick film obtaines significantly higher carrier mobility compareing with that of the 800-nm-thick ZnO film. This is achieved by the widely used RF sputtering, which favors the prevention of carrier recombination at the interfaces and reduction of the series resistance of solar cells. The optimal ZnO film is used in a Cu (In, Ga) Se2 (CIGS) solar cell with a high efficiency of 11.57%. This letter demonstrates that the insulating ZnO films can be deposited by DC sputtering from oxygen-deficient ZnO targets to lower the cost of thin film solar cells.%Intrinsic zinc oxide films,normally deposited by radio frequency (RF) sputtering,are fabricated by direct current (DC) sputtering.The oxygen-deficient targets are prepared via a newly developed double crucible method.The 800-nm-thick film obtaines significantly higher carrier mobility compareing with that of the 800-nm-thick ZnO film.This is achieved by the widely used RF sputtering,which favors the prevention of carrier recombination at the interfaces and reduction of the series resistance of solar cells.The optimal ZnO film is used in a Cu (In,Ga) Se2 (C1GS) solar cell with a high efficiency of 11.57%.This letter demonstrates that the insulating ZnO films can be deposited by DC sputtering from oxygen-deficient ZnO targets to lower the cost of thin film solar cells.High resistance transparent intrinsic zinc oxide (i-ZnO)thin film has been widely nsed as the front electrode in transparent electronics and photovoltaic devices because of its low cost and nontoxicity.Owing to its unique characteristics of high transparency and adjustable resistivity in a certain range,the use of i-ZnO thin films as diffusion barrier layers of a-Si/μc-Si,CdTe,and CIGS thin-film solar cells has been advantageous

  6. Electrical, optical and etching properties of Zn-Sn-O thin films deposited by combinatorial sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, J. S.; Park, J. K.; Baik, Y. J.; Kim, W. M.; Jeong, J.; Seong, T. Y.

    2012-01-01

    Zn-Sn-O (ZTO) films are known to be able to form an amorphous phase, which provides a smooth surface morphology as well as etched side wall, when deposited by using the conventional sputtering technique and, therefore, to have a potential to be applied as transparent thin film transistors. In this study, ZTO thin films were prepared by using combined sputtering of ZnO and SnO 2 targets, and the dependences of their electrical and optical properties on the composition and the deposition parameters were examined. The Sn content in the films was varied in the range of 35 ∼ 85 at .%. The deposition was carried out at room temperature, 150 and 300 .deg. C, and the oxygen content in sputtering gas was varied from 0 to 1 vol.%. Sn-rich films had better electrical properties, but showed large oxygen deficiency when deposited at low oxygen partial pressures. ZTO films with Sn contents lower than 55 at.% had good optical transmission, but the electrical properties were poor due to very low carrier concentrations. A high Hall mobility of larger than 10 cm 2 /Vs could be obtained in the carrier density range 10 17 ∼ 10 20 cm -3 , and the etching rate was measurable for films with Sn content up to 70 at.% when using a dilute HCl solution, indicating a good possibility of utilizing ZTO films for device applications.

  7. The disclosed transformation of pre-sputtered Ti films into nanoparticles via controlled thermal oxidation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awad, M. A.; Raaif, M.

    2018-05-01

    Nanoparticles of TiO2 were successfully prepared from pre-sputtered Ti films using the controlled thermal oxidation. The effect of oxidation temperature on structural, morphological and optical properties in addition to photocatalysis activity of the sputtered films was tested and explained. Analysis of XRD and EDAX elucidated the enhancement in crystallization and oxygen content with the increase of oxidation temperature. SEM depicted the formation of very fine nanoparticles with no specific border on the films oxidized at 550 and 600 °C, whilst crystallites with larger size of approximately from 16 to 23 nm have been observed for the film oxidized at 650 °C. Both optical transmission and refractive index were increased with increasing the oxidation temperature. A red shift in the absorption edge was obtained for the films oxidized at 650 °C compared to that oxidized at 600 °C. The photocatalysis tests demonstrated the priority of 600 °C nanoparticle films to decompose methyl orange (MO) more than 650 °C treated film.

  8. Effect of sputtering parameters and substrate composition on the structure of tantalum thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hallmann, Lubica, E-mail: lubica.hallmann@zzm.uzh.c [Clinic of Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics and Dental Material Science, Center of Dental Medicine, University of Zürich (Switzerland); Ulmer, Peter [Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, ETH Zürich (Switzerland)

    2013-10-01

    The crystallographic properties of tantalum films deposited as a bioactive coating on Co–Cr–Mo and Ti–Al–Nb alloys have been investigated. The desired tough and ductile alpha phase of tantalum has been obtained by DC magnetron sputtering on Co–Cr–Mo and Ti–Al–Nb substrates. The thickness of the tantalum layer was between 20 and 600 nm. The crystallographic structure of tantalum thin film was dependent on the sputtering parameters such as DC power, bias voltage and gas impurities. Oxygen is an important factor for the stabilization of the tantalum alpha phase on Co–Cr–Mo substrate. The crystallographic structure and texture of tantalum thin films was found to be additionally dependent on the substrate composition. For Ti–Al–Nb substrate, oxygen content was not an important factor for the stabilization of the alpha phase. The observed shift of X-ray diffraction peaks to lower 2(θ) is an indication of stress evolving during the sputtering process and was dependent on bias voltage and oxygen content of the carrier gas.

  9. Growth and characterization of high quality ZnS thin films by RF sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, C.; Rajiv, K.; Gupta, P.; Sinha, A. K.; Abhinandan, L.

    2012-06-01

    High optical quality ZnS films are deposited on glass and Si wafer by RF sputtering from pure ZnS target. Optical transmittance, reflectance, ellipsometry, FTIR and AFM measurements are carried out. Effect of substrate temperature and chamber baking for long duration on film properties have been studied. Roughness of the films as measured by AFM are low (1-2Å).

  10. Sensitive coating for water vapors detection based on thermally sputtered calcein thin films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruglenko, I; Shirshov, Yu; Burlachenko, J; Savchenko, A; Kravchenko, S; Manera, M G; Rella, R

    2010-09-15

    In this paper the adsorption properties of thermally sputtered calcein thin films towards water and other polar molecules vapors are studied by different characterization techniques: quartz crystal microbalance, surface plasmon resonance and visible spectroscopy. Sensitivity of calcein thin films to water vapors resulted much higher as compared with those of a number of dyes whose structure was close to that of calcein. All types of sensors with calcein coatings have demonstrated linear concentration dependences in the wide range of water vapor pressure from low concentrations up to 27,000 ppm (close to saturation). At higher concentrations of water vapor all sensors demonstrate the abrupt increase of the response (up to two orders). A theoretical model is advanced explaining the adsorption properties of calcein thin films taking into account their chemical structure and peculiarities of molecular packing. The possibility of application of thermally sputtered calcein films in sensing technique is discussed. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Metal Selenides as Efficient Counter Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Zhitong; Zhang, Meirong; Wang, Min; Feng, Chuanqi; Wang, Zhong-Sheng

    2017-04-18

    Solar energy is the most abundant renewable energy available to the earth and can meet the energy needs of humankind, but efficient conversion of solar energy to electricity is an urgent issue of scientific research. As the third-generation photovoltaic technology, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have gained great attention since the landmark efficiency of ∼7% reported by O'Regan and Grätzel. The most attractive features of DSSCs include low cost, simple manufacturing processes, medium-purity materials, and theoretically high power conversion efficiencies. As one of the key materials in DSSCs, the counter electrode (CE) plays a crucial role in completing the electric circuit by catalyzing the reduction of the oxidized state to the reduced state for a redox couple (e.g., I 3 - /I - ) in the electrolyte at the CE-electrolyte interface. To lower the cost caused by the typically used Pt CE, which restricts the large-scale application because of its low reserves and high price, great effort has been made to develop new CE materials alternative to Pt. A lot of Pt-free electrocatalysts, such as carbon materials, inorganic compounds, conductive polymers, and their composites with good electrocatalytic activity, have been applied as CEs in DSSCs in the past years. Metal selenides have been widely used as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction and light-harvesting materials for solar cells. Our group first expanded their applications to the DSSC field by using in situ-grown Co 0.85 Se nanosheet and Ni 0.85 Se nanoparticle films as CEs. This finding has inspired extensive studies on developing new metal selenides in order to seek more efficient CE materials for low-cost DSSCs, and a lot of meaningful results have been achieved in the past years. In this Account, we summarize recent advances in binary and mutinary metal selenides applied as CEs in DSSCs. The synthetic methods for metal selenides with various morphologies and stoichiometric ratios and

  12. Deposition of Cu-doped PbS thin films with low resistivity using DC sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soetedjo, Hariyadi; Siswanto, Bambang; Aziz, Ihwanul; Sudjatmoko

    2018-03-01

    Investigation of the electrical resistivity of Cu-doped PbS thin films has been carried out. The films were prepared using a DC sputtering technique. The doping was achieved by introducing the Cu dopant plate material directly on the surface of the PbS sputtering target plate. SEM-EDX data shows the Cu concentration in the PbS film to be proportional to the Cu plate diameter. The XRD pattern indicates the film is in crystalline cubic form. The Hall effect measurement shows that Cu doping yields an increase in the carrier concentration to 3.55 × 1019 cm-3 and a significant decrease in electrical resistivity. The lowest resistivity obtained was 0.13 Ωcm for a Cu concentration of 18.5%. Preferential orientation of (1 1 1) and (2 0 0) occurs during deposition.

  13. Novel texturing method for sputtered zinc oxide films prepared at high deposition rate from ceramic tube targets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hüpkes J.

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Sputtered and wet-chemically texture etched zinc oxide (ZnO films on glass substrates are regularly applied as transparent front contact in silicon based thin film solar cells. In this study, chemical wet etching in diluted hydrofluoric acid (HF and subsequently in diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl on aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al films deposited by magnetron sputtering from ceramic tube targets at high discharge power (~10 kW/m target length is investigated. Films with thickness of around 800 nm were etched in diluted HCl acid and HF acid to achieve rough surface textures. It is found that the etching of the films in both etchants leads to different surface textures. A two steps etching process, which is especially favorable for films prepared at high deposition rate, was systematically studied. By etching first in diluted hydrofluoric acid (HF and subsequently in diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl these films are furnished with a surface texture which is characterized by craters with typical diameter of around 500 − 1000 nm. The resulting surface structure is comparable to etched films sputtered at low deposition rate, which had been demonstrated to be able to achieve high efficiencies in silicon thin film solar cells.

  14. Computer simulation of scattered ion and sputtered species effects in ion beam sputter-deposition of high temperature superconducting thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krauss, A.R.; Auciello, O.

    1992-01-01

    Ion beam sputter-deposition is a technique currently used by many groups to produce single and multicomponent thin films. This technique provides several advantages over other deposition methods, which include the capability for yielding higher film density, accurate stoichiometry control, and smooth surfaces. However, the relatively high kinetic energies associated with ion beam sputtering also lead to difficulties if the process is not properly controlled. Computer simulations have been performed to determine net deposition rates, as well as the secondary erosion, lattice damage, and gas implantation in the films, associated with primary ions scattered from elemental Y, Ba and Cu targets used to produce high temperature superconducting Y-Ba-Cu-O films. The simulations were performed using the TRIM code for different ion masses and kinetic energies, and different deposition geometries. Results are presented for primary beams of Ar + , Kr + and Xe + incident on Ba and Cu targets at 0 degrees and 45 degrees with respect to the surface normal, with the substrate positioned at 0 degrees and 45 degrees. The calculations indicate that the target composition, mass and kinetic energy of the primary beam, angle of incidence on the target, and position and orientation of the substrate affect the film damage and trapped primary beam gas by up to 5 orders of magnitude

  15. Deuterium sputtering of Li and Li-O films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Andrew; Buzi, Luxherta; Kaita, Robert; Koel, Bruce

    2017-10-01

    Lithium wall coatings have been shown to enhance the operational plasma performance of many fusion devices, including NSTX and other tokamaks, by reducing the global wall recycling coefficient. However, pure lithium surfaces are extremely difficult to maintain in experimental fusion devices due to both inevitable oxidation and codeposition from sputtering of hot plasma facing components. Sputtering of thin lithium and lithium oxide films on a molybdenum target by energetic deuterium ion bombardment was studied in laboratory experiments conducted in a surface science apparatus. A Colutron ion source was used to produce a monoenergetic, mass-selected ion beam. Measurements were made under ultrahigh vacuum conditions as a function of surface temperature (90-520 K) using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). Results are compared with computer simulations conducted on a temperature-dependent data-calibrated (TRIM) model.

  16. Improvement of dielectric properties of BLT thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Besland, M P; Barroy, P R J; Richard-Plouet, M; Tessier, P Y; Brohan, L; Djouadi, M A; Borderon, C; Tacon, S Le; Averty, D; Gundel, H W

    2008-01-01

    Well crystallized BLT thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering using a target of Aurivillius phase Bi 3.25 La 0.75 Ti 3 O 12 (BLT 0,75 ), elaborated in our institute. RF sputtering experiments were performed at room temperature with an argon/oxygen mixture, in a pressure range of 20-50 mTorr. Optimisation of the plasma parameters, namely deposition pressure, RF power and oxygen content in the gas phase, allows obtaining BLT films with a chemical composition close to Bi 3.25 La 0.75 Ti 3 O 12 . After ex-situ annealing under oxygen atmosphere at 650 deg. C, BLT films deposited on Pt/TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si (multilayer) substrates exhibit well defined rod-like grains morphology. A two step deposition process appeared to be necessary in order to reach satisfying dielectric properties. The effect of the plasma parameters on the chemical composition and electrical properties are presented and discussed

  17. Amorphous ITO thin films prepared by DC sputtering for electrochromic applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Teixeira, V.; Cui, H.N.; Meng, L.J.; Fortunato, E.; Martins, R.

    2002-01-01

    Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates using DC magnetron reactive sputtering at different bias voltages and substrate temperatures. Some improvements were obtained on film properties, microstructure and other physical characteristics for different conditions. Amorphous and polycrystalline films can be obtained for various deposition conditions. The transmission, absorption, spectral and diffuse reflection of ITO films were measured in some ranges of UV-Vis-NIR. The refractive index (n), Energy band gap E g and the surface roughness of the film were derived from the measured spectra data. The carrier density (n c ) and the carrier mobility (μ) of the film micro conductive properties were discussed. The films exhibited suitable optical transmittance and conductivity for electrochromic applications

  18. DC magnetron sputtering prepared Ag-C thin film anode for thin film lithium ion microbatteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Y.; Tu, J.P.; Shi, D.Q.; Huang, X.H.; Wu, H.M.; Yuan, Y.F.; Zhao, X.B.

    2007-01-01

    An Ag-C thin film was prepared by DC magnetron co-sputtering, using pure silver and graphite as the targets. The microstructure and morphology of the deposited thin film were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Electrochemical performances of the Ag-C thin film anode were investigated by means of discharge/charge and cyclic voltammogram (CV) tests in model cells. The electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) characteristics and the chemical diffusion coefficient, D Li of the Ag-C thin film electrode at different discharging states were discussed. It was believed that the excellent cycling performance of the Ag-C electrode was ascribed to the good conductivity of silver and the volume stability of the thin film

  19. Characterization of sputter deposited thin film scandate cathodes for miniaturized thermionic converter applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zavadil, Kevin R.; Ruffner, Judith H.; King, Donald B.

    1999-01-01

    We have successfully developed a method for fabricating scandate-based thermionic emitters in thin film form. The primary goal of our effort is to develop thin film emitters that exhibit low work function, high intrinsic electron emissivity, minimum thermal activation properties and that can be readily incorporated into a microgap converter. Our approach has been to incorporate BaSrO into a Sc2O3 matrix using rf sputtering to produce thin films. Diode testing has shown the resulting films to be electron emissive at temperatures as low as 900 K with current densities of 0.1 mA.cm-2 at 1100 K and saturation voltages. We calculate an approximate maximum work function of 1.8 eV and an apparent emission constant (Richardson's constant, A*) of 36 mA.cm-2.K-2. Film compositional and structural analysis shows that a significant surface and subsurface alkaline earth hydroxide phase can form and probably explains the limited utilization and stability of Ba and its surface complexes. The flexibility inherent in sputter deposition suggests alternate strategies for eliminating undesirable phases and optimizing thin film emitter properties.

  20. Ferroelectric properties of barium strontium titanate thin films grown by RF co-sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zapata-Navarro, A.; Marquez-Herrera, A.; Cruz-Jauregui, M.P.; Calzada, M.L.

    2005-01-01

    In this work, we present the variation of the ferroelectric properties of Ba 1-x Sr x TiO 3 films deposited on Pt/TiO 2 /SiO 2 /Si substrates by RF co-sputtering with 0≤x≤1. The co-sputtering was done using a single magnetron with BaTiO 3 /SrTiO 3 targets in a pie mosaics configuration. Smooth and uniform films were obtained using the same conditions of growth and annealing temperature. The X-ray diffraction and EDS results show that the processes were managed to obtain crystalline materials with x from 0 to 1. The behaviour of P-E loops suggests that the ferroelectric properties of the films were tuned by changing the concentration of the cation. (copyright 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  1. Thin films preparation of the Ti-Al-O system by rf-sputtering;Preparacion de peliculas delgadas del sistema Ti-Al-O mediante rf-sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Montes de Oca, J. A.; Ceballos A, J.; Galaviz P, J. [IPN, Centro de Investigacion en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnologia Avanzada, Unidad Altamira, Km 14.5 Carretera Tampico-Puerto Industrial Altamira, 89600 Altamira, Tamaulipas (Mexico); Manaud, J. P.; Lahaye, M. [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Chimie de la Matiere Condensee, Universite Bordeaux I, 87, Av. du Dr. Schweitzer, F-33608 Pessac-Cedex (France); Munoz S, J., E-mail: jmontedeocacv@ipn.m [IPN, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados, Unidad Queretaro, Libramiento Norponiente No. 2000, Fracc. Real de Juriquilla, 76230 Santiago de Queretaro, Qro. (Mexico)

    2010-07-01

    In the present work Ti-Al-O thin films were synthesized by rf-sputtering technique on glass and silicon (Si) substrates using Ti Al and Ti{sub 3}Al targets in a sputtering chamber with an Ar-O{sub 2} atmosphere. Ti-Al-O thin films were obtained varying experimental parameters such as oxygen percent fed to the reaction chamber, plasma power density and substrate temperature. The films deposited on glass substrates were used to evaluate their optical properties, while those deposited on Si substrates were used to evaluate mechanical and morphological properties. The crystalline structure, morphology, chemical composition and optical properties of the films were evaluated by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, Auger electron microscopy and visible UV spectroscopy. Films thicknesses were measured using a profiler. The roughness and mechanical properties such as hardness and Young modulus were analyzed by atomic force microscopy and nano indentation technique, respectively. (Author)

  2. Fractal features of CdTe thin films grown by RF magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hosseinpanahi, Fayegh, E-mail: f.hosseinpanahi@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, Payame Noor University, P.O. Box 19395-4697, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Raoufi, Davood [Department of Physics, University of Bu Ali Sina, P.O. Box 65174, Hamedan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ranjbarghanei, Khadijeh [Department of Physics, Plasma Physics Research Center, Science & Research Branch Islamic Azad University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Karimi, Bayan [Department of Physics, Payame Noor University, P.O. Box 19395-4697, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Babaei, Reza [Department of Physics, Plasma Physics Research Center, Science & Research Branch Islamic Azad University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Hasani, Ebrahim [Department of Physics, University of Bu Ali Sina, P.O. Box 65174, Hamedan (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2015-12-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • CdTe thin films were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature with different deposition time 5, 10 and 15 min. • Nanostructure of CdTe layer indicates that CdTe films are polycrystalline and have zinc blende structure, irrespective of their deposition time. • Complexity and roughness of the CdTe films and strength of multifractality increase with increasing deposition time. • Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and also multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) methods showed that prepared CdTe films have multifractal nature. - Abstract: Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering on glass substrates at room temperature (RT). The film deposition was performed for 5, 10, and 15 min at power of 30 W with a frequency of 13.56 MHz. The crystal structure of the prepared CdTe thin films was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. XRD analyses indicate that the CdTe films are polycrystalline, having zinc blende structure of CdTe irrespective of their deposition time. All CdTe films showed a preferred orientation along (1 1 1) crystalline plane. The surface morphology characterization of the films was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The quantitative AFM characterization shows that the RMS surface roughness of the prepared CdTe thin films increases with increasing the deposition time. The detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and also multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) methods showed that prepared CdTe thin films have multifractal nature. The complexity, roughness of the CdTe thin films and strength of the multifractality increase as deposition time increases.

  3. Fractal features of CdTe thin films grown by RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosseinpanahi, Fayegh; Raoufi, Davood; Ranjbarghanei, Khadijeh; Karimi, Bayan; Babaei, Reza; Hasani, Ebrahim

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • CdTe thin films were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature with different deposition time 5, 10 and 15 min. • Nanostructure of CdTe layer indicates that CdTe films are polycrystalline and have zinc blende structure, irrespective of their deposition time. • Complexity and roughness of the CdTe films and strength of multifractality increase with increasing deposition time. • Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and also multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) methods showed that prepared CdTe films have multifractal nature. - Abstract: Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering on glass substrates at room temperature (RT). The film deposition was performed for 5, 10, and 15 min at power of 30 W with a frequency of 13.56 MHz. The crystal structure of the prepared CdTe thin films was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. XRD analyses indicate that the CdTe films are polycrystalline, having zinc blende structure of CdTe irrespective of their deposition time. All CdTe films showed a preferred orientation along (1 1 1) crystalline plane. The surface morphology characterization of the films was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The quantitative AFM characterization shows that the RMS surface roughness of the prepared CdTe thin films increases with increasing the deposition time. The detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and also multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA) methods showed that prepared CdTe thin films have multifractal nature. The complexity, roughness of the CdTe thin films and strength of the multifractality increase as deposition time increases.

  4. Sputtering gases and pressure effects on the microstructure, magnetic properties and recording performance of TbFeCo films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murakami, Motoyoshi; Birukawa, Masahiro

    2008-01-01

    The MsHc value is considered to be a key factor in high-density recording, and controlling the microstructure on the magnetic underlayer was found to be an effective way of increasing the MsHc of the amorphous TbFeCo magneto-optical (MO) medium. In this paper, we investigate the TbFeCo film's magnetic properties and the effects on the microcolumnar structure, which depends on the sputtering conditions of using various sputtering gases including Ar, Kr, and Xe, and the recording characteristics of TbFeCo memory layers. With heavy sputtering gases such as Kr or Xe, the columnar structure can be prepared in a TbFeCo film at a pressure lower than 1.0 Pa. The columnar structure of a recording layer can be effectively formed thanks to the effects of the magnetic underlayer, which has a fine surface even in the sputtering process in which Xe gas is used. The above applies to the sputtering process in which Ar gas is used. Also, when Xe gas is used in the sputtering process, coercivity Hc is increased through the formation of a well-segregated microcolumnar structure built on domain wall pinning sites, and we obtain a large MsHc and a high squareness ratio of the Kerr-hysteresis loop. Our results indicate that processing a TbFeCo film with heavy sputtering gases is suitable for tiny mark stability because the temperature gradient of Hc is increased. The objective of the low-pressure sputtering process using Xe gas to produce the columnar structure is to achieve ultra-high-density recording with tiny mark stability in the TbFeCo medium. This has been confirmed with magnetic force microscope (MFM) images of stable tiny marks recorded on TbFeCo film

  5. The influence of sequence of precursor films on CZTSe thin films prepared by ion-beam sputtering deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Jun; Liang, Guangxing; Zeng, Yang; Fan, Ping; Hu, Juguang; Luo, Jingting; Zhang, Dongping

    2017-02-01

    The CuZnSn (CZT) precursor thin films are grown by ion-beam sputtering Cu, Zn, Sn targets with different orders and then sputtering Se target to fabricate Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) absorber thin films on molybdenum substrates. They are annealed in the same vacuum chamber at 400 °C. The characterization methods of CZTSe thin films include X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) in order to study the crystallographic properties, composition, surface morphology, electrical properties and so on. The results display that the CZTSe thin films got the strongest diffraction peak intensity and were with good crystalline quality and its morphology appeared smooth and compact with a sequence of Cu/Zn/Sn/Se, which reveals that the expected states for CZTSe are Cu1+, Zn2+, Sn4+, Se2+. With the good crystalline quality and close to ideal stoichiometric ratio the resistivity of the CZTSe film with the sequence of Cu/Zn/Sn/Se is lower, whose optical band gap is about 1.50 eV. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61404086), the Basical Research Program of Shenzhen (Nos. JCYJ20150324140036866, JCYJ20150324141711581), and the Natural Science Foundation of SZU (No. 2014017).

  6. Magnetoresistance and anomalous Hall effect of reactive sputtered polycrystalline Ti1 - XCrxN films

    KAUST Repository

    Duan, Xiaofei; Mi, Wenbo; Guo, Zaibing; Bai, Haili

    2013-01-01

    The reactive-sputtered polycrystalline Ti1 - xCrxN films with 0.17 ≤ x ≤ 0.51 are ferromagnetic and at x = 0.47 the Curie temperature TC shows a maximum of ~ 120 K. The films are metallic at 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.47, while the films with x = 0.51 and 0

  7. Characterization of Al-Doped ZnO Transparent Conducting Thin Film Prepared by Off-Axis Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sin-Liang Ou

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The off-axis sputtering technique was used to deposit Al-doped ZnO (AZO films on glass substrates at room temperature. For the illustration of the sample position in the sputtering chamber, the value of R/r is introduced. Here, r is the radius of AZO target and R is the distance between the sample and the center of substrate holder. A systematic study for the effect of deposition parameters on structural, optical, and electrical properties of AZO films has been investigated in detail. As the sample position of R/r is fixed at 1.8, it is found that the as-deposited AZO film has relatively low resistivity of 2.67 × 10−3 Ω-cm and high transmittance above 80% in the visible region. Additionally, after rapid thermal annealing (RTA at 600°C with N2 atmosphere, the resistivity of this AZO film can be further reduced to 1.19 × 10−3 Ω-cm. This indicates the AZO films prepared by off-axis magnetron sputtering and treated via the appropriate RTA process have great potential in optoelectronic applications.

  8. Direct current magnetron sputtering deposition of InN thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai Xingmin; Hao Yanqing; Zhang Dongping; Fan Ping

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, InN thin films were deposited on Si (1 0 0) and K9 glass by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering. The target was In metal with the purity of 99.999% and the gases were Ar (99.999%) and N 2 (99.999%). The properties of InN thin films were studied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that the film surface is very rough and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) shows that the film contains In, N and very little O. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman scattering reveal that the film mainly contains hexagonal InN. The four-probe measurement shows that InN film is conductive. The transmission measurement demonstrates that the transmission of InN deposited on K9 glass is as low as 0.5% from 400 nm to 800 nm.

  9. Characteristics of indium zinc oxide films deposited using the facing targets sputtering method for OLEDs applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rim, Y.S.; Kim, H.J.; Kim, K.H.

    2010-01-01

    The amorphous indium zinc oxide (IZO) thin films were deposited on polyethersulfone (PES) and glass substrates using the facing targets sputtering (FTS) system. The electrical, optical and structural properties of the IZO thin films deposited as functions of sputtering parameters on the glass and PES substrates. An optimal IZO deposition condition is fabricated for organic light-emitting device (OLED) based on glass and PES. The amorphous IZO anode-based OLEDs show superior current density and luminance characteristics.

  10. Electrical properties of sputtered-indium tin oxide film contacts on n-type GaN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hwang, J. D.; Lin, C. C.; Chen, W. L.

    2006-01-01

    A transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) Ohmic contact on n-type gallium nitride (GaN) (dopant concentration of 2x10 17 cm -3 ) having a specific contact resistance of 4.2x10 -6 Ω cm 2 was obtained. In this study, ITO film deposition method was implemented by sputtering. We found that the barrier height, 0.68 eV, between ITO and n-type GaN is the same for both evaporated- and sputtered-ITO films. However, the 0.68 eV in barrier height renders the evaporated-ITO/n-GaN Schottky contact. This behavior is different from that of our sputtered-ITO/n-GaN, i.e., Ohmic contact. During sputtering, oxygen atoms on the GaN surface were significantly removed, thereby resulting in an improvement in contact resistance. Moreover, a large number of nitrogen (N) vacancies, caused by sputtering, were produced near the GaN surface. These N vacancies acted as donors for electrons, thus affecting a heavily doped n-type formed at the subsurface below the sputtered ITO/n-GaN. Both oxygen removal and heavy doping near the GaN surface, caused by N vacancies, in turn led to a reduction in contact resistivity as a result of electrons tunneling across the depletion layer from the ITO to the n-type GaN. All explanations are given by Auger analysis and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

  11. Facing-target sputtering deposition of ZnO films with Pt ultra-thin layers for gas-phase photocatalytic application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Zhonghai; Hossain, Md. Faruk.; Arakawa, Takuya; Takahashi, Takakazu

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, various zinc oxide (ZnO) films are deposited by a versatile and effective dc-reactive facing-target sputtering method. The ratios of Ar to O 2 in the mixture gas are varied from 8:2 to 6:4 at a fixed sputtering pressure of 1.0 Pa. X-ray diffraction, spectrophotometer and scanning electron microscope are used to study the crystal structure, optical property and surface morphology of the as-deposited films. The Pt ultra-thin layer, ∼2 nm thick, is deposited on the surface of ZnO film by dc diode sputtering with a mesh mask controlling the coated area. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO films and Pt-ZnO films is evaluated by decomposition of methanol under UV-vis light irradiation. The variation of photocatalytic activity depends on the ratios of Ar to O 2 , which is mainly attributed to the different grain size and carrier mobility. Though the pure ZnO film normally shows a low gas-phase photocatalytic activity, its activity is significantly enhanced by depositing Pt ultra-thin layer.

  12. Deposition of PZT thin film onto copper-coated polymer films by mean of pulsed-DC and RF-reactive sputtering

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Suchaneck, G.; Labitzke, R.; Adolphi, B.; Jastrabík, Lubomír; Adámek, Petr; Drahokoupil, Jan; Hubička, Zdeněk; Kiselev, D.A.; Kholkin, A. L.; Gerlach, G.; Dejneka, Alexandr

    2011-01-01

    Roč. 205, č. 2 (2011), S241-S244 ISSN 0257-8972 R&D Projects: GA ČR GC202/09/J017; GA AV ČR KAN301370701; GA MŠk(CZ) 1M06002 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100522 Keywords : pulsed DC reactive sputtering * RF reactive sputtering * complex oxide film deposition * polymer substrate Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 1.867, year: 2011

  13. Influence of ion beam and geometrical parameters on properties of Si thin films grown by Ar ion beam sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bundesmann, Carsten; Feder, Rene; Neumann, Horst [Leibniz-Institut fuer Oberflaechenmodifizierung e.V., Leipzig (Germany)

    2012-07-01

    Ion beam sputtering (IBS) offers, in contrast to other physical vapour deposition techniques, such as magnetron sputtering or electron beam evaporation, the opportunity to change the properties of the layer forming particles (sputtered and scattered particles) by varying ion beam parameters (ion species, ion energy) and geometrical parameters (ion incidence angle, emission angle). Consequently, these effects can be utilized to tailor thin film properties [1]. The goal is to study systematically the correlations between the primary and secondary parameters and, at last, the effects on the properties of Si thin films, such as optical properties, stress, surface topography and composition. First experimental results are presented for Ar-ion sputtering of Si.

  14. Marbled texture of sputtered Al/Si alloy thin film on Si

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gentile, M.G. [Physics Department and NIS Interdepartmental Center, University of Torino, via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino (Italy); Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Muñoz-Tabares, J.A.; Chiodoni, A. [Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Space Human Robotics, Corso Trento 21, 10129 Torino (Italy); Sgorlon, C. [Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Para, I. [Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino (Italy); Carta, R.; Richieri, G. [Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Bejtka, K. [Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Space Human Robotics, Corso Trento 21, 10129 Torino (Italy); Merlin, L. [Vishay Intertechnology, Diodes Division, Via Liguria 49, 10071 Borgaro Torinese, Turin (Italy); Vittone, E. [Physics Department and NIS Interdepartmental Center, University of Torino, via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino (Italy)

    2016-08-01

    DC magnetron sputtering is a commonly used technique for the fabrication of silicon based electronic devices, since it provides high deposition rates and uniform large area metallization. However, in addition to the thickness uniformity, coating optical uniformity is a crucial need for semiconductor industrial processes, due to the wide use of optical recognition tools. In the silicon-based technology, aluminum is one of the most used materials for the metal contact. Both the pre-deposition substrate cleaning and the sputtering conditions determine the quality and the crystalline properties of the final Al deposited film. In this paper is shown that not all the mentioned conditions lead to good quality and uniform Al films. In particular, it is shown that under certain standard process conditions, Al/Si alloy (1% Si) metallization on a [100] Si presents a non-uniform reflectivity, with a marbled texture caused by flakes with milky appearance. This optical inhomogeneity is found to be caused by the coexistence of randomly orient Al/Si crystal, with heteroepitaxial Al/Si crystals, both grown on Si substrate. Based on the microstructural analysis, some strategies to mitigate or suppress this marbled texture of the Al thin film are proposed and discussed. - Highlights: • Sputtered Al/Si layers deposited on Si present evident optical non-uniformity • It could be an issue for optical recognition tools used in semiconductor industries • Optical non-uniformity is due to randomly oriented growth of Al grains. • Substrate misorientation and process temperature can mitigate the problem.

  15. Structural and electrical properties of sputter deposited ZnO thin films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhammed Shameem P., V.; Mekala, Laxman; Kumar, M. Senthil

    2018-05-01

    The growth of zinc oxide thin films having different oxygen content was achieved at ambient temperature by reactive dc magnetron sputtering technique and their structural and electrical properties are studied. The structural studies show that the films are polycrystalline with a preferential orientation of the grains along the c-axis [002], which increases with increase in oxygen partial pressure. The grain size and the surface roughness of the zinc oxide films are found to decrease with increasing oxygen partial pressure. It is observed that the resistivity of the zinc oxide films can be tuned from semiconducting to insulating regime by varying the oxygen content.

  16. Self-sputtering during ion precipitation and its influence on niobium film properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belevskij, V.P.; Gusev, I.V.

    1987-01-01

    Cathode sputtering of niobium films under conditions of vacuum condensation with simultaneous Nb + ion bombardment at energy of E n =(1.6...6.4)x10 -16 J is studied. Calculation of experimental values of the sputtering coefficient S Nb is performed with respect to the film thickness in the field of action of a niobium ion beam. Using the four-probe method in helium cryostats superconducting properties are studied and the film texture is determined by the X ray diffraction analysis. With the E n growth S Nb increases from 1.1 to 3.1. The best correspondence of the experimental dependence S Nb (E n ) is provided by the semiempirical formula of Yamamura Y. et al. The consequence of the S Nb increase is a sharp decrease of the effective condensation rate v eff . In case of niobium condensation at v eff m , where v m is the velocity of movement of a quasidiffusive boundary of impurities from the substrate according to the model of ion mixing developed by Carter G. and Armour D. suppresion of texture formation and deterioration of superconducting properties of superthin films (about 10 nm) is observed that results from ion mixing of the film and substrate materials on the interface. For such condensation conditions the substrate itself is the main source of impurities in the film

  17. Origin of stress in radio frequency magnetron sputtered zinc oxide thin films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menon, Rashmi; Gupta, Vinay; Tan, H. H.; Sreenivas, K.; Jagadish, C.

    2011-03-01

    Highly c-axis oriented ZnO thin films have been deposited on silicon substrates by planar rf magnetron sputtering under varying pressure (10-50 mTorr) and oxygen percentage (50-100%) in the reactive gas (Ar + O2) mixture. The as-grown films were found to be stressed over a wide range from -1 × 1011 to -2 × 108 dyne/cm2 that in turn depends strongly on the processing conditions, and the film becomes stress free at a unique combination of sputtering pressure and reactive gas composition. Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) analyses identified the origin of stress as lattice distortion due to defects introduced in the ZnO thin film. FTIR study reveals that Zn-O bond becomes stronger with the increase in oxygen fraction in the reactive gas mixture. The lattice distortion or stress depends on the type of defects introduced during deposition. PL spectra show the formation of a shoulder in band emission with an increase in the processing pressure and are related to the presence of stress. The ratio of band emission to defect emission decreases with the increase in oxygen percentage from 50 to 100%. The studies show a correlation of stress with the structural, vibrational, and photoluminescence properties of the ZnO thin film. The systematic study of the stress will help in the fabrication of efficient devices based on ZnO film.

  18. Ferroelectric properties of barium strontium titanate thin films grown by RF co-sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zapata-Navarro, A.; Marquez-Herrera, A. [CICATA-IPN, Km. 14.5 Carretera Tampico-Puerto Ind. Altamira, Altamira Tamaulipas 89600 (Mexico); Cruz-Jauregui, M.P. [CCMC-UNAM, Km. 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada B.C. 22800 (Mexico); Calzada, M.L. [ICMM (CSIC) Madrid, Cantoblanco Madrid 28049 (Spain)

    2005-08-01

    In this work, we present the variation of the ferroelectric properties of Ba{sub 1-x}Sr{sub x}TiO{sub 3} films deposited on Pt/TiO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si substrates by RF co-sputtering with 0{<=}x{<=}1. The co-sputtering was done using a single magnetron with BaTiO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} targets in a pie mosaics configuration. Smooth and uniform films were obtained using the same conditions of growth and annealing temperature. The X-ray diffraction and EDS results show that the processes were managed to obtain crystalline materials with x from 0 to 1. The behaviour of P-E loops suggests that the ferroelectric properties of the films were tuned by changing the concentration of the cation. (copyright 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  19. Comparative study of zinc oxide and aluminum doped zinc oxide transparent thin films grown by direct current magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suchea, M.; Christoulakis, S.; Katsarakis, N.; Kitsopoulos, T.; Kiriakidis, G.

    2007-01-01

    Pure and aluminum (Al) doped zinc oxide (ZnO and ZAO) thin films have been grown using direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering from pure metallic Zn and ceramic ZnO targets, as well as from Al-doped metallic ZnAl2at.% and ceramic ZnAl2at.%O targets at room temperature (RT). The effects of target composition on the film's surface topology, crystallinity, and optical transmission have been investigated for various oxygen partial pressures in the sputtering atmosphere. It has been shown that Al-doped ZnO films sputtered from either metallic or ceramic targets exhibit different surface morphology than the undoped ZnO films, while their preferential crystalline growth orientation revealed by X-ray diffraction remains always the (002). More significantly, Al-doping leads to a larger increase of the optical transmission and energy gap (E g ) of the metallic than of the ceramic target prepared films

  20. Fabrication and properties of yttrium doped barium titanate film by RF sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Igarashi, H.; Yuasa, M.; Okazaki, K.

    1985-01-01

    Semiconductive barium titanate films were fabricated by RF sputtering on fused quartz, alumina and barium titanate ceramic substrates using barium titanate ceramic with a small amount of yttria as a target. The films on the barium titanate substrates turned blue color and showed a small PTC effect by heat-treating at 1000 0 C in the air after deposition at the substrate temperature of 600 0 C

  1. Textured ZnO thin films by RF magnetron sputtering

    CERN Document Server

    Ginting, M; Kang, K H; Kim, S K; Yoon, K H; Park, I J; Song, J S

    1999-01-01

    Textured thin films ZnO has been successfully grown by rf magnetron sputtering method using a special technique of introducing a small amount of water and methanol on the deposition chamber. The grain size of the textured surface is highly dependent on the argon pressure during the deposition. The pressure in this experiment was varied from 50 mTorr down to 5 mTorr and the highest grain size of the film is obtained at 5 mTorr. The total transmittance of the films are more than 85% in the wavelength of 400 to 800 nm, and haze ratio of about 14% is obtained at 400 nm wavelength. Beside the textured surface, these films also have very low resistivity, which is lower than 1.4x10 sup - sup 3 OMEGA centre dot cm. X-ray analysis shows that the films with textured surface have four diffraction peaks on the direction of (110), (002), (101) and (112), while the non-textured films have only (110) and (002) peaks. Due to the excellent characteristics of this film, it will make the film very good TCO alternatives for the ...

  2. Visible-light active thin-film WO3 photocatalyst with controlled high-rate deposition by low-damage reactive-gas-flow sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nobuto Oka

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available A process based on reactive gas flow sputtering (GFS for depositing visible-light active photocatalytic WO3 films at high deposition rates and with high film quality was successfully demonstrated. The deposition rate for this process was over 10 times higher than that achieved by the conventional sputtering process and the process was highly stable. Furthermore, Pt nanoparticle-loaded WO3 films deposited by the GFS process exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than those deposited by conventional sputtering, where the photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the extent of decomposition of CH3CHO under visible light irradiation. The decomposition time for 60 ppm of CH3CHO was 7.5 times more rapid on the films deposited by the GFS process than on the films deposited by the conventional process. During GFS deposition, there are no high-energy particles bombarding the growing film surface, whereas the bombardment of the surface with high-energy particles is a key feature of conventional sputtering. Hence, the WO3 films deposited by GFS should be of higher quality, with fewer structural defects, which would lead to a decrease in the number of centers for electron-hole recombination and to the efficient use of photogenerated holes for the decomposition of CH3CHO.

  3. Low temperature ITO thin film deposition on PES substrate using pulse magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, Y.C.; Li, J.Y.; Yen, W.T.

    2008-01-01

    Experiments were conducted using pulse magnetron sputtering (PMS) to deposit transparent conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film onto flexible polyethersulfone (PES) plastic substrates. The thin film microstructure, optoelectronic and residual stress were analyzed using the modulating PMS power, work pressure, pulse frequency, duty cycle and cycle time process parameters. The residual stress of the thin film was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with the Sony equation. The experimental results show that PMS has a lower process temperature, higher deposition rate and lower resistivity compared with the radio frequency process at the same output power. The duty cycle increase produces the optimum optoelectronic characteristics. When the pressure, power, duty cycle and sputter time are increased, the thin film stress will also increase, causing flexural distortion in the PES plastic substrate. When the deposition thickness reaches 1.5 μm, ITO thin film will appear with a distinct split. Under 5 mtorr work pressure, 60 W power, 33 μs duty time and 2 μs pulse reverse time at duty cycle 95%, thin film with an optimized electrical 3.0 x 10 -4 Ω-cm, RMS surface roughness of 0.85 nm and visible region optical transmittance will be achieved with acquisition of over 85%

  4. Multiple-target method for sputtering amorphous films for bubble-domain devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burilla, C.T.; Bekebrede, W.R.; Smith, A.B.

    1976-01-01

    Previously, sputtered amorphous metal alloys for bubble applications have ordinarily been prepared by standard sputtering techniques using a single target electrode. The deposition of these alloys is reported using a multiple target rf technique in which a separate target is used for each element contained in the alloy. One of the main advantages of this multiple-target approach is that the film composition can be easily changed by simply varying the voltages applied to the elemental targets. In the apparatus, the centers of the targets are positioned on a 15 cm-radius circle. The platform holding the film substrate is on a 15 cm-long arm which can rotate about the center, thus bringing the sample successively under each target. The platform rotation rate is adjustable from 0 to 190 rpm. That this latter speed is sufficient to homogenize the alloys produced is demonstrated by measurements made of the uniaxial anisotropy constant in Gd 0 . 12 Co 0 . 59 Cu 0 . 29 films. The anisotropy is 6.0 x 10 5 ergs/cm 3 and independent of rotation rate above approximately 25 rpm, but it drops rapidly for slower rotation rates, reaching 1.8 x 10 5 ergs/cm 3 for 7 rpm. The film quality is equal to that of films made by conventional methods. Coercivities of a few oersteds in samples with stripe widths of 1 to 2 μm and magnetizations of 800 to 2800 G were observed

  5. Study on the electrical properties of ITO films deposited by facing target sputter deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Youn J; Jin, Su B; Kim, Sung I; Choi, Yoon S; Choi, In S; Han, Jeon G

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the mechanism for the change in the electrical properties (carrier concentration (n) and mobility (μ)) of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) films deposited by magnetron sputtering in a confined facing magnetic field. The relationship between the carrier concentration and the mobility was significantly different from the results reported for ITO films deposited by other magnetron sputtering processes. The lowest resistivity obtained for ITO films deposited in a confined facing magnetic field at low substrate temperatures (approximately 120 0 C) was 4.26 x 10 -4 Ω cm at a power density of 3 W cm -2 . Crystalline ITO films were obtained at a low power density range from 3 to 5 W cm -2 due to the increase in the substrate temperature from 120 to 162 0 C. This contributed to the increased carrier concentration and decreased electrical resistivity. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed an increase in the concentration of the Sn 4+ states. This was attributed to the formation of a crystalline ITO film, which effectively enhanced the carrier concentration and reduced the carrier mobility.

  6. Benchmarking Pt and Pt-lanthanide sputtered thin films for oxygen electroreduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zamburlini, Eleonora; Jensen, Kim Degn; Stephens, Ifan E.L.

    2017-01-01

    Platinum-lanthanide alloys are very promising as active and stable catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in low-temperature fuel cells. We have fabricated Pt and Pt5Gd metallic thin films via (co-)sputtering deposition in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber. The electrochemical ORR...

  7. Cell adhesion on NiTi thin film sputter-deposited meshes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loger, K. [Inorganic Functional Materials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); Engel, A.; Haupt, J. [Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel (Germany); Li, Q. [Biocompatible Nanomaterials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); Lima de Miranda, R. [Inorganic Functional Materials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); ACQUANDAS GmbH, Kiel (Germany); Quandt, E. [Inorganic Functional Materials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany); Lutter, G. [Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel (Germany); Selhuber-Unkel, C. [Biocompatible Nanomaterials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel (Germany)

    2016-02-01

    Scaffolds for tissue engineering enable the possibility to fabricate and form biomedical implants in vitro, which fulfill special functionality in vivo. In this study, free-standing Nickel–Titanium (NiTi) thin film meshes were produced by means of magnetron sputter deposition. Meshes contained precisely defined rhombic holes in the size of 440 to 1309 μm{sup 2} and a strut width ranging from 5.3 to 9.2 μm. The effective mechanical properties of the microstructured superelastic NiTi thin film were examined by tensile testing. These results will be adapted for the design of the holes in the film. The influence of hole and strut dimensions on the adhesion of sheep autologous cells (CD133 +) was studied after 24 h and after seven days of incubation. Optical analysis using fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that cell adhesion depends on the structural parameters of the mesh. After 7 days in cell culture a large part of the mesh was covered with aligned fibrous material. Cell adhesion is particularly facilitated on meshes with small rhombic holes of 440 μm{sup 2} and a strut width of 5.3 μm. Our results demonstrate that free-standing NiTi thin film meshes have a promising potential for applications in cardiovascular tissue engineering, particularly for the fabrication of heart valves. - Highlights: • Freestanding NiTi thin film scaffolds were fabricated with magnetron sputtering process. • Effective mechanical properties of NiTi scaffolds can be adapted by the mesh structure parameters. • Cell adhesion on the NiTi thin film scaffold is controlled by the structure parameters of the mesh. • Cells strongly adhere after seven days and form a confluent layer on the mesh.

  8. Cell adhesion on NiTi thin film sputter-deposited meshes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loger, K.; Engel, A.; Haupt, J.; Li, Q.; Lima de Miranda, R.; Quandt, E.; Lutter, G.; Selhuber-Unkel, C.

    2016-01-01

    Scaffolds for tissue engineering enable the possibility to fabricate and form biomedical implants in vitro, which fulfill special functionality in vivo. In this study, free-standing Nickel–Titanium (NiTi) thin film meshes were produced by means of magnetron sputter deposition. Meshes contained precisely defined rhombic holes in the size of 440 to 1309 μm 2 and a strut width ranging from 5.3 to 9.2 μm. The effective mechanical properties of the microstructured superelastic NiTi thin film were examined by tensile testing. These results will be adapted for the design of the holes in the film. The influence of hole and strut dimensions on the adhesion of sheep autologous cells (CD133 +) was studied after 24 h and after seven days of incubation. Optical analysis using fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that cell adhesion depends on the structural parameters of the mesh. After 7 days in cell culture a large part of the mesh was covered with aligned fibrous material. Cell adhesion is particularly facilitated on meshes with small rhombic holes of 440 μm 2 and a strut width of 5.3 μm. Our results demonstrate that free-standing NiTi thin film meshes have a promising potential for applications in cardiovascular tissue engineering, particularly for the fabrication of heart valves. - Highlights: • Freestanding NiTi thin film scaffolds were fabricated with magnetron sputtering process. • Effective mechanical properties of NiTi scaffolds can be adapted by the mesh structure parameters. • Cell adhesion on the NiTi thin film scaffold is controlled by the structure parameters of the mesh. • Cells strongly adhere after seven days and form a confluent layer on the mesh.

  9. Self-assembled metal nano-multilayered film prepared by co-sputtering method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Tianle; Fu, Licai; Qin, Wen; Zhu, Jiajun; Yang, Wulin; Li, Deyi; Zhou, Lingping

    2018-03-01

    Nano-multilayered film is usually prepared by the arrangement deposition of different materials. In this paper, a self-assembled nano-multilayered film was deposited by simultaneous sputtering of Cu and W. The Cu/W nano-multilayered film was accumulated by W-rich layer and Cu-rich layer. Smooth interfaces with consecutive composition variation and semi-coherent even coherent relationship were identified, indicating that a spinodal-like structure with a modulation wavelength of about 20 nm formed during co-deposition process. The participation of diffusion barrier element, such as W, is believed the essential to obtain the nano-multilayered structure besides the technological parameters.

  10. Detection of organic vapors on sputtered and annealed thin Au films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kvitek, O.; Kopacek, V.; Reznickova, A.; Svorcik, V.

    2018-03-01

    Unique optical properties of metal nanostructures enable construction of new types of chemical sensors. Nanostructures composed of Au on glass substrate were prepared by annealing of 2-20 nm thick sputtered Au films at 300 °C for 1 h. The annealing leads to transformation of the as sputtered continuous Au layers to a nanoisland structure. The forming nanostructure shows a strong, well defined surface plasmon resonance absorption band in UV-Vis spectrum, which is useful for construction of a chemical sensor. The samples were used to detect vapors of acetone and water in an experimental testing apparatus. The achieved signal-to-noise ratio was 583 and 386 for acetone and water vapors, respectively on the nanostructure prepared from 4 nm thick Au layer. The nanostructured sensitive layers, however, showed poor signal stability; therefore a polymer overlayer was introduced to protect it. The employed polystyrene film prepared by spin-coating improved sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor, while the dynamic properties of the sensing influenced only slightly.

  11. Characterization of TiO2 Thin Films on Glass Substrate Growth Using DC Sputtering Technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agus Santoso; Tjipto Sujitno; Sayono

    2002-01-01

    It has been fabricated and characterization a TiO 2 thin films deposited on glass substrate using DC sputtering technique. Fabrication of TiO 2 thin films were carried out at electrode voltage 4 kV, sputtering current 5 mA, vacuum pressure 5 x 10 -4 torr, deposition time 150 minutes, and temperature of the substrate were varied from 150 -350 o C, while as a gas sputter was argon. The results was tested their micro structure using SEM, and crystal structure using XRD and found that the crystal structure of TiO 2 powder before deposited on glass substrate was rutile and anatase with orientation (110) and (200) for anatase and (100) and (111) rutile structure. While the crystal structure which deposited at temperature 150 o C and deposition time 2.5 hours was anatase with orientation (001) and (200). (author)

  12. Induced anisotropy in amorphous Sm-Co sputtered films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, K.; Hegde, H.; Cadieu, F.J.

    1992-01-01

    The variation of the in-the-film-plane anisotropy constant, K u , with composition and the magnitude of the field, H s , applied in plane during the sputter deposition of amorphous Sm x Co 1-x , 0.08≤x≤0.40, thin films has been studied. We demonstrate here that with a large H s , 5.0 kOe, a well defined and large in-the-film-plane anisotropy can be obtained. An exceptionally high value of K u =3.3x10 6 erg/cm 3 has been obtained. For the loop measured along the in-plane hard direction, the opening of the loop was undetectable, and the loop along the easy axis was a perfect rectangle. For certain conditions, the anisotropy field measured perpendicular to the film plane when corrected for demagnetization (N d =4π) was the same as that for the in-plane measurements. It is concluded that surface induced short range ordering was the origin of the anisotropy observed in amorphous films deposited in a magnetic field. The formation mechanism is different from that of the short range ordering induced by field annealing

  13. Stress analysis, structure and magnetic properties of sputter deposited Ni-Mn-Ga ferromagnetic shape memory thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Annadurai, A. [Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004 (India); Manivel Raja, M., E-mail: mraja@dmrl.drdo.in [Defense Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500058 (India); Prabahar, K.; Kumar, Atul [Defense Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500058 (India); Kannan, M.D.; Jayakumar, S. [Department of Physics, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641004 (India)

    2011-11-15

    The residual stress instituted in Ni-Mn-Ga thin films during deposition is a key parameter influencing their shape memory applications by affecting its structural and magnetic properties. A series of Ni-Mn-Ga thin films were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering on Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates at four different sputtering powers of 25, 45, 75 and 100 W for systematic investigation of the residual stress and its effect on structure and magnetic properties. The residual stresses in thin films were characterized by a laser scanning technique. The as-deposited films were annealed at 600 deg. C for 1 h in vacuum for structural and magnetic ordering. The compressive stresses observed in as-deposited films transformed into tensile stresses upon annealing. The annealed films were found to be crystalline and possess mixed phases of both austenite and martensite, exhibiting good soft magnetic properties. It was found that the increase of sputtering power induced coarsening in thin films. Typical saturation magnetization and coercivity values were found to be 330 emu/cm{sup 3} and 215 Oe, respectively. The films deposited at 75 and 100 W display both structural and magnetic transitions above room temperature. - Highlights: > Compressive stresses observed in as-deposited films transformed into tensile stresses upon annealing. > Annealed films were found to be crystalline and possess mixed phases of both austenite and martensite, exhibiting good soft magnetic properties. > The highest Curie transition in the films was observed at 365 K. > The films deposited at 75 and 100 W display both structural and magnetic transitions above room temperature.

  14. Improvement of dielectric properties of BLT thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Besland, M P; Barroy, P R J; Richard-Plouet, M; Tessier, P Y; Brohan, L; Djouadi, M A [Universite de Nantes - Institut des Materiaux Jean Rouxel, UMR CNRS 6502, 2, rue de la Houssiniere BP32229, 44322 Nantes Cedex (France); Borderon, C; Tacon, S Le; Averty, D; Gundel, H W [Institut de Recherche en Electrotechnique et Electronique de Nantes Atlantique, UPRES-EA 1770, IREENA, Universite de Nantes, 2, rue de la Houssiniere, BP 92208, 44322 Nantes Cedex (France)], E-mail: Marie-Paule.Besland@cnrs-imn.fr

    2008-01-15

    Well crystallized BLT thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering using a target of Aurivillius phase Bi{sub 3.25}La{sub 0.75}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12}(BLT{sub 0,75}), elaborated in our institute. RF sputtering experiments were performed at room temperature with an argon/oxygen mixture, in a pressure range of 20-50 mTorr. Optimisation of the plasma parameters, namely deposition pressure, RF power and oxygen content in the gas phase, allows obtaining BLT films with a chemical composition close to Bi{sub 3.25}La{sub 0.75}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12}. After ex-situ annealing under oxygen atmosphere at 650 deg. C, BLT films deposited on Pt/TiO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si (multilayer) substrates exhibit well defined rod-like grains morphology. A two step deposition process appeared to be necessary in order to reach satisfying dielectric properties. The effect of the plasma parameters on the chemical composition and electrical properties are presented and discussed.

  15. Niobium films produced by magnetron sputtering using an Ar-He mixture as discharge gas

    CERN Document Server

    Schucan, G M; Calatroni, Sergio

    1995-01-01

    Superconducting RF accelerating cavities have been produced at CERN by sputter-coating, with a thin niobium layer, cavities made of copper. In the present work, the discharge behaviour and niobium film properties have been investigated when part of the argon sputtering gas is replaced with helium. Helium is chosen because of its low mass, which reduces the energy lost by the niobium atoms colliding with the sputter gas atoms. The higher niobium atom energy should lead to higher adatom mobility on the substrate and, hence, to a larger grain size, a feature which is highly desirable to reduce the cavity surface resistance. It has been found that helium addition effectively helps to maintain the discharge at considerably lower argon pressures, via metastable-neutral ionisation and high secondary electron yield. However, a large amount of helium is trapped in the film, amount which is proportional to the helium partial pressure during the discharge, resulting in a reduction of both Residual Resistivity Ratio and ...

  16. Properties of nickel films growth by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at elevated substrate temperatures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muslim, Noormariah, E-mail: 14h8702@ubd.edu.bn [Centre for Advanced Material and Energy Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410 (Brunei Darussalam); Soon, Ying Woan [Centre for Advanced Material and Energy Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410 (Brunei Darussalam); Physical and Geological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410 (Brunei Darussalam); Lim, Chee Ming; Voo, Nyuk Yoong [Centre for Advanced Material and Energy Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410 (Brunei Darussalam)

    2016-08-01

    Pure nickel (Ni) thin films of thicknesses of 100 nm were deposited on glass substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering at a power of 100 W and at various substrate temperatures i.e., room temperature, 100, 200, and 300 °C. The crystalline structure, surface topography, surface morphology, electrical resistivity, and optical properties of the deposited films were studied. The properties of the Ni films could be controlled by altering the substrate temperature. Specifically, the films featured a face-centered cubic crystalline structure with predominant (111) crystallite orientation at all the substrate temperatures employed, as observed from the X-ray diffraction analysis. Films deposited at substrate temperatures greater than 200 °C additionally displayed crystalline (200) and (220) diffraction peaks. The surface morphology analysis revealed that the grain size of the Ni thin films increased with increasing substrate temperatures employed. This increase was accompanied with a decrease in the resistivity of the Ni films. The surface roughness of the films increased with increasing substrate temperatures employed, as observed from the atomic force microscopy analysis. - Highlights: • RF magnetron sputtering is a good alternative method to deposit Ni films. • Properties of Ni films could be controlled simply by tuning substrate temperatures. • Crystallite size and surface roughness increased with substrate temperatures. • Electrical resistivity reduced with increasing substrate temperatures. • Optical properties also changed with substrate temperatures.

  17. Sputtered tin oxide and titanium oxide thin films as alternative transparent conductive oxides

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boltz, Janika

    2011-12-12

    Alternative transparent conductive oxides to tin doped indium oxide have been investigated. In this work, antimony doped tin oxide and niobium doped titanium oxide have been studied with the aim to prepare transparent and conductive films. Antimony doped tin oxide and niobium doped titanium oxide belong to different groups of oxides; tin oxide is a soft oxide, while titanium oxide is a hard oxide. Both oxides are isolating materials, in case the stoichiometry is SnO{sub 2} and TiO{sub 2}. In order to achieve transparent and conductive films free carriers have to be generated by oxygen vacancies, by metal ions at interstitial positions in the crystal lattice or by cation doping with Sb or Nb, respectively. Antimony doped tin oxide and niobium doped titanium oxide films have been prepared by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering (dc MS) from metallic targets. The process parameters and the doping concentration in the films have been varied. The films have been electrically, optically and structurally analysed in order to analyse the influence of the process parameters and the doping concentration on the film properties. Post-deposition treatments of the films have been performed in order to improve the film properties. For the deposition of transparent and conductive tin oxide, the dominant parameter during the deposition is the oxygen content in the sputtering gas. The Sb incorporation as doping atoms has a minor influence on the electrical, optical and structural properties. Within a narrow oxygen content in the sputtering gas highly transparent and conductive tin oxide films have been prepared. In this study, the lowest resistivity in the as deposited state is 2.9 m{omega} cm for undoped tin oxide without any postdeposition treatment. The minimum resistivity is related to a transition to crystalline films with the stoichiometry of SnO{sub 2}. At higher oxygen content the films turn out to have a higher resistivity due to an oxygen excess. After post

  18. Process effects on radio frequency diode reactively sputtered ZrO2 films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, M.M.; Reith, T.M.; Lin, C.J.

    1990-01-01

    The ZrO 2 thin film is deposited by means of a reactive radio frequency diode sputtering from an elemental zirconium target in an argon--oxygen mixture gas. The influence of the deposition process parameters on the microinstructure, composition, film stress, and refractive index is investigated. It is noted that the process parameters, in particular substrate bias, have a profound effect on the structure and properties. The possible mechanism, in terms of bombardment of energetic particles and adatom mobility on the film surface, is discussed

  19. Giant magnetoimpedance effect in sputtered single layered NiFe film and meander NiFe/Cu/NiFe film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, L.; Zhou, Y.; Lei, C.; Zhou, Z.M.; Ding, W.

    2010-01-01

    Giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect on NiFe thin film is very promising due to its application in developing the magnetic field sensors with highly sensitivity and low cost. In this paper, the single layered NiFe thin film and NiFe/Cu/NiFe thin film with a meander structure are prepared by the MEMS technology. The influences of sputtering parameters, film structure and conductor layer width on GMI effect in NiFe single layer and meander NiFe/Cu/NiFe film are investigated. Maximum of the GMI ratio in single layer and sandwich film is 5% and 64%, respectively. The results obtained are useful for developing the high-performance magnetic sensors based on NiFe thin film.

  20. Influence of sputtering conditions on the optical and electrical properties of laser-annealed and wet-etched room temperature sputtered ZnO:Al thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boukhicha, Rym, E-mail: rym.boukhicha@polytechnique.edu [CNRS, LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Charpentier, Coralie [CNRS, LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Total S and M — New Energies Division, R and D Division, Department of Solar Energies EN/BO/RD/SOL, Tour Michelet, 24 cours Michelet, La Défense 10, 92069 Paris La Défense Cedex (France); Prod' Homme, Patricia [Total S and M — New Energies Division, R and D Division, Department of Solar Energies EN/BO/RD/SOL, Tour Michelet, 24 cours Michelet, La Défense 10, 92069 Paris La Défense Cedex (France); Roca i Cabarrocas, Pere [CNRS, LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Lerat, Jean-François; Emeraud, Thierry [Photovoltaic Business Unit, Excico Group NV, Kempische Steenweg 305/2, B-3500 Hasselt (Belgium); Johnson, Erik [CNRS, LPICM, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau (France)

    2014-03-31

    We explore the influence of the sputtering deposition conditions on the outcome of an excimer laser anneal and chemical etching process with the goal of producing highly textured substrates for thin film silicon solar cells. Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films were prepared on glass substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering from a ceramic target at room temperature. The effects of the process pressure (0.11–1.2 Pa) and oxygen flow (0–2 sccm) on the optical and electrical properties of ZnO:Al thin films have been studied both before and after an excimer laser annealing treatment followed by a dilute HCl chemical etch. The as-deposited films varied from completely opaque to yellowish. Thin film laser annealing dramatically improves the optical properties of the most opaque thin films. After laser annealing at the optimum fluence, the average transmittance in the visible wavelength range was around 80% for most films, and reasonable electrical performance was obtained for the films deposited at lower pressures and without oxygen flux (7 Ω/□ for films of 1 μm). After etching, all films displayed a dramatic improvement in haze, but only the low pressure, low oxygen films retained acceptable electrical properties (< 11 Ω/□). - Highlights: • Al:ZnO thin films were deposited at room temperature. • The ZnO:Al films were excimer laser annealed and then wet-etched. • The optical and electrical properties were studied in details.

  1. Effects of sputtering power on properties of copper oxides thin films deposited on glass substrates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ooi, P. K.; Ng, S. S.; Abdullah, M. J. [Nano-Optoelectronics Research and Technology Laboratory, School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang (Malaysia)

    2015-04-24

    Copper oxides are deposited by radio frequency sputtering using copper target in the mixture of argon and oxygen gasses. The structural and optical properties of the copper oxides deposited at different sputtering powers have been investigated. All the films are single phase polycrystalline. At low RF power (100 W), the film is monoclinic structure of cupric oxide (CuO). Meanwhile, the films are cubic structure of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) at higher RF power. Field emission scanning electron microscopy images show the films have different morphologies with small grain size and consist of a lot of voids. The analysis of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy shows that the ratio of Cu to O is increased as the RF power increased. From the ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, the films have a broad absorption edge in the range of 300–500 nm. The band gap of the films grown at RF power of 100 W, and 120 W and above, were 1.18 eV and 2.16 eV, respectively.

  2. YBa2Cu3O(7-x) based superconducting thin films by multitarget sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bouteloup, E.; Mercey, B.; Poullain, G.; Brousse, T.; Murray, H.; Raveau, B.

    1990-01-01

    This paper reports a new technique to prepare superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O (7-x) thin films. The multitarget sputtering apparatus described below allows the simultaneous and reproducible production of numerous films with a metallic composition close to Y 17% Ba 33% Cu 50% . Superconducting films (R = 0) at 80 K have been produced on polycrystalline zirconia substrates after a high temperature annealing [fr

  3. Origin of stress in radio frequency magnetron sputtered zinc oxide thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Menon, Rashmi; Gupta, Vinay; Sreenivas, K.; Tan, H. H.; Jagadish, C.

    2011-01-01

    Highly c-axis oriented ZnO thin films have been deposited on silicon substrates by planar rf magnetron sputtering under varying pressure (10-50 mTorr) and oxygen percentage (50-100%) in the reactive gas (Ar + O 2 ) mixture. The as-grown films were found to be stressed over a wide range from -1 x 10 11 to -2 x 10 8 dyne/cm 2 that in turn depends strongly on the processing conditions, and the film becomes stress free at a unique combination of sputtering pressure and reactive gas composition. Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) analyses identified the origin of stress as lattice distortion due to defects introduced in the ZnO thin film. FTIR study reveals that Zn-O bond becomes stronger with the increase in oxygen fraction in the reactive gas mixture. The lattice distortion or stress depends on the type of defects introduced during deposition. PL spectra show the formation of a shoulder in band emission with an increase in the processing pressure and are related to the presence of stress. The ratio of band emission to defect emission decreases with the increase in oxygen percentage from 50 to 100%. The studies show a correlation of stress with the structural, vibrational, and photoluminescence properties of the ZnO thin film. The systematic study of the stress will help in the fabrication of efficient devices based on ZnO film.

  4. RF magnetron sputtered La3+-modified PZT thin films: Perovskite phase stabilization and properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Ravindra; Goel, T.C.; Chandra, Sudhir

    2008-01-01

    In this work, we report the preparation of lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) thin films in pure perovskite phase by RF magnetron sputtering. Various deposition parameters such as target-to-substrate spacing, sputtering gas composition, deposition temperature, post-deposition annealing temperature and time have been optimized to obtain PLZT films in pure perovskite phase. The films prepared in pure argon at 100 W RF power without external substrate heating exhibit pure perovskite phase after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 700 deg. C for 5 min. The film prepared at 225 deg. C substrate temperature also exhibits pure perovskite phase after RTA at 700 deg. C for 2 min. SIMS depth profile performed on one of the pure perovskite films (RTA at 700 deg. C for 5 min) shows very good stoichiometric uniformity of all elements of PLZT. The surface morphology of the films was examined using SEM and AFM. The dielectric, ferroelectric and electrical properties of the pure perovskite films were also investigated in detail. The remanent polarization for the films annealed at 700 deg. C for 5 and 2 min were found to be 15 and 13.5 μC cm -2 , respectively. Both the films have high DC resistivity of the order of 10 11 Ω cm at the electric field of ∼80 kV cm -1

  5. Structure and superconducting properties of Nb-Zr alloy films made by a high-rate sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekine, Hisashi; Inoue, Kiyoshi; Tachikawa, Kyoji

    1978-01-01

    Superconducting Nb-Zr alloy films have been prepared by a continuous high-rate sputtering on tantalum substrates. A deposition rate of 330 nm/min has been attained. The compositional profile in the Nb-Zr film is quite uniform and the film has nearly the same composition as that of the target. The films deposited in a pure argon atmosphere show a columnar structure grown perpendicular to the substrate. The grain size strongly depends on the substrate temperature. The phase transformations in the Nb-Zr film become more apparent and the structure becomes closer to the equilibrium state as the film is deposited in higher atmosphere pressures and/or at lower target voltages. The superconducting transition temperature T sub(c) of the films is about the same as that of bulk samples. The dependence of T sub(c) on the substrate temperature is explainable on the phase transformations in the film. Critical current density J sub(c) and its anisotropy is closely related to the grain structure of the film. Grain boundaries seem to act as the most predominant flux pinning centers in the films. Effects of oxygen in the sputtering atmosphere on the structure and superconducting properties of the Nb-Zr films have been also investigated. Oxygen significantly decreases the grain size of the film. Oxygen increases J sub(c) but decreases T sub(c) of the film. (auth.)

  6. Epitaxial growth of "infinite layer” thin films and multilayers by rf magnetron sputtering

    OpenAIRE

    Fàbrega, L.; Koller, E.; Triscone, J. M.; Fischer, Ø.

    2017-01-01

    We report on the preparation and characterization of epitaxial ACuO2 (A = Sr, Ca, Ba) thin films and multilayers with the so- called infinite layer (IL) structure, by rf magnetron sputtering. Films and multilayers without Ba have a remarkable crystal quality, whereas those containing this large ion are often multiphased and unstable. In spite of the excellent crystalline quality of these samples, obtaining thin films having both IL structure and displaying superconducting properties has not s...

  7. Dependence of Optical Properties of SEL-Deposited Silver Gallium Selenide Thin Films on the On-Line Growth Parameter: Annealing Duration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhuiyan, M.R.A.; Firoz Hasan, S.M.

    2005-01-01

    Silver gallium selenide (AGS) composite thin films were formed onto ultrasonically and chemically cleaned glass substrates by successive on-line thermal evaporation of individual elements and post-deposition annealing at 300 0 C for various durations in vacuum. The annealing duration was varied between 5 and 20 minutes. The structural and optical properties of the films were ascertained by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and uv-vis-nir spectrophotometry (photon wavelength ranging between 300 and 2500 nm), respectively. The diffractogram indicated that these films were polycrystalline in nature having tetragonal structure with lattice parameters, a ∼ 6.0034 A and c ∼ 10.9165 A. The optical transmittance and reflectance were utilized to compute the absorption coefficient, refractive index and energy gap of the films. Dependence of the optical and structural properties of the films on various annealing durations has been analyzed. The nature of the optical transitions has been direct allowed with band gap energies ranging between 1.713 and 1.757 eV and refractive indices between 1.596 and 3.351 depending on photon energy as well as annealing duration. (authors)

  8. Effect of substrate temperature on the morphological, structural, and optical properties of RF sputtered Ge1−x Snx films on Si substrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahmodi, H; Hashim, M R

    2017-01-01

    In this study, Ge 1−x Sn x alloy films are co-sputtered on Si(100) substrates using RF magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures. Scanning electron micrographs, atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) are conducted to investigate the effect of substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of grown GeSn alloy films. AFM results show that RMS surface roughness of the films increases from 1.02 to 2.30 nm when raising the substrate temperature. This increase could be due to Sn surface segregation that occurs when raising the substrate temperature. Raman spectra exhibits the lowest FWHM value and highest phonon intensity for a film sputtered at 140 °C. The spectra show that decreasing the deposition temperature to 140 °C improves the crystalline quality of the alloy films and increases nanocrystalline phase formation. The results of Raman spectra and XPS confirm Ge–Sn bond formation. The optoelectronic characteristics of fabricated metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors on sputtered samples at room temperature (RT) and 140 °C are studied in the dark and under illumination. The sample sputtered at 140 °C performs better than the RT sputtered sample. (paper)

  9. Growth of amorphous TeOx (2≤x≤3) thin film by radio frequency sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dewan, Namrata; Gupta, Vinay; Sreenivas, K.; Katiyar, R. S.

    2007-01-01

    Thin films of Tellurium oxide TeO x over a wide range of x (2 to 3) were prepared by radio frequency diode sputtering at room temperature on corning glass and quartz substrate. The deposited films are amorphous in nature and IR spectroscopy reveals the formation of Te-O bond. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows the variation in the stoichiometry of TeO x film from x=2 to 3 with an increase in oxygen percentage (25 to 100%) in processing sputtering gas composition. Raman spectroscopy depicts the formation of TeO 3 trigonal pyramid besides TeO 4 disphenoid in the amorphous TeO x film with increase in the value of x. The varying stoichiometry of TeO x thin film (x=2 to 3) was found to influence the optical, electrical, and elastic properties. The optical band gap of film increases from 3.8 to 4.2 eV with increasing x and is attributed to the decrease in density. The elastic constants (C 11 and C 44 ) of the deposited films are lower than the corresponding value reported for TeO 2 single crystal

  10. Influence of reactive sputtering process parameters on the structure and properties of TiO{sub 2} thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    El-Hamshary, Azza Amin

    2011-07-11

    In this work, an atomistic understanding of the growth of TiO{sub 2} thin films under the influence of various sputtering process parameters has been developed. It has been demonstrated that tailoring the structure of the reactively sputtered TiO{sub 2} thin films is possible by controlling the sputtering process parameters. Different sputtering techniques like dcMS, IBAS and HiPIMS have been utilized to fabricate TiO{sub 2} thin films. These films exhibit two crystalline structures, namely anatase and rutile. Sample preparation has been performed at different conditions, varying e.g. energetic bombardment, oxygen partial pressure and film thickness. It has been found that the formation of each phase is governed by specific parameters. For instance, energetic bombardment promotes the growth of the rutile structure. On the other hand, the growth of the anatase phase profits from the absence or very weak ion bombardment. Additionally, the anatase phase was often found for growth at high oxygen partial pressure or for thick films, whereas a rutile structure was formed otherwise. Additional substrate heating was also found to support the formation of the anatase phase. It has been demonstrated that energetic bombardment plays a dominant role in the structure formation. It has been proven that the bombardment of the growing film with highly energetic negative oxygen ions inherent in the sputtering process promotes the growth of the rutile structure. This has been observed by an investigation of the sample profile utilizing new and aged targets, since the distribution of oxygen ion bombardment along the substrate depends on the age of the target. Further support was found from investigating films grown in a HiPIMS process, where the negative oxygen ions with high energies are the dominant species governing structure formation. Furthermore, pure rutile films have also been grown under additional ion bombardment in an ion-assisted DC sputtering process. These results also

  11. Analysis of NdFeB thin films prepared by facing target sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shivalingappa, L.; Mohan, S.; Ghantasala, M.K.; Sood, D.K.

    1999-01-01

    In this paper, we present the details of our work on the deposition and characterization of NdFeB thin films. These films were prepared using facing target sputtering technique. The silicon(100) substrates were maintained at a substrate temperature of 400 to 600 deg C during deposition. Film structure, composition and magnetic properties are analyzed using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. Films deposited below 400 deg C were x-ray amorphous, while the onset of crystallinity was observed with the films deposited at 500 deg C. Typical film composition was Nd:Fe:B = 2.2:12.5:2. Film composition appear to be a function of deposition conditions. Oxygen has been found to be the main impurity in the films. Oxygen content in the film reduced as the substrate temperature is increased

  12. Optical characterisation of sputtered hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mellassi, K.; Chafik El Idrissi, M.; Chouiyakh, A.; Rjeb, A.; Barhdadi, A.

    2000-09-01

    The present work is devoted to the study of some optical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films prepared by radio-frequency cathodic sputtering technique. It is essentially focused on investigating separately the effects of increasing partial hydrogen pressure during the deposition stage, and the effects of post deposition thermal annealing on the main optical parameters of the deposited layers (refraction index, optical gap Urbach energy, etc.). We show that low hydrogen pressures allow a saturation of the dangling bonds in the material, while high pressures lead to the creation of new defects. We also show that thermal annealing under moderate temperatures allows a good improvement of the structural quality of deposited films. (author)

  13. Combinatorial study of WInZnO films deposited by rf magnetron co-sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oh, Byeong-Yun; Park, Jae-Cheol; Lee, Young-Jun; Cha, Sang-Jun; Kim, Joo-Hyung; Kim, Kwang-Young; Kim, Tae-Won; Heo, Gi-Seok

    2011-01-01

    The compositional dependence of co-sputtered tungsten indium zinc oxide (WInZnO) film properties was first investigated by means of a combinatorial technique. Indium zinc oxide (IZO) and WO 3 targets were used with different target power. W composition ratio [W/(In+Zn+W)] was varied between 3 and 30 at% and film thickness was reduced as the sample position moved toward WO 3 target. Furthermore, the optical bandgap energy increased gradually, which might be affected by the reduction in film thickness. All the WInZnO films showed an amorphous phase regardless of the W/(In+Zn+W) ratio. As the W/(In+Zn+W) ratio in WInZnO films increased, the carrier concentration was restricted, causing the increase in electrical resistivity. W cations worked as oxygen binders in determining the electronic properties, resulting in suppressing the formation of oxygen vacancies. Consequentially, W metal cations were effectively incorporated into the WInZnO films as a suppressor against the oxygen vacancies and the carrier generation by employing the combinatorial technique. - Graphical abstract: The film thickness and the sheet resistance (R s ) with respect to the sample position of WInZnO films, which is compositionally graded by rf power for each target, are exhibited. Highlights: → The compositional dependence of co-sputtered WInZnO film properties is first investigated. → W cations work as oxygen binders in determining the electronic properties. → All the WInZnO films show an amorphous phase regardless of the W/(In+Zn+W) ratio. → W metal cations are effectively incorporated into the WInZnO films by the combinatorial technique.

  14. UV-Enhanced Ethanol Sensing Properties of RF Magnetron-Sputtered ZnO Film.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jinyu; Du, Yu; Wang, Quan; Zhang, Hao; Geng, Youfu; Li, Xuejin; Tian, Xiaoqing

    2017-12-26

    ZnO film was deposited by the magnetron sputtering method. The thickness of ZnO film is approximately 2 μm. The influence of UV light illumination on C₂H₅OH sensing properties of ZnO film was investigated. Gas sensing results revealed that the UV-illuminated ZnO film displays excellent C₂H₅OH characteristics in terms of high sensitivity, excellent selectivity, rapid response/recovery, and low detection limit down to 0.1 ppm. The excellent sensing performance of the sensor with UV activation could be attributed to the photocatalytic oxidation of ethanol on the surface of the ZnO film, the planar film structure with high utilizing efficiency of UV light, high electron mobility, and a good surface/volume ratio of of ZnO film with a relatively rough and porous surface.

  15. Releasing of Sputtered Au Film by Dissolving Sacrificial Layer and Its Self-Standing on Perforated Substrate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamoto, Yu; Fujii, Yuma; Yamano, Masafumi; Harigai, Toru; Suda, Yoshiyuki; Takikawa, Hirofumi; Nishiuchi, Mamiko; Sakaki, Hironao; Kondo, Kiminori

    2015-09-01

    Free-standing thin films such as diamond-like carbon (DLC) and gold (Au) have been attracted increasing interests as film targets used in the laser-driven ion acceleration experiment. One of the methods to make the free-standing thin film is to use a soluble sacrifice layer. In this study, the fabrication technique of self-standing Au thin film is presented. Gelatin, oblate, silk fibroin, and NaCl were examined as a. Au thin films were deposited by DC plasma sputtering on sacrifice layers. The gelatin and oblate were used as the sacrificial layer and the supporting substrate. Silk fibroin was coated on glass substrates by a spin coater. The NaCl sacrificial layers were deposited on flat Si substrates by the vacuum vapor deposition system. Sputtered Au thin films were released by immersing the substrates in purified water. Self-standing Au thin films were fabricated by scooping up the released Au thin film on a perforated substrate. The highest quality of the self-standing Au thin film was achieved by using NaCl sacrificial layer. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research and Toukai Foundation for Technology.

  16. Amorphous indium tin oxide films deposited on flexible substrates by facing target sputtering at room temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiao, Yu; Gao, Fangyuan; Dong, Guobo; Guo, Tingting; Liu, Qirong; Ye, Di; Diao, Xungang

    2014-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate substrates using a DC facing target sputtering (DC-FTS) system at room temperature. The sputtering conditions including oxygen partial pressure and discharge current were varied from 0% to 4% and 0.5 A to 1.3 A, respectively. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structure and surface morphology of as-prepared films. All the films exhibited amorphous structures and smooth surfaces. The dependence of electrical and optical properties on various deposition parameters was investigated by a linear array four-point probe, Hall-effect measurements, and ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometry. A lowest sheet resistance of 17.4 Ω/square, a lowest resistivity of 3.61 × 10 −4 Ω cm, and an average relative transmittance over 88% in the visible range were obtained under the optimal deposition conditions. The relationship between the Hall mobility (μ) and carrier concentration (n) was interpreted by a functional relation of μ ∼ n −0.127 , which indicated that ionized donor scattering was the dominant electron scattering mechanism. It is also confirmed that the carrier concentration in ITO films prepared by the DC-FTS system is mainly controlled by the number of activated Sn donors rather than oxygen vacancies. - Highlights: • ITO thin films were grown on PET substrates by DC facing target sputtering system. • All the films were prepared at room temperature and exhibited amorphous structure. • Highly conductive and transparent ITO thin films were obtained. • The dominant ionized donor scattering mechanism was suggested

  17. Amorphous indium tin oxide films deposited on flexible substrates by facing target sputtering at room temperature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xiao, Yu [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Gao, Fangyuan, E-mail: gaofangyuan@buaa.edu.cn [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Dong, Guobo; Guo, Tingting; Liu, Qirong [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China); Ye, Di [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100191 (China); Diao, Xungang [Solar Film Laboratory, School of Physics and Nuclear Energy Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China)

    2014-04-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited on polyethylene terephthalate substrates using a DC facing target sputtering (DC-FTS) system at room temperature. The sputtering conditions including oxygen partial pressure and discharge current were varied from 0% to 4% and 0.5 A to 1.3 A, respectively. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structure and surface morphology of as-prepared films. All the films exhibited amorphous structures and smooth surfaces. The dependence of electrical and optical properties on various deposition parameters was investigated by a linear array four-point probe, Hall-effect measurements, and ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometry. A lowest sheet resistance of 17.4 Ω/square, a lowest resistivity of 3.61 × 10{sup −4} Ω cm, and an average relative transmittance over 88% in the visible range were obtained under the optimal deposition conditions. The relationship between the Hall mobility (μ) and carrier concentration (n) was interpreted by a functional relation of μ ∼ n{sup −0.127}, which indicated that ionized donor scattering was the dominant electron scattering mechanism. It is also confirmed that the carrier concentration in ITO films prepared by the DC-FTS system is mainly controlled by the number of activated Sn donors rather than oxygen vacancies. - Highlights: • ITO thin films were grown on PET substrates by DC facing target sputtering system. • All the films were prepared at room temperature and exhibited amorphous structure. • Highly conductive and transparent ITO thin films were obtained. • The dominant ionized donor scattering mechanism was suggested.

  18. Structural, optical and electrical characteristics of ITO thin films deposited by sputtering on different polyester substrates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guillen, C.; Herrero, J.

    2008-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited by sputtering at room temperature on glass and different polyester substrates; namely polyarylate (PA), polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene terephtalate (PET). The influence of the substrate on the structural, optical and electrical characteristics of the ITO layers was investigated. The sputtered films exhibited crystallization in the (2 2 2) orientation, with higher mean crystallite size and lower structural distortion onto PET than onto PA, PC or glass substrates. ITO films deposited onto PET showed also higher band gap energy, higher carrier concentration and lower resistivity than the ITO layers onto the other tested substrates. These optical and electrical characteristics have been related to the structural distortion that was found dependent on the specific polyester substrate

  19. Structure and morphology of magnetron sputter deposited ultrathin ZnO films on confined polymeric template

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Ajaib [Discipline of Metallurgy Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore 453552 (India); Schipmann, Susanne [II. Insatitute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen (Germany); Mathur, Aakash; Pal, Dipayan [Discipline of Metallurgy Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore 453552 (India); Sengupta, Amartya [Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Delhi 110016 (India); Klemradt, Uwe [II. Insatitute of Physics and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen (Germany); Chattopadhyay, Sudeshna, E-mail: sudeshna@iiti.ac.in [Discipline of Metallurgy Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore 453552 (India); Discipline of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore 453552 (India); Centre for Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore 453552 (India)

    2017-08-31

    Highlights: • Ultra-thin ZnO films grown on confined polymeric (polystyrene, PS) template. • XRR and GISAXS explore the surface/interfaces structure and morphology of ZnO/PS. • Insights into the growth mechanism of magnetron sputtered ZnO thin film on PS template. • Nucleated disk-like cylindrical particles are the basis of the formation of ZnO layers. • Effect of ZnO film thickness on room temperature PL spectra in ZnO/PS systems. - Abstract: The structure and morphology of ultra-thin zinc oxide (ZnO) films with different film thicknesses on confined polymer template were studied through X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Using magnetron sputter deposition technique ZnO thin films with different film thicknesses (<10 nm) were grown on confined polystyrene with ∼2R{sub g} film thickness, where R{sub g} ∼ 20 nm (R{sub g} is the unperturbed radius of gyration of polystyrene, defined by R{sub g} = 0.272 √M{sub 0}, and M{sub 0} is the molecular weight of polystyrene). The detailed internal structure, along the surface/interfaces and the growth direction of the system were explored in this study, which provides insight into the growth procedure of ZnO on confined polymer and reveals that a thin layer of ZnO, with very low surface and interface roughness, can be grown by DC magnetron sputtering technique, with approximately full coverage (with bulk like electron density) even in nm order of thickness, in 2–7 nm range on confined polymer template, without disturbing the structure of the underneath template. The resulting ZnO-polystyrene hybrid systems show strong ZnO near band edge (NBE) and deep-level (DLE) emissions in their room temperature photoluminescence spectra, where the contribution of DLE gets relatively stronger with decreasing ZnO film thickness, indicating a significant enhancement of surface defects because of the greater surface to volume ratio in thinner films.

  20. Sputtering. [as deposition technique in mechanical engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spalvins, T.

    1976-01-01

    This paper primarily reviews the potential of using the sputtering process as a deposition technique; however, the manufacturing and sputter etching aspects are also discussed. Since sputtering is not regulated by classical thermodynamics, new multicomponent materials can be developed in any possible chemical composition. The basic mechanism for dc and rf sputtering is described. Sputter-deposition is described in terms of the unique advantageous features it offers such as versatility, momentum transfer, stoichiometry, sputter-etching, target geometry (coating complex surfaces), precise controls, flexibility, ecology, and sputtering rates. Sputtered film characteristics, such as strong adherence and coherence and film morphology, are briefly evaluated in terms of varying the sputtering parameters. Also described are some of the specific industrial areas which are turning to sputter-deposition techniques.

  1. Production and characterization of Si-N films obtained by r.f. magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliveira, A.; Cavaleiro, A.; Vieira, M.T.

    1993-01-01

    Si-N films were deposited by sputtering from an Si 3 N 4 target with different deposition pressures and negative substrate bias. The films were amorphous and showed a ''featureless'' morphology. A high oxygen content was detected in unbiased films. For these films the Si/N ratio was very high compared with the target composition, whereas for biased films the opposite was observed. Si-N films presented cohesive failures for loads as high as 21 N and adhesive failure at 45 N when they were analysed by scratch test. Very high hardness (45 GPa) was obtained, particularly for biased films. Unbiased films were softer, which is attributed to the formation of silicon oxide and/or to a lower compressive stress level. (orig.)

  2. Thermochromic VO2 thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering for smart window applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fortier, Jean-Philippe

    "Smart" windows are a perfect innovative example of technology that reduces our energy dependence and our impact on the environment while saving on the economical point of view. With the use of vanadium dioxide (VO2), a thermochromic compound, and this, as a thin coating, it would in fact be possible to control the sun's transmission of infrared light (heat) as a function of the surrounding environment temperature. In other words, its optical behavior would allow a more effective management of heat exchanges between a living venue and the outdoor environment. However, this type of window is still in a developmental stage. First, the oxide's deposition is not simple in nature. Based on a conventional deposition technique called magnetron sputtering mainly used in the fenestration industry, several factors such as the oxygen concentration and the substrate temperature during deposition can affect the coating's thermochromic behavior, and this, by changing its composition and crystallinity. Other control parameters such as the deposition rate, the pressure in the sputtering chamber and the choice of substrate may also modify the film microstructure, thereby varying its optical and electrical properties. In addition, several issues still persist as to its commercial application. For starters, the material's structural transition, related to the change of its optical properties, only occurs around 68°C. In addition, its low transparency and natural greenish colour are not visually appealing. Then, to this day, the deposition temperature required to crystallize and form the thermochromic oxide remains an obstacle for a possible large-scale application. Ultimately, although the material's change in temperature has been shown to be advantageous in situations of varying climate, the existing corrective solutions to these issues generate a deterioration of the thermochromic behavior. With no practical expertise on the material, this project was undertaken with certain

  3. Ambipolar SnOx thin-film transistors achieved at high sputtering power

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yunpeng; Yang, Jia; Qu, Yunxiu; Zhang, Jiawei; Zhou, Li; Yang, Zaixing; Lin, Zhaojun; Wang, Qingpu; Song, Aimin; Xin, Qian

    2018-04-01

    SnO is the only oxide semiconductor to date that has exhibited ambipolar behavior in thin-film transistors (TFTs). In this work, ambipolar behavior was observed in SnOx TFTs fabricated at a high sputtering power of 200 W and post-annealed at 150-250 °C in ambient air. X-ray-diffraction patterns showed polycrystallisation of SnO and Sn in the annealed SnOx films. Scanning-electron-microscopy images revealed that microgrooves appeared after the films were annealed. Clusters subsequently segregated along the microgrooves, and our experiments suggest that they were most likely Sn clusters. Atomic force microscopy images indicate an abrupt increase in film roughness due to the cluster segregations. An important implication of this work is that excess Sn in the film, which has generally been thought to be detrimental to the film quality, may promote the ambipolar conduction when it is segregated from the film to enhance the stoichiometric balance.

  4. Photoluminescence of Mg_2Si films fabricated by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao, Yang-Fang; Xie, Quan; Xiao, Qing-Quan; Chen, Qian; Fan, Meng-Hui; Xie, Jing; Huang, Jin; Zhang, Jin-Min; Ma, Rui; Wang, Shan-Lan; Wu, Hong-Xian; Fang, Di

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • High quality Mg_2Si films were grown on Si (111) and glass substrates with magnetron sputtering, respectively. • The first observation of Photoluminescence (PL) of Mg_2Si films was reported. • The Mg_2Si PL emission wavelengths are almost independence on temperature in the range of 77–300 K. • The strongest PL emissions may be attributed to interstitial Mg donor level to valence band transitions. • The activation energy of Mg_2Si is determined from the quenching of major luminescence peaks. - Abstract: To understand the photoluminescence mechanisms and optimize the design of Mg_2Si-based light-emitting devices, Mg_2Si films were fabricated on silicon (111) and glass substrates by magnetron sputtering technique, and the influences of different substrates on the photoelectric properties of Mg_2Si films were investigated systematically. The crystal structure, cross-sectional morphology, composition ratios and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) of the Mg_2Si films were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and PL measurement system, respectively. XRD results indicate that the Mg_2Si film on Si (111) displays polycrystalline structure, whereas Mg_2Si film on glass substrate is of like-monocrystalline structure.SEM results show that Mg_2Si film on glass substrate is very compact with a typical dense columnar structure, and the film on Si substrate represents slight delamination phenomenon. EDS results suggest that the stoichiometry of Mg and Si is approximately 2:1. Photoluminescence (PL) of Mg_2Si films was observed for the first time. The PL emission wavelengths of Mg_2Si are almost independence on temperature in the range of 77–300 K. The PL intensity decreases gradually with increasing temperature. The PL intensity of Mg_2Si films on glass substrate is much larger than that of Mg_2Si film on Si (111) substrate. The activation energy of 18 meV is

  5. Electric and Magnetic Properties of Sputter Deposited BiFeO3 Films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Siadou

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Polycrystalline BiFeO3 films have been magnetron sputter deposited at room temperature and subsequently heat-treated ex situ at temperatures between 400 and 700°C. The deposition was done in pure Ar atmosphere, as the use of oxygen-argon mixture was found to lead to nonstoichiometric films due to resputtering effects. At a target-to-substrate distance d=2′′ the BiFeO3 structure can be obtained in larger range process gas pressures (2–7 mTorr but the films do not show a specific texture. At d=6′′ codeposition from BiFeO3 and Bi2O3 has been used. Films sputtered at low rate tend to grow with the (001 texture of the pseudo-cubic BiFeO3 structure. As the film structure does not depend on epitaxy similar results are obtained on different substrates. A result of the volatility of Bi, Bi rich oxide phases occur after heat treatment at high temperatures. A Bi2SiO5 impurity phase forms on the substrate side, and does not affect the properties of the main phase. Despite the deposition on amorphous silicon oxide substrate weak ferromagnetism phenomena and displaced loops have been observed at low temperatures showing that their origin is not strain. Ba, La, Ca, and Sr doping suppress the formation of impurity phases and leakage currents.

  6. Improvement of the homogeneity of high mobility In{sub 2}O{sub 3}:H films by sputtering through a mesh electrode studied by Monte Carlo simulation and thin film analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scherg-Kurmes, Harald; Hafez, Ahmad; Szyszka, Bernd [Technische Universitaet Berlin, Einsteinufer 25, 10587, Berlin (Germany); Siemers, Michael; Pflug, Andreas [Fraunhofer IST, Bienroder Weg 54E, 38108, Braunschweig (Germany); Schlatmann, Rutger [Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, PVcomB, Schwarzschildstr. 3, 12489, Berlin (Germany); Rech, Bernd [Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics, Kekulestrasse 5, 12489, Berlin (Germany)

    2016-09-15

    Hydrogen-doped indium oxide (IOH) is a transparent conductive oxide offering great potential to optoelectronic applications because of its high mobility of over 100 cm{sup 2} V{sup -1}s{sup -1}. In films deposited statically by RF magnetron sputtering, a small area directly opposing the target center with a higher resistivity and lower crystallinity than the rest of the film has been found via hall- and XRD-measurements, which we attribute to plasma damage. In order to investigate the distribution of particle energies during the sputtering process we have simulated the RF-sputtering deposition process of IOH by particle-in-cell Monte Carlo (PICMC) simulation. At the surface of ceramic sputtering targets, negatively charged oxygen ions are created. These ions are accelerated toward the substrate in the plasma sheath with energies up to 150 eV. They damage the growing film and reduce its crystallinity. The influence of a negatively biased mesh inside the sputtering chamber on particle energies and distributions has been simulated and investigated. We found that the mesh decreased the high-energetic oxygen ion density at the substrate, thus enabling a more homogeneous IOH film growth. The theoretical results have been verified by XRD X-ray diffractometry (XRD), 4-point probe, and hall measurements of statically deposited IOH films on glass. (copyright 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  7. Control and enhancement of the oxygen storage capacity of ceria films by variation of the deposition gas atmosphere during pulsed DC magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eltayeb, Asmaa; Vijayaraghavan, Rajani K.; McCoy, Anthony; Venkatanarayanan, Anita; Yaremchenko, Aleksey A.; Surendran, Rajesh; McGlynn, Enda; Daniels, Stephen

    2015-04-01

    In this study, nanostructured ceria (CeO2) films are deposited on Si(100) and ITO coated glass substrates by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering using a CeO2 target. The influence on the films of using various gas ambients, such as a high purity Ar and a gas mixture of high purity Ar and O2, in the sputtering chamber during deposition are studied. The film compositions are studied using XPS and SIMS. These spectra show a phase transition from cubic CeO2 to hexagonal Ce2O3 due to the sputtering process. This is related to the transformation of Ce4+ to Ce3+ and indicates a chemically reduced state of CeO2 due to the formation of oxygen vacancies. TGA and electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies show that films deposited in an Ar atmosphere have a higher oxygen storage capacity (OSC) compared to films deposited in the presence of O2. CV results specifically show a linear variation with scan rate of the anodic peak currents for both films and the double layer capacitance values for films deposited in Ar/O2 mixed and Ar atmosphere are (1.6 ± 0.2) × 10-4 F and (4.3 ± 0.5) × 10-4 F, respectively. Also, TGA data shows that Ar sputtered samples have a tendency to greater oxygen losses upon reduction compared to the films sputtered in an Ar/O2 mixed atmosphere.

  8. CrN thin films prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering for symmetric supercapacitors

    KAUST Repository

    Wei, Binbin; Liang, Hanfeng; Zhang, Dongfang; Wu, Zhengtao; Qi, Zhengbing; Wang, Zhoucheng

    2016-01-01

    stability are promising candidates as supercapacitor electrode materials. In this work, we report the fabrication of CrN thin films using reactive DC magnetron sputtering and further their applications for symmetric supercapacitors for the first time. The Cr

  9. Structure and morphology of magnetron sputter deposited ultrathin ZnO films on confined polymeric template

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Ajaib; Schipmann, Susanne; Mathur, Aakash; Pal, Dipayan; Sengupta, Amartya; Klemradt, Uwe; Chattopadhyay, Sudeshna

    2017-08-01

    The structure and morphology of ultra-thin zinc oxide (ZnO) films with different film thicknesses on confined polymer template were studied through X-ray reflectivity (XRR) and grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Using magnetron sputter deposition technique ZnO thin films with different film thicknesses (weight of polystyrene). The detailed internal structure, along the surface/interfaces and the growth direction of the system were explored in this study, which provides insight into the growth procedure of ZnO on confined polymer and reveals that a thin layer of ZnO, with very low surface and interface roughness, can be grown by DC magnetron sputtering technique, with approximately full coverage (with bulk like electron density) even in nm order of thickness, in 2-7 nm range on confined polymer template, without disturbing the structure of the underneath template. The resulting ZnO-polystyrene hybrid systems show strong ZnO near band edge (NBE) and deep-level (DLE) emissions in their room temperature photoluminescence spectra, where the contribution of DLE gets relatively stronger with decreasing ZnO film thickness, indicating a significant enhancement of surface defects because of the greater surface to volume ratio in thinner films.

  10. Investigation of nanoporous platinum thin films fabricated by reactive sputtering: Application as micro-SOFC electrode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, WooChul; Kim, Jae Jin; Tuller, Harry L.

    2015-02-01

    Highly porous Pt thin films, with nano-scale porosity, were fabricated by reactive sputtering. The strategy involved deposition of thin film PtOx at room temperature, followed by the subsequent decomposition of the oxide by rapid heat treatment. The resulting films exhibited percolating Pt networks infiltrated with interconnected nanosized pores, critical for superior solid oxide fuel cell cathode performance. This approach is particularly attractive for micro-fabricated solid oxide fuel cells, since it enables fabrication of the entire cell stack (anode/electrolyte/cathode) within the sputtering chamber, without breaking vacuum. In this work, the morphological, crystallographic and chemical properties of the porous electrode were systematically varied by control of deposition conditions. Oxygen reduction reaction kinetics were investigated by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, demonstrating the critical role of nano-pores in achieving satisfactory micro-SOFC cathode performance.

  11. Reactively sputtered epitaxial γ′-Fe4N films: Surface morphology, microstructure, magnetic and electrical transport properties

    KAUST Repository

    Mi, Wenbo; Guo, Zaibing; Feng, X. P.; Bai, Haili

    2013-01-01

    Epitaxial γ′-Fe4N films with (1 0 0) and (1 1 0) orientations have been fabricated by reactive sputtering; these films were characterized by X-ray θ-2θ and φ scans, pole figures and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The film surface

  12. Wear life of sputtered MoSx films extended by high energy ion implantation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okazaki, Yasufumi; Fujiura, Hideo; Nishimura, Makoto

    2000-01-01

    The tribological characteristics of sputtered MoSx films have been reportedly improved by inert gas ion implantation. We tried to extend their wear life by introducing indium, carbon and gallium ion implantation. Pin-on-disk testers were used to measure friction coefficient and wear life in a vacuum, dry and humid air. Comparing with the unimplanted films, we found that the indium ion implanted films showed marked improvement in wear life in a vacuum. Carbon ion implanted films showed improvement in wear life in high humid air. Implantation was effective when it was conducted with maximum concentration at the interface between film and substrate rather than at the neighborhood of the interface inside a film. (author)

  13. Characteristics of W Doped Nanocrystalline Carbon Films Prepared by Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Yong Seob; Park, Chul Min; Kim, Nam-Hoon; Kim, Jae-Moon

    2016-05-01

    Nanocrystalline tungsten doped carbon (WC) films were prepared by unbalanced magnetron sputtering. Tungsten was used as the doping material in carbon thin films with the aim of application as a contact strip in an electric railway. The structural, physical, and electrical properties of the fabricated WC films with various DC bias voltages were investigated. The films had a uniform and smooth surface. Hardness and frication characteristics of the films were improved, and the resistivity and sheet resistance decreased with increasing negative DC bias voltage. These results are associated with the nanocrystalline WC phase and sp(2) clusters in carbon networks increased by ion bombardment enhanced with increasing DC bias voltage. Consequently, the increase of sp(2) clusters containing WC nanocrystalline in the carbon films is attributed to the improvement in the physical and electrical properties.

  14. Functional nanostructured titanium nitride films obtained by sputtering magnetron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanchez, O.; Hernandez-Velez, M.; Navas, D.; Auger, M.A.; Baldonedo, J.L.; Sanz, R.; Pirota, K.R.; Vazquez, M.

    2006-01-01

    Development of new methods in the formation of hollow structures, in particular, nanotubes and nanocages are currently generating a great interest as a consequence of the growing relevance of these nanostructures on many technological fields, ranging from optoelectronics to biotechnology. In this work, we report the formation of titanium nitride (TiN) nanotubes and nanohills via reactive sputtering magnetron processes. Anodic Alumina Membranes (AAM) were used as template substrates to grow the TiN nanostructures. The AAM were obtained through electrochemical anodization processes by using oxalic acid solutions as electrolytes. The nanotubes were produced at temperatures below 100 deg. C, and using a pure titanium (99.995%) sputtering target and nitrogen as reactive gas. The obtained TiN thin films showed surface morphologies adjusted to pore diameter and interpore distance of the substrates, as well as ordered arrays of nanotubes or nanohills depending on the sputtering and template conditions. High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (HRSEM) was used to elucidate both the surface order and morphology of the different grown nanostructures. The crystalline structure of the samples was examined using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns and their qualitative chemical composition by using X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (XEDS) in a scanning electron microscopy

  15. CIGS thin film solar cell prepared by reactive co-sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jeha; Lee, Ho-Sub; Park, Nae-Man

    2013-09-01

    The reactive co-sputtering was developed as a new way of preparing high quality CuInGaSe2(CIGS) films from two sets of targets; Cu0.6Ga 0.4 and Cu0.4In0.6 alloy and Cu and (In0.7Ga0.3)2Se3 compound targets. During sputtering, Cu, In, Ga metallic elements as well as the compound materials were reacted to form CIGS simultaneously in highly reactive elemental Se atmosphere generated by a thermal cracker. CIGS layer had been grown on Mo/soda-lime glass(SLG) at 500°C. For both sets of targets, we controlled the composition of CIGS thin film by changing the RF power for target components. All the films showed a preferential (112) orientation as observed from X-ray diffraction analysis. The composition ratios of CIGS were easily set to 0.71-0.95, 0.10-0.30 for [Cu]/[III] and [Ga]/[III], respectively. The grain size and the surface roughness of a CIGS film increased as the [Cu]/[III] ratios increased. The solar cells were fabricated using a standard base line process in the device structure of grid/ITO/i-ZnO/CdS/CIGS/Mo/ SLG. The best performance was obtained the performance of Voc = 0.45 V, Jsc =35.6, FF = 0.535, η = 8.6% with a 0.9 μm-CIGS solar cell from alloy targets while Voc = 0.54 V, Jsc =30.8, FF = 0.509, η = 8.5% with a 0.8 μm-CIGS solar cell from Cu and (In0.7Ga0.3)2Se3.

  16. The role of target-to-substrate distance on the DC magnetron sputtered zirconia thin films' bioactivity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thaveedeetrakul, Arisara [Department of Chemical Engineering, King Mongkut' s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok (Thailand); Witit-anun, Nirun [Department of Physics, Burapha University, Chon Buri (Thailand); Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics, CHE, Ministry of Education, Bangkok (Thailand); Boonamnuayvitaya, Virote, E-mail: virote.boo@kmutt.ac.th [Department of Chemical Engineering, King Mongkut' s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok (Thailand)

    2012-01-15

    Zirconium dioxide thin films were deposited on 316L-stainless steel type substrates using DC unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The process parameter of this work was the target-to-substrate distance (d{sub t-s}), which was varied from 60 to 120 mm. The crystal structure and surface topography of zirconium dioxide thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results demonstrate that all of the ZrO{sub 2} thin films are composed monoclinic phase. The film sputtered at short d{sub t-s} (60 mm) shows a rather heterogeneous, uneven surface. The grain size, roughness, and thickness of thin films were decreased by increasing d{sub t-s}. The bioactivity was assessed by investigating the formation of hydroxyapatite (Ca{sub 10}(PO{sub 4}){sub 6}(OH){sub 2}) on the thin film surface soaked in simulated body fluids (SBF) for 7 days. XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to verify the formation of apatite layers on the samples. Bone-like apatites were formed on the surface of the ZrO{sub 2} thin film in SBF immersion experiments. A nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HA) with a particle size of 2-4 {mu}m was deposited. Higher crystallinity of HA on the surface was observed when the distance d{sub t-s} increased to more than 80 mm. Therefore, it seems that a d{sub t-s} greater than 80 mm is an important sputtering condition for inducing HA on the zirconia film.

  17. Growth and structural properties of reactively co-sputtered CIGS films and their solar cell applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jeha [Cheongju University, Cheongju (Korea, Republic of); Park, Nae-Man [Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-02-15

    Using reactive sputtering, we fabricated stoichiometric CuIn{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}Se{sub 2} (CIGS) thin films. Both Cu{sub 0.6}Ga{sub 0.4} (CuGa) and Cu{sub 0.4}In{sub 0.6} (CuIn) alloy targets were simultaneously sputtered under the delivery of elemental Se produced from a thermal cracker. By changing the sputtering rates of the CuGa and the CuIn, we were able to obtain the composition ratios of Cu/(Ga+In) and Ga/(Ga+In) in the range of 0.71-0.95 and 0.10-0.30, respectively. Both the grain size and the surface roughness of the CIGS film increased as the Cu/(Ga+In) ratio increased. In the X-ray diffraction analysis on CIGS films of 0.9 m, preferential growth with a [112] orientation was found, and reflections from the (211), (220)/(204), (301), (312)/(116), (400)/(008), and (332)/(316) planes were observed. The CIGS films showed the existence of Cu{sub 2-x}Se phases in the Cu-rich samples and ordered defect compound (ODC) phases in the Cu-poor films, as confirmed in the Raman measurements. A best device performance of η = 8.1%, V{sub oc} = 0.442 V, J{sub sc} = 34.3 mA/cm{sup 2}, and FF = 53.4% was obtained from a cell fabricated with a CIGS layer (t = 0.9 μm) with the Cu/(Ga+In) ratio = 0.71 and the Ga/(Ga+In) ratio = 0.10.

  18. The preparation of Nb3Ge thin film superconductors in a UHV evaporation and sputter device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krevet, B.; Schauer, W.; Wuechner, F.

    1978-10-01

    Thin film techniques like evaporation or sputtering are remarkbly suitable to vary the metallurgical and physical properties of superconductors in a wide range. In the case of the A15-compound Nb 3 Ge only these preparation techniques allow us to produce a metastable pure phase in stoichiometric composition and to study its superconducting properties. The presen report describes two UHV-plants to produce superconducting films by multisource coevaporation and cosputtering. Of special importance are the constancy, monitoring and control of the evaporation rate, and the thermalization of the sputter components on the other hand. The experimental methods used are explained in detail and discussed together with the results of Nb 3 Ge films. With the preparation parameters suitably chosen both techniques allow to prepare reproducibly Nb 3 Ge films with 21 K transition temperature (onset); under optimized conditions Tc values up to 22.3 K have been reached. (orig.) [de

  19. Electrochromic properties of bipolar pulsed magnetron sputter deposited tungsten–molybdenum oxide films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, Tai-Nan [Chemical Engineering Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan 325, Taiwan, ROC (China); Lin, Yi Han; Lee, Chin Tan [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Quemoy University, Kinmen 892, Taiwan, ROC (China); Han, Sheng [Center of General Education, National Taichung Institute of Technology, Taichung 404, Taiwan, ROC (China); Weng, Ko-Wei, E-mail: kowei@nqu.edu.tw [Department of Electronic Engineering, National Quemoy University, Kinmen 892, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2015-06-01

    There are great interests in electrochromic technology for smart windows and displays over past decades. In this study, the WMoO{sub x} thin films were deposited onto indium tin oxide glass and silicon substrates by pulsed magnetron sputter system with W and Mo targets. The films were deposited with fixed W target power while the variant parameter of Mo target power in the range 50, 100, 150 and 200 W was investigated. The working pressure was fixed at 1.33 Pa with a gas mixture of Ar (30 sccm) and O{sub 2} (15 sccm). The film thickness increased with the Mo target power. Higher plasma power resulted in a crystalline structure which would reduce the electrochromic property of the film. The influence of plasma powers applied to Mo target on the structural, optical and electrochromic properties of the WMoO{sub x} thin films has been investigated. WMoO{sub x} films grown at Mo target powers less than 100 W were found to be amorphous. The films deposited at 150 W, which is the optimal fabrication condition, exhibit better electrochromic properties with high optical modulation, high coloration efficiency and less color memory effect at wavelength 400, 550 and 800 nm. The improvement resulted from the effect of doping Mo has been tested. The maximum ΔT (%) values are 36.6% at 400 nm, 65.6% at 550 nm, and 66.6% at 800 nm for pure WO{sub 3} film. The addition of Mo content in the WMoO{sub x} films provides better resistance to the short wavelength light source and can be used in the concerned application. - Highlights: • WMoO{sub x} films are deposited by pulsed magnetron sputter with pure W and Mo targets. • Mo addition in WMoO{sub x} provides better resistance to short wavelength light source. • WMoO{sub x} films exhibit electrochemical stability in the cycling test.

  20. Synthesis of ReN3 Thin Films by Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Soto

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work ReNx films were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering at room temperature and deposited on a silicon wafer. It was found that the diffractograms of the nitrogen-rich rhenium film are consistent with those produced by high-pressure high-temperature methods, under the assumption that the film is oriented on the substrate. Using density functional calculations it was found that the composition of this compound could be ReN3, instead of ReN2, as stated on previous works. The ReN3 compound fits in the Ama2 (40 orthorhombic space group, and due to the existence of N3 anions between Re layers it should be categorized as an azide. The material is exceptionally brittle and inherently unstable under indentation testing.

  1. Cholesterol biosensor based on rf sputtered zinc oxide nanoporous thin film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, S. P.; Arya, Sunil K.; Pandey, Pratibha; Malhotra, B. D.; Saha, Shibu; Sreenivas, K.; Gupta, Vinay

    2007-01-01

    Cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) has been immobilized onto zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoporous thin films grown on gold surface. A preferred c-axis oriented ZnO thin film with porous surface morphology has been fabricated by rf sputtering under high pressure. Optical studies and cyclic voltammetric measurements show that the ChOx/ZnO/Au bioelectrode is sensitive to the detection of cholesterol in 25-400 mg/dl range. A relatively low value of enzyme's kinetic parameter (Michaelis-Menten constant) ∼2.1 mM indicates enhanced enzyme affinity of ChOx to cholesterol. The observed results show promising application of nanoporous ZnO thin film for biosensing application without any functionalization

  2. Columnar structure of reactively sputtered aluminium nitride films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Chisan; Hwang Binghwai; Lu Hongyang; Hsu Tzuchien

    2002-01-01

    Columnar structure of thin aluminium nitride (AlN) films is examined by x-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The films were deposited on SiO 2 /Si(100) substrate using radiofrequency reactive sputtering method. Strong [0001] preferred orientation is observed by XRD and confirmed by selected area diffraction pattern of TEM. Columnar grains of ∼50-100 nm inclined at an angle of ∼10 deg. to the substrate normal are observed by SEM. As revealed by TEM, each columnar grain is composed of nano-grains of the order of 10 nm and no faceting is observed in the nano-grains and columns. The [0001] preferred orientation results as columnar grains are oriented at various azimuthal angles with their c-axes perpendicular to the substrate surface. A slight tilt of a few tenths of a degree between adjacent nano-grains within a column is also observed. The random azimuthal orientation of columnar grains and small tilt between nano-grains in the films are accommodated by the amorphous phase present in the grain boundaries

  3. Development of CIGS2 thin film solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dhere, Neelkanth G.; Gade, Vivek S.; Kadam, Ankur A.; Jahagirdar, Anant H.; Kulkarni, Sachin S.; Bet, Sachin M.

    2005-01-01

    Research and development of CuIn 1-x Ga x Se 2-y S y (CIGSS) thin-film solar cells on ultralightweight flexible metallic foil substrates is being carried out at FSEC PV Materials Lab for space applications. Earlier, the substrate size was limited to 3 cm x 2.5 cm. Large-area sputtering systems and scrubber for hydrogen selenide and sulfide have been designed and constructed for preparation of CIGSS thin-films on large (15 cm x 10 cm) substrates. A selenization/sulfurization furnace donated by Shell (formerly Siemens) Solar has also been refurbished and upgraded. The sputtering target assembly design was modified for proper clamping of targets and effective cooling. A new design of the magnetic assembly for large-area magnetron sputtering sources was implemented so as to achieve uniform deposition on large area. Lightweight stainless steel foil and ultralightweight titanium foil substrates were utilized to increase the specific power of solar cells. Sol-gel derived SiO 2 layers were coated on titanium foil by dip coating method. Deposition parameters for the preparation of molybdenum back contact layers were optimized so as to minimize the residual stress as well as reaction with H 2 S. Presently large (15 cm x 10 cm) CuIn 1-x Ga x S 2 (CIGS2) thin film solar cells are being prepared on Mo-coated titanium and stainless steel foil by sulfurization of CuGa/In metallic precursors in diluted Ar:H 2 S(4%). Heterojunction partner CdS layers are deposited by chemical bath deposition. The regeneration sequence of ZnO/ZnO:Al targets was optimized for obtaining consistently good-quality, transparent and conducting ZnO/ZnO:Al bilayer by RF magnetron-sputter deposition. Excellent facilities at FSEC PV Materials Lab are one of its kinds and could serve as a nucleus of a small pilot plant for CIGSS thin film solar cell fabrication

  4. Fe3O4 thin films sputter deposited from iron oxide targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Yingguo; Park, Chandro; Laughlin, David E.

    2003-01-01

    Fe 3 O 4 thin films have been directly sputter deposited from a target consisting of a mixture of Fe 3 O 4 and Fe 2 O 3 onto Si and glass substrates. The magnetic properties and microstructures of the films have been characterized and correlated. The columnar growth of the Fe 3 O 4 grains was found to be initialized from the substrate surface without any critical thickness. Substrate bias was found to be a very effective means of improving the crystal quality and magnetic properties of the thin films. The crystallographic defects revealed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy seem to be a characteristic of the films prepared by this method

  5. Zn Thin Film Deposition for Fe Layer Shielding Use the Sputtering Technique on Cylindrical Form

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yunanto; Tjipto Sujitno, BA; Suprapto; Simbolon, Sahat

    2002-01-01

    Deposition of thin film on Fe substrate use sputtering technique on cylindrical form was carried out. The purpose of this research is to protect Fe due to the corrosion with Zn thin film. Sputtering method was proposed to protect a component of complex form. Substrate has functioned as anode, meanwhile target in cylindrical form as a cathode. Argon ion from anode bombard Zn with enough energy for releasing Zn. Zn atom would scatter and some of then was focused on the anode. For testing Zn atom on Fe by using XRF and corrosion rate with potentiostat. It was found that corrosion rate was decreased from 0.051 mpy to 0.031 mpy on 0.63 % of Fe substrate. (author)

  6. Some Characteristics of r.f. Sputtered CuInS2 Thin Films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samaan, A.N.Y.; Al-Saffar, I.S.; Wasim, S.M.; Hill, A.E.; Armour, D.G.; Tomlinson, R.D.

    1983-01-01

    Electrical data from sputtered and annealed p-type CuInS 2 thin films have been obtained over a range of temperatures. An analysis of hole mobility vs. temperature data indicates that the charge carriers are predominantly scattered by neutral and ionized impurities and by acoustic-mode vibrations

  7. Compositionally graded SiCu thin film anode by magnetron sputtering for lithium ion battery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Polat, B.D., E-mail: bpolat@itu.edu.tr [Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul 34469 (Turkey); Eryilmaz, O.L. [Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Keleş, O., E-mail: ozgulkeles@itu.edu.tr [Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, Istanbul 34469 (Turkey); Erdemir, A. [Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Amine, K. [Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Compositionally graded and non-graded composite SiCu thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering technique on Cu disks for investigation of their potentials in lithium ion battery applications. The compositionally graded thin film electrodes with 30 at.% Cu delivered a 1400 mAh g{sup −1} capacity with 80% Coulombic efficiency in the first cycle and still retained its capacity at around 600 mAh g{sup −1} (with 99.9% Coulombic efficiency) even after 100 cycles. On the other hand, the non-graded thin film electrodes with 30 at.% Cu exhibited 1100 mAh g{sup −1} as the first discharge capacity with 78% Coulombic efficiency but the cycle life of this film degraded very quickly, delivering only 250 mAh g{sup −1} capacity after 100th cycles. Not only the Cu content but also the graded film thickness were believed to be the main contributors to the much superior performance of the compositionally graded SiCu films. We also believe that the Cu-rich region of the graded film helped reduce internal stress build-up and thus prevented film delamination during cycling. In particular, the decrease of Cu content from interface region to the top of the coating reduced the possibility of stress build-up across the film during cycling, thus leading to a high electrochemical performance.b - Highlights: • Highly adherent SiCu films are deposited by magnetron sputtering. • Compositionally graded SiCu film is produced and characterized. • Decrease of Cu content diverted the propagation of stress in the anode. • Cu rich layer at the bottom improves the adherence of the film.

  8. Methods of optimization of reactive sputtering conditions of Al target during AlN films deposition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chodun Rafal

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Encouraged by recent studies and considering the well-documented problems occurring during AlN synthesis, we have chosen two diagnostic methods which would enable us to fully control the process of synthesis and characterize the synthesized aluminum nitride films. In our experiment we have compared the results coming from OES measurements of plasma and circulating power characteristics of the power supply with basic features of the deposited layers. The dual magnetron system operating in AC mode was used in our studies. Processes of aluminum target sputtering were carried out in an atmosphere of a mixture of argon and nitrogen. The plasma emission spectra were measured with the use of a monochromator device. Analyses were made by comparing the positions and intensities of spectral lines of the plasma components. The results obtained allowed us to characterize the sputtering process under various conditions of gas mixture compositions as well as power distribution more precisely, which is reported in this work. The measured spectra were related to the deposition rate, the structure morphology of the films and chemical composition. Our work proved that the use of plasma OES and circulating power measurements make possible to control the process of sputtering and synthesis of deposited films in situ.

  9. Investigation of the electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction of sputter deposited mixed metal films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schumacher, L.C.; Holzheuter, I.B.; Nucara, M.C.; Dignam, M.J.

    1989-01-01

    Sputter-deposited films of silver with lead, manganese and nickel have been studied as possible oxygen reduction electrocatalysts using cyclic voltammetry, rotating disc studies, steady-state polarization and Auger analysis. In general, the Ag-Pb and Ag-Mn films display superior electrocatalytic activity for O 2 reduction, while the Ag-Ni films' performance is inferior to that of pure Ag. For the Ag-Pb films, which show the highest electrocatalytic activity, the mixed metal films display oxidation-reduction behavior which is not simply a superposition of that of the separate metals, and suggests a mechanism for the improved behavior

  10. Growth of Sr1-xNdxCuOy thin films by rf-magnetron sputtering and pulsed-laser deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugii, N.; Ichikawa, M.; Kuba, K.; Sakurai, T.; Iamamoto, K.; Yamauchi, H.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports on Sr 1- x Nd x CuO y thin films grown on SrTiO 3 substrates by rf-magnetron sputtering and pulsed-laser deposition. The sputter-deposited film with x=0 has an infinite-layer structure whose lattice constants are: a=0.390 nm and c=0.347 nm. When x is larger than 0.1, the films contain a phase of the Sr 14 Cu 24 O 41 structure. The laser-deposited films of Sr 1- x Nd x CuO y with x ≥ 0.075 were single phase of the infinite-layer structure. The lattice parameter c decreased and the lattice parameter a increased, as the Nd content, x, increased. The films with x=0.10 and 0.125 exhibited superconducting onset temperatures around 26 K. Weak Meissner signals were observed for these films at temperatures below 30 K

  11. Co-sputter deposited nickel-copper bimetallic nanoalloy embedded carbon films for electrocatalytic biomarker detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiba, Shunsuke; Kato, Dai; Kamata, Tomoyuki; Niwa, Osamu

    2016-06-01

    We report the fabrication of a nickel (Ni)-copper (Cu) bimetallic nanoalloy (~3 nm) embedded carbon film electrode with the unbalanced magnetron (UBM) co-sputtering technique, which requires only a one-step process at room temperature. Most of each nanoalloy body was firmly embedded in a chemically stable carbon matrix with an atomically flat surface (Ra: 0.21 nm), suppressing the aggregation and/or detachment of the nanoalloy from the electrode surface. The nanoalloy size and composition can be controlled simply by individually controlling the target powers of carbon, Ni and Cu, which also makes it possible to localize the nanoalloys near the electrode surface. This electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for d-mannitol, which should be detected with a low detection limit in urine samples for the diagnosis of severe intestinal diseases. With a Ni/Cu ratio of around 64/36, the electrocatalytic current per metal area was 3.4 times larger than that of an alloy film electrode with a similar composition (~70/30). This improved electrocatalytic activity realized higher stability (n = 60, relative standard deviation (RSD): 4.6%) than the alloy film (RSD: 32.2%) as demonstrated by continuous measurements of d-mannitol.We report the fabrication of a nickel (Ni)-copper (Cu) bimetallic nanoalloy (~3 nm) embedded carbon film electrode with the unbalanced magnetron (UBM) co-sputtering technique, which requires only a one-step process at room temperature. Most of each nanoalloy body was firmly embedded in a chemically stable carbon matrix with an atomically flat surface (Ra: 0.21 nm), suppressing the aggregation and/or detachment of the nanoalloy from the electrode surface. The nanoalloy size and composition can be controlled simply by individually controlling the target powers of carbon, Ni and Cu, which also makes it possible to localize the nanoalloys near the electrode surface. This electrode exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for d

  12. Effect of chemical treatment on surface characteristics of sputter deposited Ti-rich NiTi shape memory alloy thin-films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, S.K.; Mohan, S.

    2014-01-01

    Graphical abstract: FTIR spectra recorded for sputter deposited (a) untreated and (b) chemically treated NiTi SMA thin-films. - Highlights: • The effect of chemical treatment on surface properties of NiTi films demonstrated. • Chemically treated films offer strong ability to form protective TiO 2 layer. • TiO 2 layer formation offer great application prospects in biomedical fields. - Abstract: NiTi thin-films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering from single alloy target (Ni/Ti:45/55 at.%). The rate of deposition and thickness of sputter deposited films were maintained to ∼35 nm min −1 and 4 μm respectively. A set of sputter deposited NiTi films were selected for specific chemical treatment with the solution comprising of de-ionized water, HF and HNO 3 respectively. The influence of chemical treatment on surface characteristics of NiTi films before and after chemical treatment was investigated for their structure, micro-structure and composition using different analytical techniques. Prior to chemical treatment, the composition of NiTi films using energy dispersive X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), were found to be 51.8 atomic percent of Ti and 48.2 atomic percent of Ni. The structure and morphology of these films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD investigations, demonstrated the presence of dominant Austenite (1 1 0) phase along with Martensite phase, for untreated NiTi films whereas some additional diffraction peaks viz. (1 0 0), (1 0 1), and (2 0 0) corresponding to Rutile and Anatase phase of Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) along with parent Austenite (1 1 0) phase were observed for chemically treated NiTi films. FTIR studies, it can be concluded that chemically treated films have higher tendency to form metal oxide/hydroxide than the untreated NiTi films. XPS investigations, demonstrated the presence of Ni-free surface and formation of a protective metal oxide (TiO 2 ) layer on the surface of

  13. Antibacterial effects of silver-doped hydroxyapatite thin films sputter deposited on titanium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trujillo, Nathan A.; Oldinski, Rachael A.; Ma, Hongyan; Bryers, James D.; Williams, John D.; Popat, Ketul C.

    2012-01-01

    Since many orthopedic implants fail as a result of loosening, wear, and inflammation caused by repeated loading on the joints, coatings such as hydroxyapatite (HAp) on titanium with a unique topography have been shown to improve the interface between the implant and the natural tissue. Another serious problem with long-term or ideally permanent implants is infection. It is important to prevent initial bacterial colonization as existing colonies have the potential to become encased in an extracellular matrix polymer (biofilm) that is resistant to antibacterial agents. In this study, plasma-based ion implantation was used to examine the effects of pre-etching on plain titanium. Topographical changes to the titanium samples were examined and compared via scanning electron microscopy. Hydroxyapatite and silver-doped hydroxyapatite thin films were then sputter deposited on titanium substrates etched at − 700 eV. For silver-doped films, two concentrations of silver (∼ 0.5 wt.% and ∼ 1.5 wt.%) were used. Silver concentrations in the film were determined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Hydroxyapatite film thicknesses were determined by measuring the surface profile using contact profilometry. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa adhesion studies were performed on plain titanium, titanium coated with hydroxyapatite, titanium coated with ∼ 0.5 wt.% silver-doped hydroxyapatite, and titanium coated with ∼ 1.5 wt.% silver-doped hydroxyapatite. Results indicate that less bacteria adhered to surfaces containing hydroxyapatite and silver; further, as the hydroxyapatite films delaminated, silver ions were released which killed bacteria in suspension. - Highlights: ► We have developed a combination of plasma-based ion implantation and ion beam sputter deposition technique. ► Silver-doped hydroxyapatite thin films on titanium were developed. ► The thin films showed the ability to control the concentration of silver that is doped within the

  14. Influence of discharge voltage on the sensitivity of the resultant sputtered NiO thin films toward hydrogen gas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khalaf, Mohammed K. [Center of Applied Physics, Directorate of Materials Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Baghdad (Iraq); Mutlak, Rajaa H. [Dept. of Physics, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Baghdad (Iraq); Khudiar, Ausama I., E-mail: ausamaikhudiar@yahoo.com [Center of Applied Physics, Directorate of Materials Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Baghdad (Iraq); Hial, Qahtan G. [Dept. of Physics, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Baghdad (Iraq)

    2017-06-01

    Nickel oxide thin films were deposited on glass substrates as the main gas sensor for H{sub 2} by the DC sputtering technique at various discharge voltages within the range of 1.8–2.5 kV. Their structural, optical and gas sensing properties were investigated by XRD, AFM, SEM, ultraviolet visible spectroscopy and home-made gas sensing measurement units. A diffraction peak in the direction of NiO (200) was observed for the sputtered films, thereby indicating that these films were polycrystalline in nature. The optical band gap of the films decreased from 3.8 to 3.5 eV when the thickness of the films was increased from 83.5 to 164.4 nm in relation to an increase in the sputtering discharge voltage from 1.8 to 2.5 kV, respectively. The gas sensitivity performance of the NiO films that were formed was studied and the electrical responses of the NiO-based sensors toward different H{sub 2} concentrations were also considered. The sensitivity of the gas sensor increased with the working temperature and H{sub 2} gas concentration. The thickness of the NiO thin films was also an important parameter in determining the properties of the NiO films as H{sub 2} sensors. It was shown in this study that NiO films have the capability to detect H{sub 2} concentrations below 3% in wet air, a feature that allows this material to be used directly for the monitoring of the environment.

  15. Structural and morphological properties of ITO thin films grown by magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghorannevis, Z.; Akbarnejad, E.; Ghoranneviss, M.

    2015-10-01

    Physical properties of transparent and conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films grown by radiofrequency (RF) magnetron sputtering are studied systematically by changing deposition time. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) data indicate polycrystalline thin films with grain orientations predominantly along the (2 2 2) and (4 0 0) directions. From atomic force microscopy (AFM) it is found that by increasing the deposition time, the roughness of the film increases. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show a network of a high-porosity interconnected nanoparticles, which approximately have a pore size ranging between 20 and 30 nm. Optical measurements suggest an average transmission of 80 % for the ITO films. Sheet resistances are investigated using four-point probes, which imply that by increasing the film thickness the resistivities of the films decrease to 2.43 × 10-5 Ω cm.

  16. Graphene synthesis from graphite/Ni composite films grown by sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Dong Hee; Yang, Seung Bum; Shin, Dong Yeol; Kim, Chang Oh; Kim, Sung; Choi, Suk Ho; Paek, Sang Hyon

    2012-01-01

    Graphite/Ni composite films have been deposited on SiO 2 /Si (100) wafers by varying their graphite concentration (n G ) and thickness (t) from 2 to 12 wt% and 40 to 400 nm, respectively, in a RF sputtering system, subsequently annealed at 900 .deg. C for 4 min, and then slowly cooled to room temperature to form graphene layers on Ni surfaces. Several structural-analysis techniques reveal the optimum nG (∼8 wt%) and t (∼160 nm) of the composite films for the synthesis of fewest-layer, defect-minimized graphene. At the annealing temperature, carbon atoms diffuse out from the composite film, followed by their precipitation as graphene on the Ni layer as the carbon solubility limit in Ni is reached during the cooling period. Based on this mechanism, the optimum conditions are explained. Our approach provides an advantage in that the number of layers can be simply tuned by varying n G and t of the composite films.

  17. Modeling of metastable phase formation diagrams for sputtered thin films.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Keke; Music, Denis; To Baben, Moritz; Lange, Dennis; Bolvardi, Hamid; Schneider, Jochen M

    2016-01-01

    A method to model the metastable phase formation in the Cu-W system based on the critical surface diffusion distance has been developed. The driver for the formation of a second phase is the critical diffusion distance which is dependent on the solubility of W in Cu and on the solubility of Cu in W. Based on comparative theoretical and experimental data, we can describe the relationship between the solubilities and the critical diffusion distances in order to model the metastable phase formation. Metastable phase formation diagrams for Cu-W and Cu-V thin films are predicted and validated by combinatorial magnetron sputtering experiments. The correlative experimental and theoretical research strategy adopted here enables us to efficiently describe the relationship between the solubilities and the critical diffusion distances in order to model the metastable phase formation during magnetron sputtering.

  18. Comparative microstructure and electrical property studies of lead scandium tantalate thin films as prepared by LDCVD, sol-gel and sputtering techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, Z; Donohue, P P; Zhang, Q; Williams, D J; Anthony, C J; Whatmore, R W; Todd, M A

    2003-01-01

    Lead scandium tantalate (PST) thin films for uncooled infrared (IR) detector applications have been deposited by liquid delivery chemical vapour deposition (LDCVD), sputtering and sol-gel techniques. The sol-gel and sputtered films were deposited at low temperature into a non-ferroelectric phase with the required perovskite structure being formed using a high temperature rapid thermal anneal (RTA). In contrast to this, the LDCVD films were deposited at high temperature directly into the perovskite phase but were found to still require a high temperature RTA step to optimize their merit for IR detection. Detailed structural and electrical characterization of the PST films deposited by these different methods have revealed that there is no simple relationship between microstructure and electrical properties. The sol-gel and LDCVD techniques produce thin films with excellent microstructures, as determined by x-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy, but inferior electrical properties and relatively low merit figures. By contrast, the sputtered and then rapid thermal annealed films have inferior microstructures, characterized by extensive voiding, but excellent electrical properties and high merit figures

  19. Phase-Engineered Type-II Multimetal-Selenide Heterostructures toward Low-Power Consumption, Flexible, Transparent, and Wide-Spectrum Photoresponse Photodetectors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yu-Ze; Wang, Sheng-Wen; Su, Teng-Yu; Lee, Shao-Hsin; Chen, Chia-Wei; Yang, Chen-Hua; Wang, Kuangye; Kuo, Hao-Chung; Chueh, Yu-Lun

    2018-05-01

    Phase-engineered type-II metal-selenide heterostructures are demonstrated by directly selenizing indium-tin oxide to form multimetal selenides in a single step. The utilization of a plasma system to assist the selenization facilitates a low-temperature process, which results in large-area films with high uniformity. Compared to single-metal-selenide-based photodetectors, the multimetal-selenide photodetectors exhibit obviously improved performance, which can be attributed to the Schottky contact at the interface for tuning the carrier transport, as well as the type-II heterostructure that is beneficial for the separation of the electron-hole pairs. The multimetal-selenide photodetectors exhibit a response to light over a broad spectrum from UV to visible light with a high responsivity of 0.8 A W -1 and an on/off current ratio of up to 10 2 . Interestingly, all-transparent photodetectors are successfully produced in this work. Moreover, the possibility of fabricating devices on flexible substrates is also demonstrated with sustainable performance, high strain tolerance, and high durability during bending tests. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. UHV-compatible sputtering additive for surface physics examination of large area HTSL/isolator thin film. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koch, H.; Beyer, J.; Knappe, S.; Ludwig, F.; Menkel, S.; Quan, Z.; Schurig, T.

    1996-06-01

    In the course of the project, a manufacturing technique for the production of cryo-electronic high temperature superconductor (HTSL) components is to be developed, which includes the thin film separation process and the structuring technique. A special sputtering process using a linear hollow cathode is to be applied as the thin film separation process for the HTSL YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ . The sputtering plant which was to be built up by the UHV method in advance, should be connected to an existing UHV multi-chamber plant for the manufacture and surface analysis of thin films, in order to be able to connect precise reproducible sample production conditions with a controlled sample transfer and informative in-situ analysis. (orig./MM) [de

  1. Magnetic and structural properties of ion beam sputtered Fe–Zr–Nb–B–Cu thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Modak, S.S.; Kane, S.N.; Gupta, A.; Mazaleyrat, F.; LoBue, M.; Coisson, M.; Celegato, F.; Tiberto, P.; Vinai, F.

    2012-01-01

    Magnetic and structural properties of Fe–Zr–Nb–B–Cu thin films, prepared by ion beam sputtering on silicon substrates by using a target made up of amorphous ribbons of nominal composition Fe 84 Zr 3.5 Nb 3.5 B 8 Cu 1 , are reported. As-deposited thin film samples exhibit an in-plane uniaxial anisotropy, which can be ascribed to the preparation technique and the coupling of quenched-in internal stresses. Structural measurements indicate no significant variation of the grain size with thickness and with the annealing temperature. Increase in surface irregularities with annealing temperature and oxidation results in aggregates that would act as pinning centers, affecting the magnetic properties leading to magnetic hardening of the specimens. The role of the magnetic anisotropy is thoroughly discussed with the help of magnetic and ferromagnetic resonance measurements. - Highlights: ►Ion beam sputtered Fe–Zr–Nb–B–Cu thin films of different thickness are prepared. ►Films exhibit in-plane uniaxial anisotropy, which reduces with thermal treatments. ►Increased surface roughness leads to wall pinning, increasing the coercive field.

  2. Temperature dependence of the optical properties of ion-beam sputtered ZrN films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larijani, M.M. [NSTRI, AEOI, Radiation Applications Research School, Karaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Kiani, M. [Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Department of Physics, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Jafari-Khamse, E. [NSTRI, AEOI, Radiation Applications Research School, Karaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); University of Kashan, Department of Physics, Kashan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Fathollahi, V. [Nuclear Science Research School, NSTRI, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2014-11-15

    The reflectivity of sputtered Zirconium nitride films on glass substrate has been investigated in the spectral energy range of 0.8-6.1 eV as a function of deposition temperature varying between 373 and 723 K. Optical constants of the prepared films have been determined using the Drude analysis. Experimental results showed strong dependency of optical properties of the films, such as optical resistivity on the substrate temperature. The temperature increase of the substrate has shown an increase in both the plasmon frequency and electron scattering time. The electrical behavior of the films showed a good agreement between their optical and electrical resistivity. (orig.)

  3. Reactive magnetron sputtering of N-doped carbon thin films on quartz glass for transmission photocathode applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balalykin, N. I.; Huran, J.; Nozdrin, M. A.; Feshchenko, A. A.; Kobzev, A. P.; Sasinková, V.; Boháček, P.; Arbet, J.

    2018-03-01

    N-doped carbon thin films were deposited on a silicon substrate and quartz glass by RF reactive magnetron sputtering using a carbon target and an Ar+N2 gas mixture. During the magnetron sputtering, the substrate holder temperatures was kept at 800 °C. The carbon film thickness on the silicon substrate was about 70 nm, while on the quartz glass it was in the range 15 nm – 60 nm. The elemental concentration in the films was determined by RBS and ERD. Raman spectroscopy was used to evaluate the intensity ratios I D/I G of the D and G peaks of the carbon films. The transmission photocathodes prepared were placed in the hollow-cathode assembly of a Pierce-structure DC gun to produce photoelectrons. The quantum efficiency (QE) was calculated from the laser energy and cathode charge measured. The properties of the transmission photocathodes based on semitransparent N-doped carbon thin films on quartz glass and their potential for application in DC gun technology are discussed.

  4. Highly-enhanced reflow characteristics of sputter deposited Cu alloy thin films for large scale integrated interconnections

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Onishi, Takashi [Advanced Technology Information Center, Shinko Research Co., Ltd., 2-7, 4-Chome, Iwaya-Nakamachi, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-0845 (Japan); Mizuno, Masao [Technical Development Group, Electronics Research Laboratory, Kobe Steel, Ltd., 5-5, Takatsukadai 1-chome, Nishi-ku, Kobe 651-2271 (Japan); Yoshikawa, Tetsuya; Munemasa, Jun [Machinery and Engineering Company, Kobe Steel, Ltd., 2-3-1, Shinhama, Arai-cho, Takasago 676-8670 (Japan); Mizuno, Masataka; Kihara, Teruo; Araki, Hideki [Division of Materials and Manufacturing Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1, Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871 (Japan); Shirai, Yasuharu [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501 (Japan)

    2011-08-01

    An attempt to improve the reflow characteristics of sputtered Cu films was made by alloying the Cu with various elements. We selected Y, Sb, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, In, Sn, Mg, and P for the alloys, and ''the elasto-plastic deformation behavior at high temperature'' and ''the filling level of Cu into via holes'' were estimated for Cu films containing each of these elements. From the results, it was found that adding a small amount of Sb or Dy to the sputtered Cu was remarkably effective in improve the reflow characteristics. The microstructure and imperfections in the Cu films before and after high-temperature high-pressure annealing were investigated by secondary ion micrographs and positron annihilation spectroscopy. The results imply that the embedding or deformation mechanism is different for the Cu-Sb alloy films compared to the Cu-Dy alloy films. We consider that the former is embedded by softening or deformation of the Cu matrix, which has a polycrystalline structure, and the latter is embedded by grain boundary sliding.

  5. High-power sputtering employed for film deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shapovalov, V I

    2017-01-01

    The features of high-power magnetron sputtering employed for the films’ deposition are reviewed. The main physical phenomena accompanying high-power sputtering including ion-electron emission, gas rarefaction, ionization of sputtered atoms, self-sputtering, ion sound waves and the impact of the target heating are described. (paper)

  6. Electrochromic Properties of Tungsten Oxide Films Prepared by Reactive Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Min Hong; Kang, Tai Young; Jung, Yu Sup; Kim, Kyung Hwan

    2013-05-01

    WO3-x thin films were deposited on induim tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates with various oxygen flow ratios from 0.55 to 0.7 by the reactive facing-target sputtering method, at a power density of 4 W/cm2 and room temperature. The structural properties of the WO3-x thin films were measured by X-ray diffractometry and Raman spectral analysis. As-deposited WO3-x thin films had an amorphous structure. In the Raman spectra, WO3-x thin films exhibited two strong peaks at 770 and 950 cm-1 attributed to the vibrations of W6+-O and W6+=O bonds, respectively. The electrochemical and optical properties of WO3-x thin films were measured by cyclic voltammetry and UV/vis spectrometry. The results showed the highest charge density at an oxygen flow ratio of 0.7 and the highest transmittance in the visible range. The maximum coloration efficiency was 30.82 cm2/C at an oxygen flow ratio of 0.7.

  7. DC Magnetron Sputtered IZTO Thin Films for Organic Photovoltaic Application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Hye Ji; Noviyana, Imas; Putri, Maryane; Koo, Chang Young; Lee, Jung-A; Kim, Jeong-Joo; Jeong, Youngjun; Lee, Youngu; Lee, Hee Young

    2018-02-01

    IZTO20 (In0.6Zn0.2Sn0.2O1.5) ceramic target was prepared from oxide mixture of In2O3, ZnO, and SnO2 powders. IZTO20 thin films were then deposited onto glass substrate at 400 °C by DC magnetron sputtering. The average optical transmittance determined by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy was higher than 85% for all films. The minimum resistivity of the annealed IZTO20 thin film was approximately 6.1×10-4 Ω·cm, which tended to increase with decreasing indium content. Substrate heating and annealing were found to be important parameters affecting the electrical and optical properties. An organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell was fabricated using the IZTO20 film deposited under the optimized condition as an anode electrode and the efficiency of up to 80% compared to that of a similar OPV cell using ITO film was observed. Reduction of surface roughness and electrical resistivity through annealing treatment was found to contribute to the improved efficiency of the OPV cell.

  8. Development of low temperature RF magnetron sputtered ITO films on flexible substrate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Muneshwar, T.P.; Varma, V.; Meshram, N; Soni, S.; Dusane, R.O. [Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076 (India)

    2010-09-15

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) is one of the important materials used as transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer in thin film solar cells, digital displays and other similar applications. For applications involving flexible polymeric substrates, it is important that deposition of ITO is carried out at near room temperature. This requirement puts constraint on stoichiometry leading to undesired electrical and optical properties. Effect of oxygen partial pressure on ITO films deposited on flexible Kapton {sup registered} by the RF magnetron sputtering is reported in this paper. (author)

  9. Type II textured molybdenum disulphide films produced by direct vapour transport and rf-magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bohlken, S.F.; Lemon, K.D.; Jakovidis, G.; Taheri, E.H.

    1999-01-01

    Full text: Molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ) is one of the few naturally occurring Layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and is the primary source for elemental molybdenum. It displays exceptional lubrication performance in both vacuum and atmospheric conditions over a wide temperature range. An important emerging application of MoS 2 and related materials is photovoltaics. Films of MoS 2 exhibit several morphologies described by the orientation of platelets with respect to the substrate. Films with platelets perpendicular or parallel to the substrate are referred to by their morphology, which is type-I or type-II respectively. Production of exclusive type-II films is highly desirable in applications involving lubrication and photovoltaics. For example, type-II morphology reduces friction and minority carrier recombination centres, thus improving tribological and photovoltaic performance. We have successfully produced type-II films using both direct vapour transport and rf-magnetron sputtering Continuous polycrystalline films (∼ 10 μm thick) grown in our laboratory using vapour transport have typical areas 1000 mm 2 . A novel ejecta filtration technique was applied to rf-magnetron sputtering. Films produced using this approach retain exclusive type-II morphology at thicknesses where type-I would normally be observed (∼ 200nm)

  10. Heteroepitaxial growth of CuInS2 thin films on sapphire by radio frequency reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He, Y.B.; Kriegseis, W.; Meyer, B.K.; Polity, A.; Serafin, M.

    2003-01-01

    Direct heteroepitaxial growth of uniform stoichiometric CuInS 2 (CIS) thin films on sapphire (0001) substrates has been achieved by radio frequency reactive sputtering. X-ray ω-2θ scans reveal that the sputtered layers grow in a (112) orientation with a chalcopyrite structure. A rocking curve full width at half maximum of about 0.05 deg. (180 arc sec) for the (112) peak demonstrates a nearly perfect out-of-plane arrangement of CIS (112) parallel sapphire (0001). X-ray diffraction Phi scans further illustrate an excellent in-plane ordering of CIS [1-bar10] parallel sapphire (101-bar0). The sputtered thin CIS epilayers had a smooth surface with a typical root-mean-square roughness of about 3.3 nm as evaluated by atomic force microscopy. The epitaxial growth of tetragonal CIS on hexagonal sapphire provides evidence that heteroepitaxial growth may be realized between structures of different symmetry, such as films of cubic or tetragonal structures on hexagonal substrates or vice versa

  11. Effects of nitrogen ion implantation time on tungsten films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malau, Viktor, E-mail: malau@ugm.ac.id; Ilman, Mochammad Noer, E-mail: noer-ilman@yahoo.com; Iswanto, Priyo Tri, E-mail: priyatri@yahoo.com; Jatisukamto, Gaguk, E-mail: gagukjtsk@yahoo.co.id [Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Gadjah Mada University Jl. Grafika 2, Yogyakarta, 55281 (Indonesia)

    2016-03-29

    Nitrogen ion implantation time on tungsten thin film deposited on surface of AISI 410 steel has been performed. Tungsten thin film produced by dc magnetron sputtering method was deposited on AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel substrates, and then the nitrogen ions were implanted on tungsten thin film. The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of implantation deposition time on surface roughness, microhardness, specific wear and corrosion rate of nitrogen implanted on tungsten film. Magnetron sputtering process was performed by using plasma gas of argon (Ar) to bombardier tungsten target (W) in a vacuum chamber with a pressure of 7.6 x 10{sup −2} torr, a voltage of 300 V, a sputter current of 80 mA for sputtered time of 10 minutes. Nitrogen implantation on tungsten film was done with an initial pressure of 3x10{sup −6} mbar, a fluence of 2 x 10{sup 17} ions/cm{sup 2}, an energy of 100 keV and implantation deposition times of 0, 20, 30 and 40 minutes. The surface roughness, microhardness, specific wear and corrosion rate of the films were evaluated by surfcorder test, Vickers microhardness test, wear test and potentiostat (galvanostat) test respectively. The results show that the nitrogen ions implanted deposition time on tungsten film can modify the surface roughness, microhardness, specific wear and corrosion rate. The minimum surface roughness, specific wear and corrosion rate can be obtained for implantation time of 20 minutes and the maximum microhardness of the film is 329 VHN (Vickers Hardness Number) for implantation time of 30 minutes. The specific wear and corrosion rate of the film depend directly on the surface roughness.

  12. Silicon oxynitride films deposited by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering using nitrous oxide as a single-source precursor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hänninen, Tuomas, E-mail: tuoha@ifm.liu.se; Schmidt, Susann; Jensen, Jens; Hultman, Lars; Högberg, Hans [Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, Linköping SE-581 83 (Sweden)

    2015-09-15

    Silicon oxynitride thin films were synthesized by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering of silicon in argon/nitrous oxide plasmas. Nitrous oxide was employed as a single-source precursor supplying oxygen and nitrogen for the film growth. The films were characterized by elastic recoil detection analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, x-ray reflectivity, scanning electron microscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Results show that the films are silicon rich, amorphous, and exhibit a random chemical bonding structure. The optical properties with the refractive index and the extinction coefficient correlate with the film elemental composition, showing decreasing values with increasing film oxygen and nitrogen content. The total percentage of oxygen and nitrogen in the films is controlled by adjusting the gas flow ratio in the deposition processes. Furthermore, it is shown that the film oxygen-to-nitrogen ratio can be tailored by the high power impulse magnetron sputtering-specific parameters pulse frequency and energy per pulse.

  13. Composite materials obtained by the ion-plasma sputtering of metal compound coatings on polymer films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khlebnikov, Nikolai; Polyakov, Evgenii; Borisov, Sergei; Barashev, Nikolai; Biramov, Emir; Maltceva, Anastasia; Vereshchagin, Artem; Khartov, Stas; Voronin, Anton

    2016-01-01

    In this article, the principle and examples composite materials obtained by deposition of metal compound coatings on polymer film substrates by the ion-plasma sputtering method are presented. A synergistic effect is to obtain the materials with structural properties of the polymer substrate and the surface properties of the metal deposited coatings. The technology of sputtering of TiN coatings of various thicknesses on polyethylene terephthalate films is discussed. The obtained composites are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is shown. The examples of application of this method, such as receiving nanocomposite track membranes and flexible transparent electrodes, are considered.

  14. Neutron irradiation of sputtered NbN films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weber, H.W.; Gregshammer, P.; Gray, K.E.; Kampwirth, R.T.

    1989-01-01

    In addition to the excellent high-field superconducting properties of NbN, it is the strain and radiation tolerance, measured in bulk NbN, which makes the material so attractive for large high-field magnets, especially for fusion applications. The authors report neutron irradiation experiments on sputtered NbN films, up to a fluence of 10/sup 23/ m/sup -2/ (E > 0.1 MeV), which prove that NbN films are also extremely radiation-hard high-field superconductors. Both the transition temperatures, T/sub c/, and the normal state resistivities show only small changes with neutron fluence. Concerning the critical current densities, j/sub c/, degradations by as much as 30% are observed at low fields, whereas in an intermediate field range (11-15 T) virtually no change of j/sub c/ and at high fields near 20 T even an increase of j/sub c/ are found. The latter observation is ascribed to a radiation-induced increase of the upper critical field, B/sub c2/, and to the occurence of peak effects near B/sub c2/

  15. Fabrication and evaluation of green-light emitting Ta2O5:Er, Ce co-sputtered thin films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Miura

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Erbium and cerium co-doped tantalum-oxide (Ta2O5:Er, Ce thin films were fabricated using radio-frequency co-sputtering of Ta2O5, Er2O3, and CeO2 for the first time. Enhanced green-light emission due to Er3+ that seems to be sensitized by Ce3+ was observed from the film annealed at 900 °C for 20 min. From XRD measurements of the films, the β-Ta2O5 (orthorhombic, δ-Ta2O5 (hexagonal, and (201 Ta2O5 phases seem to be very important for obtaining green PL from them. Such Ta2O5:Er, Ce co-sputtered films can be used as high-refractive-index materials of autocloned photonic crystals that can be applied to novel green-light-emitting devices, and they will also be used as multi-functional coating films that can work both as anti-reflection and down-conversion films for realizing high-efficiency silicon solar cells.

  16. RF magnetron sputtered TiNiCu shape memory alloy thin film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Yongqing; Du Hejun

    2003-01-01

    Shape memory alloys (SMAs) offer a unique combination of novel properties, such as shape memory effect, super-elasticity, biocompatibility and high damping capacity, and thin film SMAs have the potential to become a primary actuating mechanism for micro-actuators. In this study, TiNiCu films were successfully prepared by mix sputtering of a Ti 55 Ni 45 target with a separated Cu target. Crystalline structure, residual stress and phase transformation properties of the TiNiCu films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and curvature measurement methods. Effects of the processing parameters on the film composition, phase transformation and shape-memory effects were analyzed. Results showed that films prepared at a high Ar gas pressure exhibited a columnar structure, while films deposited at a low Ar gas pressure showed smooth and featureless structure. Chemical composition of TiNiCu thin films was dependent on the DC power of copper target. DSC, XRD and curvature measurement revealed clearly the martensitic transformation of the deposited TiNiCu films. When the free-standing film was heated and cooled, a 'two-way' shape-memory effect can be clearly observed

  17. Investigations of metal contacts to amorphous evaporated Ge films and amorphous sputtered Si films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hafiz, M.; Mgbenu, E.; Tove, P.A.; Norde, H.; Petersson, S.

    1976-02-01

    Amorphous Ge or Si films have been used as ohmic contacts to high-resistivity n-silicon radiation detectors. One interesting property of this contact is that it does not inject minority carriers even when the depletion region extends up to the contact thus generating an extracting field there. The function of this contact is not yet fully explored. One part problem is the role of the metal films used as external contacts to the amorphous film. In this report the function of different contacting metals, such as Au, Al, Cr are investigated by measuring the I-V-characteristics of sandwich structures with two metals on both sides of the amorphous evaporated (Ge) and sputtered (Si) film (of typical thickness 1000 A). It was found that while the symmetric structures Au-αGe-Au and Cr-αGe-Cr were low-resistive (leading to resistivity values of approximately 10 5 Ωcm for the αGe film), Al-αGe-Al structures showed much higher resistance and were also polarity dependent. The former feature was found also for unsymmetric structures, i.e. Cr-αGe-Au, Cr-αGe-Al. (Auth.)

  18. Optical properties of tungsten oxide thin films by non-reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acosta, M.; Gonzalez, D.; Riech, I.

    2008-01-01

    Tungsten oxide thin films were grown on glass substrates by RF sputtering at room temperature using a tungsten trioxide target for several values of the Argon pressure (PAr). The structural and morphological properties of these films were studied using X-ray diffraction and Atomic Force Microscopy. The as-deposited films were amorphous irrespective of the Argon pressure, and crystallized in a mixture of hexagonal and monoclinic phases after annealing at a temperature of 3500 C in air. Surface-Roughness increased by an order of magnitude (from 1 nm to 20 nm) after thermal treatment. The Argon pressure, however, had a strong influence on the optical properties of the films. Three different regions are clearly identified: deep blue films for PAr 40 mTorr with high transmittance values. We suggest that the observed changes in optical properties are due to an increasing number of Oxygen vacancies as the growth Argon pressure decreases. (Full text)

  19. Mobility Optimization in LaxBa1-xSnO3 Thin Films Deposited via High Pressure Oxygen Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Postiglione, William Michael

    BaSnO3 (BSO) is one of the most promising semiconducting oxides currently being explored for use in future electronic applications. BSO possesses a unique combination of high room temperature mobility (even at very high carrier concentrations, > 1019 cm-3), wide band gap, and high temperature stability, making it a potentially useful material for myriad applications. Significant challenges remain however in optimizing the properties and processing of epitaxial BSO, a critical step towards industrial applications. In this study we investigate the viability of using high pressure oxygen sputtering to produce high mobility La-doped BSO thin films. In the first part of our investigation we synthesized, using solid state reaction, phase-pure stoichiometric polycrystalline 2% La-doped BaSnO 3 for use as a target material in our sputtering system. We verified the experimental bulk lattice constant, 4.117 A, to be in good agreement with literature values. Next, we set out to optimize the growth conditions for DC sputtering of La doped BaSnO3. We found that mobility for all our films increased monotonically with deposition temperature, suggesting the optimum temperature for deposition is > 900 °C and implicating a likely improvement in transport properties with post-growth thermal anneal. We then preformed systematic studies aimed at probing the effects of varying thickness and deposition rate to optimize the structural and electronic transport properties in unbuffered BSO films. In this report we demonstrate the ability to grow 2% La BSO thin films with an effective dopant activation of essentially 100%. Our films showed fully relaxed (bulk), out-of-plane lattice parameter values when deposited on LaAlO3, MgO, and (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2 TaAlO6)0.7 substrates, and slightly expanded out-of-plane lattice parameters for films deposited on SrTiO3, GdScO3, and PrScO3 substrates. The surface roughness's of our films were measured via AFM, and determined to be on the nm scale or better

  20. High-Transparency Sputtered In2O3 and ITO Films Containing Zirconium (Presentation)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gessert, T. A.; Yoshida, Y.; Fesenmaier, C. C.; Coutts, T. J.

    2007-01-01

    Our recent investigations have identified a method to produce ITO-like films that are less sensitive to variations in the oxygen-containing deposition ambient. Specifically, we are studying the effect of adding small amounts of Zr to both In2O3 and ITO ceramic sputtering targets

  1. Synthesis and characterization of DC magnetron sputtered nano structured molybdenum thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rondiya, S. R.; Rokade, A. V.; Jadhavar, A. A.; Pandharkar, S. M.; Kulkarni, R. R.; Karpe, S. D.; Diwate, K. D. [School of Energy Studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007 (India); Jadkar, S. R., E-mail: sandesh@physics.unipune.ac.in [Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007 (India)

    2016-04-13

    Molybdenum (Mo) thin films were deposited on corning glass (#7059) substrates using DC magnetron sputtering system. The effect of substrate temperature on the structural, morphology and topological properties have been investigated. Films were characterized by variety of techniques such as low angle x-ray diffraction (low angle XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM). The low angle XRD analysis revealed that the synthesized Mo films are nanocrystalline having cubic crystal structure with (110) preferential orientation. The microstructure of the deposited Mo thin films observed with FE-SEM images indicated that films are homogeneous and uniform with randomly oriented leaf shape morphology. The AFM analysis shows that with increase in substrate temperature the rms roughness of Mo films increases. The obtained results suggest that the synthesized nanostructured Mo thin films have potential application as a back contact material for high efficiency solar cells like CdTe, CIGS, CZTS etc.

  2. Track-etched nanopores in spin-coated polycarbonate films applied as sputtering mask

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nix, A.-K.; Gehrke, H.-G.; Krauser, J.; Trautmann, C.; Weidinger, A.; Hofsaess, H.

    2009-01-01

    Thin polycarbonate films were spin-coated on silicon substrates and subsequently irradiated with 1-GeV U ions. The ion tracks in the polymer layer were chemically etched yielding nanopores of about 40 nm diameter. In a second process, the nanoporous polymer film acted as mask for structuring the Si substrate underneath. Sputtering with 5-keV Xe ions produced surface craters of depth ∼150 nm and diameter ∼80 nm. This arrangement can be used for the fabrication of track-based nanostructures with self-aligned apertures.

  3. Highly -oriented growth of polycrystalline silicon films on glass by pulsed magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reinig, P.; Selle, B.; Fenske, F.; Fuhs, W.; Alex, V.; Birkholz, M.

    2002-01-01

    Nominally undoped polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films were deposited on glass at 450 deg. C at high deposition rate (>100 nm/min) by pulsed dc magnetron sputtering. The pulse frequency was found to have a significant influence on the preferred grain orientation. The x-ray diffraction pattern exhibits a strong enhancement of the (400) reflex with increasing pulse frequency. The quantitative evaluation reveals that over 90% of the grains are oriented. The observed change in preferred grain orientation in poly-Si films at low temperatures is associated with concurrent ion bombardment of the growing film

  4. Mechanical properties of TiN films deposited by changed-pressure r.f. sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubo, Y.; Hashimoto, M.

    1991-01-01

    TiN was deposited onto glass, stainless steel and cemented carbide by r.f. magnetron sputtering. The mechanical properties of TiN such as hardness, internal stress and adhesion were assessed by the Vickers microhardness test, the bending method and the modified scratch test. It was found that the operating pressure during sputtering deposition strongly affects these mechanical properties. As the operating pressure is increased beyond 0.6-0.7 Pa, the adhesion of TiN films onto the substrate increases enormously, but the hardness decreases owing to the release of the high compressive stress in the film. Therefore changing the pressure from high to low during deposition could be a good way of optimizing both hardness and adhesion. The effectiveness of this changed-pressure process was experimentally verified by cutting tests using TiN-coated cemented carbide tools. This process will be applicable to any other hard coating materials having high compressive stresses. (orig.)

  5. Critical parameters in the sputter-deposition of NdBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-{delta}} thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hakuraku, Y.; Yokoyama, N.; Doi, T.; Inoue, T. [Faculty of Engineering, Kagoshima University, Koorimoto, Kagoshima 890, (Japan); Mori, Z.; Koba, S. [Yatsushiro National College of Technology, Yatsushiro 866 (Japan)

    1999-08-01

    A superconducting thin film of NdBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-{delta}} (NBCO) was prepared on an MgO(100) substrate by dc magnetron sputtering. Superconducting properties as well as features such as resistivity at room temperature and surface morphology were improved by optimizing the composition of sputtering target and critical parameters such as substrate temperature and oxidation gas pressure. A highly c-axis oriented thin film with T{sub c} (zero resistance temperature) = 95.2 K was obtained reproducibly with NdBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3.2}O{sub 7-{delta}} off-stoichiometric target sputtering. T{sub c} = 95.2 K was 8 K higher than that deposited by stoichiometric target sputtering. Critical current density was 1x10{sup 6} A cm{sup -2} at 77 K, and surface roughness was 35 nm. (author)

  6. Fabrication of hydroxyapatite thin films for biomedical applications using RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, Tetsuro; Tanaka, Yoshikazu; Ide-Ektessabi, Ari

    2006-01-01

    The calcium phosphate thin films for medical applications require similar chemical properties as those of natural bone as well as a uniform surface without any defect, such as cracks and pinholes. In this study, the calcium phosphate thin films were fabricated using RF magnetron sputtering deposition technique at discharge power of 200W, 300W and 400W. The target used for the deposition was sintered HAp. RBS analysis showed that the Ca/P ratio increased with the discharge power becoming close to that of Ca/P=1.67 in ideal HAp. XPS analysis revealed the presence of PO 4 3- and OH - bonds in the calcium phosphate films fabricated. The chemical properties of the calcium phosphate thin films were similar to those of ideal HAp. The AFM results revealed that the thin films prepared had a uniform surface

  7. Growth dynamics of reactive-sputtering-deposited AlN films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auger, M.A.; Vazquez, L.; Sanchez, O.; Jergel, M.; Cuerno, R.; Castro, M.

    2005-01-01

    We have studied the surface kinetic roughening of AlN films grown on Si(100) substrates by dc reactive sputtering within the framework of the dynamic scaling theory. Films deposited under the same experimental conditions for different growth times were analyzed by atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The AlN films display a (002) preferred orientation. We have found two growth regimes with a crossover time of 36 min. In the first regime, the growth dynamics is unstable and the films present two types of textured domains, well textured and randomly oriented, respectively. In contrast, in the second regime the films are homogeneous and well textured, leading to a relative stabilization of the surface roughness characterized by a growth exponent β=0.37±0.03. In this regime a superrough scaling behavior is found with the following exponents: (i) Global exponents: roughness exponent α=1.2±0.2 and β=0.37±0.03 and coarsening exponent 1/z=0.32±0.05; (ii) local exponents: α loc =1, β loc =0.32±0.01. The differences between the growth modes are found to be related to the different main growth mechanisms dominating their growth dynamics: sticking anisotropy and shadowing, respectively

  8. Novel magnetic controlled plasma sputtering method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Axelevich, A.; Rabinovich, E.; Golan, G.

    1996-01-01

    A novel method to improve thin film vacuum sputtering is presented. This method is capable of controlling the sputtering plasma via an external set of magnets, in a similar fashion to the tetrode sputtering method. The main advantage of the Magnetic Controlled Plasma Sputtering (MCPS) is its ability to independently control all deposition parameters without any interference or cross-talk. Deposition rate, using the MCPS, is found to be almost twice the rate of triode and tetrode sputtering techniques. Experimental results using the MCPS to deposit Ni layers are described. It was demonstrated that using the MCPS method the ion beam intensity at the target is a result of the interaction of a homogeneous external magnetic field and the controlling magnetic fields. The MCPS method was therefore found to be beneficial for the production of pure stoichiometric thin solid films with high reproducibility. This method could be used for the production of compound thin films as well. (authors)

  9. Structure and oxygen incorporation in low pressure sputtered YBCO films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chaudhary, S.; Pandya, D. K.; Kashyap, S. C.

    2002-01-01

    Thin films of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7- δ (YBCO) have been successfully grown by reactive RF-magnetron sputtering technique at low pressure. The oxygen partial pressure of 0.95 mTorr, a total pressure (argon and oxygen) of 1.9 mTorr, and a substrate temperature of 775 grad C resulted in good quality films with T C (R=0) = 85.3 K and J Cmag (4.2 K) ≅ 2x10 7 A/cm 2 . The incorporation of oxygen in the as-grown films has been controlled by using different ambient - oxygen, air or argon during in-situ cooling. The superconducting behaviour of the films was studied using resistance-temperature and low field ac-susceptibility measurements and correlated with their structure. All the films exhibited metallic conduction in the normal state. The oxygen- and air- cooled films were superconducting, possessing the usual orthorhombic structure. The argon-cooled films were non-superconducting possessing the tetragonal structure, thus implying that the structure of the film during deposition is tetragonal which transforms to either of the oxygen rich orthorhombic-I or -II phases depending upon the oxygen/air ambient. The 'δ' values of 0.14, 0.32 and 0.70 and higher 'c'-parameters of 1.1785, 1.180 and 1.183 nm have been obtained for oxygen, air and argon cooled films respectively. (Authors)

  10. Structural and optical properties of (Sr,Ba)2SiO4:Eu2+ thin films grown by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Leliang; Zheng, Jun; Zuo, Yuhua; Cheng, Buwen; Wang, Qiming

    2014-01-01

    (Sr,Ba) 2 SiO 4 :Eu 2+ thin films were deposited on Si at different substrate temperatures by magnetron sputtering. The morphology and crystalline phases of the films were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, respectively. The silicate crystal phase was presented when films were annealed above 900 °C and the annealing temperature had great impact on the film morphology. The samples annealed at 1000 °C in a non-reducing atmosphere for 30 s show intense room temperature Eu 2+ emission. These findings may open a promising way to prepare efficient phosphor thin films for on-chip light emitting diodes application. - Highlights: • The (Sr, Ba) 2 SiO 4 :Eu 2+ films are fabricated by magnetron sputtering. • A very strong RT PL emission at 540 nm is achieved. • The morphology and optical properties dependent on temperature are studied

  11. Investigation on synthesis of Bi-based thin films on flat sputter-deposited Ag film by melting process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su Yanjing; Satoh, Yoshimasa; Arisawa, Shunichi; Awane, Toru; Fukuyo, Akihiro; Takano, Yoshihiko; Ishii, Akira; Hatano, Takeshi; Togano, Kazumasa

    2003-01-01

    We report on the fabrication of ribbon-like thin films on flat sputter-deposited Ag films whose surface smoothness remained within the order of tens of nm. It was found that the addition of Pb to the starting material improves the wettability of molten phase and facilitates the growth of Bi-2212 ribbon-like thin films on a flat Ag substrate, and that the increase of Ca and Cu in starting material suppresses the intergrowth of the Bi-2201 phase in ribbon-like thin films. By using (Bi,Pb)-2246 powders, with nominal composition of Bi 1.6 Pb 0.4 Sr 1.6 Ca 3.2 Cu 4.8 O y , as the starting material, the superconducting Bi-2212 ribbon-like thin films with an onset T c at 74 K on a very flat Ag substrate were successfully synthesized. Additionally, the growth mechanism of ribbon-like thin films on flat Ag substrate was investigated by in situ high temperature microscope observation

  12. Impact of deposition rate on the structural and magnetic properties of sputtered Ni/Cu multilayer thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karpuz, Ali [Karamanoglu Mehmetbey Univ., Karaman (Turkey). Dept. of Physics; Colmekci, Salih; Kockar, Hakan; Kuru, Hilal; Uckun, Mehmet [Balikesir Univ. (Turkey). Dept. of Physics

    2018-04-01

    The structural and corresponding magnetic properties of Ni/Cu films sputtered at low and high deposition rates were investigated as there is a limited number of related studies in this field. 5[Ni(10 nm)/Cu(30 nm)] multilayer thin films were deposited using two DC sputtering sources at low (0.02 nm/s) and high (0.10 nm/s) deposition rates of Ni layers. A face centered cubic phase was detected for both films. The surface of the film sputtered at the low deposition rate has a lot of micro-grains distributed uniformly and with sizes from 0.1 to 0.4 μm. Also, it has a vertical acicular morphology. At high deposition rate, the number of micro-grains considerably decreased, and some of their sizes increased up to 1 μm. The surface of the Ni/Cu multilayer deposited at the low rate has a relatively more grainy and rugged structure, whereas the surface of the film deposited at the high rate has a relatively larger lateral size of surface grains with a relatively fine morphology. Saturation magnetisation, M{sub s}, values were 90 and 138 emu/cm{sup 3} for deposition rates of 0.02 and 0.10 nm/s, respectively. Remanence, M{sub r}, values were also found to be 48 and 71 emu/cm{sup 3} for the low and high deposition rates, respectively. The coercivity, H{sub c}, values were 46 and 65 Oe for the low and high Ni deposition rates, respectively. The changes in the film surfaces provoked the changes in the H{sub c} values. The M{sub s}, M{sub r}, and H{sub c} values of the 5[Ni(10 nm)/Cu(30 nm)] films can be adjusted considering the surface morphologies and film contents caused by the different Ni deposition rates.

  13. On angle resolved RF magnetron sputtering of Ge-Sb-Te thin films

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gutwirth, J.; Wágner, T.; Bezdička, Petr; Hrdlička, M.; Vlček, Milan; Frumar, M.

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 355, 37-42 (2009), s. 1935-1938 ISSN 0022-3093 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC523; GA ČR GA203/06/1368 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40320502; CEZ:AV0Z40500505 Keywords : amorphous semiconductors * films and coatings * sputtering Subject RIV: CA - Inorganic Chemistry Impact factor: 1.252, year: 2009

  14. Enhanced saturation of sputtered amorphous SiN film frameworks using He- and Ne-Penning effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugimoto, Iwao; Nakano, Satoko; Kuwano, Hiroki

    1994-06-01

    Optical emission spectroscopy reveals that helium and neon gases enhance the nitridation reactivity of the nitrogen plasma by Penning effects during magnetron sputtering of the silicon target. These excited nitrogen plasmas promote the saturation of frameworks of the resultant silicon nitride films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron spin resonance, and x-ray diffraction analyses provide insight into the structure of these films, and thermal desorption mass spectroscopy reveals the behavior of volatile species in these films.

  15. Optical properties of tungsten oxide thin films by non-reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Acosta, M.; Gonzalez, D.; Riech, I.

    2009-01-01

    Tungsten oxide thin films were grown on glass substrates by RF sputtering at room temperature using a tungsten trioxide target for several values of the argon pressure (P Ar ). The structural and morphological properties of these films were studied using X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The as-deposited films were amorphous irrespective of the argon pressure, and crystallized in a mixture of hexagonal and monoclinic phases after annealing at a temperature of 350 o C in air. Surface-roughness increased by an order of magnitude (from 1 nm to 20 nm) after thermal treatment. The argon pressure, however, had a strong influence on the optical properties of the films. Three different regions are clearly identified: deep blue films for P Ar ≤ 2.67 Pa with low transmittance values, light blue films for 2.67 Pa Ar Ar ≥ 6 Pa with high transmittance values. We suggest that the observed changes in optical properties are due to an increasing number of oxygen vacancies as the growth argon pressure decreases.

  16. Development of nanocrystalline Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) thin films using RF-magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamilselvan, N.; Thilakan, Periyasamy

    2013-01-01

    ITO thin films have been deposited on glass substrate using RF Magnetron puttering Technique from the pre-synthesized ITO target. The sputtering parameters such as the deposition temperature, gas composition and the RF power densities were varied. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the crystallization of the films is mostly depending on the RF power density and substrate temperature. Crystallized films exhibited a change in the preferred orientation from (111) plane to (100) plane at specific conditions such as high RF power density and high oxygen mixing to the plasma. Change in the film microstructure and a shift in the optical bandgap were recorded from the SEM and UV-Visible measurements respectively. (author)

  17. Photomodulated reflectance study on optical property of InN thin films grown by reactive gas-timing rf magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Porntheeraphat, S.; Nukeaw, J.

    2008-01-01

    The photoreflectance (PR) spectroscopy has been applied to investigate the band-gap energy (E g ) of indium nitride (InN) thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering. A novel reactive gas-timing technique applied for the sputtering process has been successfully employed to grow InN thin films without neither substrate heating nor post annealing. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns exhibit strong peaks in the orientation along (0 0 2) and (1 0 1) planes, corresponding to the polycrystalline hexagonal-InN structure. The band-gap transition energy of InN was determined by fitting the PR spectra to a theoretical line shape. The PR results show the band-gap energy at 1.18 eV for hexagonal-InN thin films deposited at the rf powers of 100 and 200 W. The high rf sputtering powers in combination with the gas-timing technique should lead to a high concentration of highly excited nitrogen ions in the plasma, which enables the formation of InN without substrate heating. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) measurements further reveal traces of oxygen in these InN films. This should explain the elevated band-gap energy, in reference to the band-gap value of 0.7 eV for pristine InN films

  18. Control of p-type and n-type thermoelectric properties of bismuth telluride thin films by combinatorial sputter coating technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goto, Masahiro; Sasaki, Michiko; Xu, Yibin; Zhan, Tianzhuo; Isoda, Yukihiro; Shinohara, Yoshikazu

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • p- and n-type bismuth telluride thin films have been synthesized using a combinatorial sputter coating system (COSCOS) while changing only one of the experimental conditions, the RF power. • The dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) was optimized by the technique. • The fabrication of a Π-structured TE device was demonstrated. - Abstract: p- and n-type bismuth telluride thin films have been synthesized by using a combinatorial sputter coating system (COSCOS). The crystal structure and crystal preferred orientation of the thin films were changed by controlling the coating condition of the radio frequency (RF) power during the sputter coating. As a result, the p- and n-type films and their dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) were optimized by the technique. The properties of the thin films such as the crystal structure, crystal preferred orientation, material composition and surface morphology were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Also, the thermoelectric properties of the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity were measured. ZT for n- and p-type bismuth telluride thin films was found to be 0.27 and 0.40 at RF powers of 90 and 120 W, respectively. The proposed technology can be used to fabricate thermoelectric p–n modules of bismuth telluride without any doping process.

  19. Control of p-type and n-type thermoelectric properties of bismuth telluride thin films by combinatorial sputter coating technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goto, Masahiro, E-mail: goto.masahiro@nims.go.jp [Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Green Research on Energy and Environmental Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Thermal Management and Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Materials Research by Information Integration (CMI2), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Sasaki, Michiko [Thermal Management and Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Materials Research by Information Integration (CMI2), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Xu, Yibin [Thermal Management and Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Materials Research by Information Integration (CMI2), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Materials Database Group, Center for Materials Research by Information Integration (CMI2), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Zhan, Tianzhuo [Thermal Management and Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Materials Research by Information Integration (CMI2), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Isoda, Yukihiro [Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Green Research on Energy and Environmental Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Shinohara, Yoshikazu [Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Green Research on Energy and Environmental Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Thermal Management and Thermoelectric Materials Group, Center for Materials Research by Information Integration (CMI2), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan)

    2017-06-15

    Highlights: • p- and n-type bismuth telluride thin films have been synthesized using a combinatorial sputter coating system (COSCOS) while changing only one of the experimental conditions, the RF power. • The dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) was optimized by the technique. • The fabrication of a Π-structured TE device was demonstrated. - Abstract: p- and n-type bismuth telluride thin films have been synthesized by using a combinatorial sputter coating system (COSCOS). The crystal structure and crystal preferred orientation of the thin films were changed by controlling the coating condition of the radio frequency (RF) power during the sputter coating. As a result, the p- and n-type films and their dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) were optimized by the technique. The properties of the thin films such as the crystal structure, crystal preferred orientation, material composition and surface morphology were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Also, the thermoelectric properties of the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity were measured. ZT for n- and p-type bismuth telluride thin films was found to be 0.27 and 0.40 at RF powers of 90 and 120 W, respectively. The proposed technology can be used to fabricate thermoelectric p–n modules of bismuth telluride without any doping process.

  20. Influence of substrate temperature on the optical and electrical properties magnetron sputtering ITO films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khripunov, G.S.; Yurchenko, G.V.

    1999-01-01

    Electrical and optical properties of ITO films obtained at substrate temperature from 200 degree C to 500 degree C by magnetron sputtering of target 95% In 2 O 3 - 5% SnO 2 were studied. It was shown that the ITO film obtained at the substrate temperature 300 i N have optimum combination of the optical and electrical characteristics: resistivity 2.1 centre dot 10 -4 Ω cm, transmittance in visible spectral range about 88% at the thickness film 0.61 μ, factor of quality reaches 8.2 centre dot 10 -2 Ω 1

  1. Post-deposition annealing effects in RF reactive magnetron sputtered indium tin oxide thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez, M A; Herrero, J; Gutierrez, M T [Inst. de Energias Renovables (CIEMAT), Madrid (Spain)

    1992-05-01

    Indium tin oxide films have been grown by RF reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of the deposition parameters on the properties of the films has been investigated and optimized, obtaining a value for the figure of merit of 6700 ({Omega} cm){sup -1}. As-grown indium tin oxide films were annealed in vacuum and O{sub 2} atmosphere. After these heat treatments the electro-optical properties were improved, with values for the resistivity of 1.9x10{sup -4} {Omega} cm and the figure of merit of 26700 ({Omega} cm){sup -1}. (orig.).

  2. Investigation of magnetic anisotropy and role of underlayer in obliquely sputtered metallic thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lisfi, A.; Nguyen, L.T.; Lodder, J.C.; Williams, C.M.

    2004-01-01

    Co and Co-Ni films have been obliquely sputtered on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with and without Cr underlayer. The spin-reorientation observed in films directly deposited on PET is related to the low magnetocrystalline anisotropy of Co (FCC) and change in microstructure from columns to elongated nuclei. Cr underlayer enhances magnetic anisotropy due to HCP structure of Co, which dominates the shape of columns. The double switching in Co/Cr films grown at 70 deg. is a consequence of low packing density of Cr columns of the underlayer

  3. Growth of high quality AlN films on CVD diamond by RF reactive magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Liang-xian; Liu, Hao; Liu, Sheng; Li, Cheng-ming; Wang, Yi-chao; An, Kang; Hua, Chen-yi; Liu, Jin-long; Wei, Jun-jun; Hei, Li-fu; Lv, Fan-xiu

    2018-02-01

    A highly oriented AlN layer has been successfully grown along the c-axis on a polycrystalline chemical vapor deposited (CVD) diamond by RF reactive magnetron sputtering. Structural, morphological and mechanical properties of the heterostructure were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Nano-indentation and Four-probe meter. A compact AlN film was demonstrated on the diamond layer, showing columnar grains and a low surface roughness of 1.4 nm. TEM results revealed a sharp AlN/diamond interface, which was characterized by the presence of a distinct 10 nm thick buffer layer resulting from the initial AlN growth stage. The FWHM of AlN (002) diffraction peak and its rocking curve are as low as 0.41° and 3.35° respectively, indicating a highly preferred orientation along the c-axis. AlN sputtered films deposited on glass substrates show a higher bulk resistivity (up to 3 × 1012 Ω cm), compared to AlN films deposited on diamond (∼1010 Ω cm). Finally, the film hardness and Young's modulus of AlN films on diamond are 25.8 GPa and 489.5 GPa, respectively.

  4. Quantitative characterization of silicon- and aluminium oxynitride films produced by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreer, S.

    2000-05-01

    The deposition of aluminum and silicon oxynitride films by reactive dc-magnetron sputtering was systematically planned by design of experiments, carried out and evaluated with the application of specialized statistics software. The influence of the deposition parameters on the resulting films was evaluated by multiple regression analysis. With the obtained data a model of the deposition process for the quantitative prediction of the deposition parameters necessary to obtain films with desired composition was built. This is also of technological importance, since the physical properties of the films strongly depend on their composition. Furthermore, the long term repeatability of the deposition process was implemented into the model. A precise and economic way for quantitative bulk analysis of silicon/aluminum, oxygen and nitrogen based on EPMA was presented and the use of data gained by the latter method is discussed for the calculation of relative sensitivity factors for SIMS and hf-SNMS. Advantages and disadvantages of SIMS, hf-SNMS, hf-GD-OES, and sputter AES were compared. The combination FT-IR/EPMA/SIMS at present offers the best possibility for a quantitative bulk and in depth distribution analysis of such films in the range of 20 to 1000 nm thickness. The films were also characterized by XRD and PAA. The refractive index and the growth rate of the films were determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry. With indentation by a nano hardness tester the hardness and the Young's modulus of the films were obtained. The results of these measurements were evaluated by statistical software. The dependencies of the physical properties on the deposition parameters and on the film thickness were evaluated and quantified. Furthermore, the dependencies of the physical properties on the film composition represented by the oxygen content were evaluated. (author)

  5. 10 GHz surface impedance measurements of (Y9Er)BaCuO films produced by MOCVD, laser ablation, and sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luine, J.; Daly, K.; Hu, R.; Kain, A.; Lee, A.; Manasevit, H.; Pettiette-Hall, C.; Simon, R.; St John, D.; Wagner, M.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on a parallel-plate resonator technique previously used to measure microwave surface resistance R s (T) extended to also measure absolute penetration depth λ(T). Measurements of both quantities near 10 GHz from 4.2 K to Tc are reported for ErBaCuO thin films produced by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and YBaCuO think films produced by laser ablation and single-target off-axis sputtering. All the films were made at TRW. Each production method gives rise to films whose surface resistance is below 1 milliohm at temperatures below 40K. The low temperature penetration depths range from 250 nm for the laser ablation and sputtered films to 800 nm for the MOCVD films. The penetration depths in all cases increase with temperature according to the Gorter-Casimir temperature dependence

  6. Electrical and optical properties of reactive dc magnetron sputtered silver-doped indium oxide thin films: role of oxygen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subrahmanyam, A.; Barik, U.K.

    2006-01-01

    Silver-doped indium oxide thin films have been prepared on glass and quartz substrates at room temperature (300 K) by a reactive dc magnetron sputtering technique using an alloy target of pure indium and silver (80:20 at. %). During sputtering, the oxygen flow rates are varied in the range 0.00-2.86 sccm keeping the magnetron power constant at 40 W. The resistivity of these films is in the range 10 0 -10 -3 Ωcm and they show a negative temperature coefficient of resistivity. The films exhibit p-type conductivity at an oxygen flow rate of 1.71 sccm. The work function of these silver-indium oxide films has been measured by a Kelvin probe technique. The refractive index of the films (at 632.8 nm) varies in the range 1.13-1.20. Silver doping in indium oxide narrows the band gap of indium oxide (3.75 eV). (orig.)

  7. Electrical and optical properties of reactive dc magnetron sputtered silver-doped indium oxide thin films: role of oxygen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Subrahmanyam, A; Barik, U K [Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Semiconductor Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Chennai (India)

    2006-07-15

    Silver-doped indium oxide thin films have been prepared on glass and quartz substrates at room temperature (300 K) by a reactive dc magnetron sputtering technique using an alloy target of pure indium and silver (80:20 at. %). During sputtering, the oxygen flow rates are varied in the range 0.00-2.86 sccm keeping the magnetron power constant at 40 W. The resistivity of these films is in the range 10{sup 0}-10{sup -3} {omega}cm and they show a negative temperature coefficient of resistivity. The films exhibit p-type conductivity at an oxygen flow rate of 1.71 sccm. The work function of these silver-indium oxide films has been measured by a Kelvin probe technique. The refractive index of the films (at 632.8 nm) varies in the range 1.13-1.20. Silver doping in indium oxide narrows the band gap of indium oxide (3.75 eV). (orig.)

  8. Development of a hybrid sputtering/evaporation process for Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} thin film solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Acciarri, M.; Binetti, S.; Le Donne, A.; Lorenzi, B.; Caccamo, L.; Miglio, L. [Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali e Solar Energy Research Center MIB-SOLAR, Universita di Milano Bicocca, Milan (Italy); Moneta, R.; Marchionna, S.; Meschia, M. [Voltasolar s.r.l, Turate (Italy)

    2011-08-15

    In this paper we report a new method for Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} deposition for solar cell application. Differently from the common co-evaporation process, an alterative approach for thin film Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} has been tested: the sputtering deposition of metal elements combined with the selenium evaporation. We have studied the relationships between the growth parameters of our hybrid sputtering/evaporation method and the chemical-physical properties of the CIGS films. The cells are completed with a CdS buffer layer deposited by chemical bath deposition and ZnO + ITO deposited by RF sputtering. Test solar cells of 0.5 cm{sup 2} have shown an efficiency of 10% and 2.5% on glass and stainless steel substrate respectively. (copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  9. Third-order nonlinear optical properties of thin sputtered gold films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xenogiannopoulou, E.; Aloukos, P.; Couris, S.; Kaminska, E.; Piotrowska, A.; Dynowska, E.

    2007-07-01

    Au films of thickness ranging between 5 and 52 nm were prepared by sputtering on quartz substrates and their third-order nonlinear optical response was investigated by Optical Kerr effect (OKE) and Z-scan techniques using 532 nm, 35 ps laser pulses. All prepared films were characterized by XRD, AFM and UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometry while their third-order susceptibility χ(3) was measured and found to be of the order of 10 -9 esu. The real and imaginary parts of the third-order susceptibility were found in very good agreement with experimental results and theoretical predictions reported by Smith et al. [D.D. Smith, Y. Yoon, R.W. Boyd, Y.K. Cambell, L.A. Baker, R.M. Crooks, M. George, J. Appl. Phys. 86 (1999) 6200].

  10. Comparative studies on damages to organic layer during the deposition of ITO films by various sputtering methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lei, Hao; Wang, Meihan; Hoshi, Yoichi; Uchida, Takayuki; Kobayashi, Shinichi; Sawada, Yutaka

    2013-11-01

    Aluminum (III) bis(2-methyl-8-quninolinato)-4-phenylphenolate (BAlq) was respectively bombarded and irradiated by Ar ions, oxygen ions, electron beam and ultraviolet light to confirm damages during the sputter-deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) on organic layer. The degree of damage was evaluated by the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of BAlq. The results confirmed the oxygen ions led to a larger damage and were thought to play the double roles of bombardment to organic layer and reaction with organic layer as well. The comparative studies on PL spectra of BAlq after the deposition of TCO films by various sputtering systems, such as conventional magnetron sputtering (MS), low voltage sputtering (LVS) and kinetic-energy-control-deposition (KECD) system, facing target sputtering (FTS) were performed. Relative to MS, LVS and KECD system, FTS can completely suppress the bombardment of the secondary electrons and oxygen negative ions, and keep a higher deposition rate simultaneously, thus it is a good solution to attain a low-damage sputter-deposition.

  11. Comparative studies on damages to organic layer during the deposition of ITO films by various sputtering methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lei, Hao, E-mail: haolei@imr.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection, Division of Surface Engineering of Materials, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016 (China); Wang, Meihan [College of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044 (China); Hoshi, Yoichi; Uchida, Takayuki; Kobayashi, Shinichi; Sawada, Yutaka [Center for Hyper Media Research, Tokyo Polytechnic University, 1583 Iiyama, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0297 (Japan)

    2013-11-15

    Aluminum (III) bis(2-methyl-8-quninolinato)-4-phenylphenolate (BAlq) was respectively bombarded and irradiated by Ar ions, oxygen ions, electron beam and ultraviolet light to confirm damages during the sputter-deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) on organic layer. The degree of damage was evaluated by the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of BAlq. The results confirmed the oxygen ions led to a larger damage and were thought to play the double roles of bombardment to organic layer and reaction with organic layer as well. The comparative studies on PL spectra of BAlq after the deposition of TCO films by various sputtering systems, such as conventional magnetron sputtering (MS), low voltage sputtering (LVS) and kinetic-energy-control-deposition (KECD) system, facing target sputtering (FTS) were performed. Relative to MS, LVS and KECD system, FTS can completely suppress the bombardment of the secondary electrons and oxygen negative ions, and keep a higher deposition rate simultaneously, thus it is a good solution to attain a low-damage sputter-deposition.

  12. Multi-jump magnetic switching in ion-beam sputtered amorphous Co20Fe60B20 thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raju, M.; Chaudhary, Sujeet; Pandya, D. K.

    2013-01-01

    Unconventional multi-jump magnetization reversal and significant in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA) in the ion-beam sputtered amorphous Co 20 Fe 60 B 20 (5–75 nm) thin films grown on Si/amorphous SiO 2 are reported. While such multi-jump behavior is observed in CoFeB(10 nm) film when the magnetic field is applied at 10°–20° away from the easy-axis, the same is observed in CoFeB(12.5 nm) film when the magnetic field is 45°–55° away from easy-axis. Unlike the previous reports of multi-jump switching in epitaxial films, their observance in the present case of amorphous CoFeB is remarkable. This multi-jump switching is found to disappear when the films are crystallized by annealing at 420 °C. The deposition geometry and the energy of the sputtered species appear to intrinsically induce a kind of bond orientation anisotropy in the films, which leads to the UMA in the as-grown amorphous CoFeB films. Exploitation of such multi-jump switching in amorphous CoFeB thin films could be of technological significance because of their applications in spintronic devices

  13. Computer simulation of sputtering of graphite target in magnetron sputtering device with two zones of erosion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogdanov R.V.

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available A computer simulation program for discharge in a magnetron sputtering device with two erosion zones was developed. Basic laws of the graphite target sputtering process and transport of sputtered material to the substrate were taken into account in the Monte Carlo code. The results of computer simulation for radial distributions of density and energy flux of carbon atoms on the substrate (at different values of discharge current and pressure of the working gas confirmed the possibility of obtaining qualitative homogeneous films using this magnetron sputtering device. Also the discharge modes were determined for this magnetron sputtering device, in which it was possible to obtain such energy and density of carbon atoms fluxes, which were suitable for deposition of carbon films containing carbon nanotubes and other nanoparticles.

  14. Superconducting niobium nitride films deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olaya, J.J. [Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica y Mecatronica, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ciudad Universitaria, Carrera 30 Numero 45-03, Bogota (Colombia); Huerta, L. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito exterior s/n, CU Coyoacan, Mexico D.F. 04510 (Mexico); Rodil, S.E. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito exterior s/n, CU Coyoacan, Mexico D.F. 04510 (Mexico)], E-mail: ser42@iim.unam.mx; Escamilla, R. [Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Circuito exterior s/n, CU Coyoacan, Mexico D.F. 04510 (Mexico)

    2008-10-01

    Niobium nitride (NbN) thin films were deposited under different configurations of the magnetic field using a magnetron sputtering system. The magnetic field configuration varied from balanced to unbalanced leading to different growth conditions and film properties. The aim of the paper was to identify correlations between deposition conditions, film properties and the electrical properties, specially the superconductive critical temperature (T{sub C}). The results suggested that there is a critical deposition condition, having an optimum ion-atom arrival ratio that promotes a well ordered and textured nanocrystalline structure (cubic phase) with the minimum residual stress and only under this condition a high critical temperature (16K) was obtained. Lower T{sub C} values around 12K were obtained for the NbN samples having a lower degree of structural perfection and texture, and a larger fraction of intergranular voids. On the other hand, analysis of valence-band spectra showed that the contribution of the Nb 4d states remained essentially constant while the higher T{sub C} was correlated to a higher contribution of the N 2p states.

  15. Superconducting niobium nitride films deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olaya, J.J.; Huerta, L.; Rodil, S.E.; Escamilla, R.

    2008-01-01

    Niobium nitride (NbN) thin films were deposited under different configurations of the magnetic field using a magnetron sputtering system. The magnetic field configuration varied from balanced to unbalanced leading to different growth conditions and film properties. The aim of the paper was to identify correlations between deposition conditions, film properties and the electrical properties, specially the superconductive critical temperature (T C ). The results suggested that there is a critical deposition condition, having an optimum ion-atom arrival ratio that promotes a well ordered and textured nanocrystalline structure (cubic phase) with the minimum residual stress and only under this condition a high critical temperature (16K) was obtained. Lower T C values around 12K were obtained for the NbN samples having a lower degree of structural perfection and texture, and a larger fraction of intergranular voids. On the other hand, analysis of valence-band spectra showed that the contribution of the Nb 4d states remained essentially constant while the higher T C was correlated to a higher contribution of the N 2p states

  16. Studies of thin films of Ti- Zr -V as non-evaporable getter films prepared by RF sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, Nidhi; Jagannath,; Sharma, R. K.; Gadkari, S. C.; Muthe, K. P.; Mukundhan, R.; Gupta, S. K.

    2013-01-01

    Non-Evaporable Getter (NEG) films of the Ti-Zr-V prepared on stainless steel substrates by Radio Frequency sputtering. To observe its getter behavior at the lowest activation temperature, the sample is heated continuously at different temperatures (100°C, 150°C, 200°C and 250°C) for 2 hours. The changes of the surface chemical composition at different temperaturesare analyzed by using XPS and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) techniques. The volume elemental composition of the film has been measured by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The in-situ XPS measurements of the activated getter films show the disappearance of the superficial oxide layer through the variation in the oxygen stoichiometry during thermal activation. Results of these studies show that the deposited films of Ti-Zr-V could be used as NEG to produce extreme high vacuum.

  17. Characteristics of Iron-Palladium alloy thin films deposited by magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Y.-J.; Shen, C.-Y.; Chang, H.-W.; Jian, S.-R.

    2018-06-01

    The microstructural features, magnetic, nanomechanical properties and wettability behaviors of Iron-Palladium (FePd) alloy thin films are investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), nanoindentation and water contact angle (CA) techniques, respectively. The FePd alloy thin films were deposited on glass substrates using a magnetron sputtering system. The post-annealing processes of FePd alloy thin films were carried out at 400 °C and 750 °C and resulted in a significant increase of both the average grain size and surface roughness. The XRD analysis showed that FePd alloy thin films exhibited a predominant (1 1 1) orientation. The magnetic field dependence of magnetization of all FePd thin films are measured at room temperature showed the ferromagnetic characteristics. The nanoindentation with continuous stiffness measurement (CSM) is used to measure the hardness and Young's modulus of present films. The contact angle (θCA) increased with increasing surface roughness. The maximum θCA of 75° was achieved for the FePd alloy thin film after annealing at 750 °C and a surface roughness of 4.2 nm.

  18. Properties of RF-Sputtered PZT Thin Films with Ti/Pt Electrodes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cui Yan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Effect of annealing temperature and thin film thickness on properties of Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47O3 (PZT thin film deposited via radiofrequency magnetron sputtering technique onto Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate was investigated. Average grain sizes of the PZT thin film were measured by atomic force microscope; their preferred orientation was studied through X-ray diffraction analysis. Average residual stress in the thin film was estimated according to the optimized Stoney formula, and impedance spectroscopy characterization was performed via an intelligent LCR measuring instrument. Average grain sizes of PZT thin films were 60 nm~90 nm and their average roughness was less than 2 nm. According to X-ray diffraction analysis, 600°C is the optimal annealing temperature to obtain the PZT thin film with better crystallization. Average residual stress showed that thermal mismatch was the decisive factor of residual stress in Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate; the residual stress in PZT thin film decreased as their thickness increased and increased with annealing temperature. The dielectric constant and loss angle tangent were extremely increased with the thickness of PZT thin films. The capacitance of the device can be adjusted according to the thickness of PZT thin films.

  19. Effect of lattice disorder and strain on T/sub c/ in sputtered Nb3Ge thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, R.; Rogoski, D.A.

    1976-01-01

    Disorder and strain introduced into sputtered ''Nb 3 Ge'' films by mechanical polishing slightly lowers the onset temperature and/or very markedly broadens the width of the superconducting transition. The structural damage is reversible and annealing restores the superconducting behavior of the film very nearly to its initial state

  20. Electrical Properties of Thin-Film Capacitors Fabricated Using High Temperature Sputtered Modified Barium Titanate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Mamazza

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Simple thin-film capacitor stacks were fabricated from sputter-deposited doped barium titanate dielectric films with sputtered Pt and/or Ni electrodes and characterized electrically. Here, we report small signal, low frequency capacitance and parallel resistance data measured as a function of applied DC bias, polarization versus applied electric field strength and DC load/unload experiments. These capacitors exhibited significant leakage (in the range 8–210 μA/cm2 and dielectric loss. Measured breakdown strength for the sputtered doped barium titanate films was in the range 200 kV/cm −2 MV/cm. For all devices tested, we observed clear evidence for dielectric saturation at applied electric field strengths above 100 kV/cm: saturated polarization was in the range 8–15 μC/cm2. When cycled under DC conditions, the maximum energy density measured for any of the capacitors tested here was ~4.7 × 10−2 W-h/liter based on the volume of the dielectric material only. This corresponds to a specific energy of ~8 × 10−3 W-h/kg, again calculated on a dielectric-only basis. These results are compared to those reported by other authors and a simple theoretical treatment provided that quantifies the maximum energy that can be stored in these and similar devices as a function of dielectric strength and saturation polarization. Finally, a predictive model is developed to provide guidance on how to tailor the relative permittivities of high-k dielectrics in order to optimize their energy storage capacities.

  1. Preparation of RF reactively sputtered indium-tin oxide thin films with optical properties suitable for heat mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyadzhiev, S; Dobrikov, G; Rassovska, M

    2008-01-01

    Technologies are discussed for preparing and characterizing indium-tin oxide (ITO) thin films with properties appropriate for usage as heat mirrors in solar thermal collectors. The samples were prepared by means of radio frequency (RF) reactive sputtering of indium-tin targets in oxygen. The technological parameters were optimized to obtain films with optimal properties for heat mirrors. The optical properties of the films were studied by visible and infra-red (IR) spectrophotometry and laser ellipsometry. The reflectance of the films in the thermal IR range was investigated by a Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectrophotometer. Heating of the substrates during the sputtering and their post deposition annealing in different environments were also studied. The ultimate purpose of the present research being the development of a technological process leading to low-cost ITO thin films with high transparency in the visible and near IR (0.3-2.4 μm) and high reflection in the thermal IR range (2.5-25 μm), we investigated the correlation of the ITO thin films structural and optical properties with the technological process parameters - target composition and heat treatment

  2. Effects of processing parameters on the properties of tantalum nitride thin films deposited by reactive sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nazon, J.; Sarradin, J.; Flaud, V.; Tedenac, J.C. [Institut Charles Gerhardt, UMR 5253 CNRS-UM2-ENSCM-UM1, cc 1504, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5 (France); Frety, N. [Institut Charles Gerhardt, UMR 5253 CNRS-UM2-ENSCM-UM1, cc 1504, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5 (France)], E-mail: Nicole.Frety@univ-montp2.fr

    2008-09-22

    The effects of processing parameters on the properties of tantalum nitride thin films deposited by radio frequency reactive sputtering have been investigated. The influence of the N{sub 2} partial and (Ar + N{sub 2}) total gas pressures as well as the sputtering power on the microstructure and electrical properties is reported. Rising the N{sub 2} partial pressure, from 2 to 10.7%, induces a change in the composition of the {delta}-TaN phase, from TaN to TaN{sub 1.13}. This composition change is associated with a drastic increase of the electrical resistivity over a 7.3% N{sub 2} partial pressure. The total gas pressure is revealed to strongly affect the film microstructure since a variation in both composition and grain size is observed when the gas pressure rises from 6.8 to 24.6 Pa. When the sputtering power varied between 50 and 110 W, an increase of the grain size related to a decrease of the electrical resistivity is observed.

  3. Development of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Sputtered N-Doped TiO2 Thin Films: From Modeling the Growth Mechanism of the Films to Fabrication of the Solar Cells

    OpenAIRE

    Duarte, D. A.; Massi, M.; da Silva Sobrinho, A. S.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, nitrogen-doped TiO2 thin films were deposited by DC reactive sputtering at different doping levels for the development of dye-sensitized solar cells. The mechanism of film growth during the sputtering process and the effect of the nitrogen doping on the structural, optical, morphological, chemical, and electronic properties of the TiO2 were investigated by numerical modeling and experimental methods. The influence of the nitrogen doping on the working principle of the prototype...

  4. Temperature dependence of the resistivity and tunneling magnetoresistance of sputtered FeHf(Si)O cermet films

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Strijkers, G.J.; Swagten, H.J.M.; Rulkens, B.; Bitter, R.H.J.N.; Jonge, de W.J.M.; Bloemen, P.J.H.; Schep, K.M.

    1998-01-01

    We have studied the tunneling resistivity and magnetoresistance of reactive sputter deposited FeHfO and FeHfSiO thin granular films. Maximum magnetoresistance ratios at room temperature of 2% and 3.2% were observed for films with compositions of Fe47Hf10O43 and Fe40Hf6Si6O48, respectively. The

  5. The origin of stress in sputter-deposited tungsten films for x-ray masks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, M.; Hori, M.; Nadahara, S.

    1991-01-01

    The mechanism for the cause of stress in a sputter-deposited tungsten (W) film has been clarified. The tensile stress of the film was calculated using the interatomic forces acting on the grain boundary. The average distance of the grain boundary gaps was determined from the measured film density assuming the film had homogeneous size rectangular grains. The calculated and measured stress values were in good agreement in the high working gas pressure region. The difference between these values in the low working gas pressure region has been able to be explained by the compressive stress due to the peening effect of Ar. The low stress in the high pressure region was obtained by large opened grain boundaries which produced low film density. A low film density causes a low x-ray stopping power. The film deposited in the low pressure region is suitable as an x-ray absorber because of its high film density

  6. Synthesis and biological characterization of zirconium oxynitride thin film growth by radio-frequency sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cubillos, G.I. [Departamento de Química, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, AA 14490 Bogotá (Colombia); Olaya, J.J. [Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, AA 14490 Bogotá (Colombia); Clavijo, D. [Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, AA 14490 Bogotá (Colombia); Alfonso, J.E., E-mail: jealfonsoo@unal.edu.co [Grupo de materiales con Aplicaciones Tecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, AA 14490 Bogotá (Colombia); Cardozo, C. [Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, AA 14490 Bogotá (Colombia)

    2013-02-01

    Thin films of zirconium oxynitride were grown on common glass, silicon substrates (100) and on stainless steel 316L using the reactive RF magnetron sputtering technique. The films were analyzed through structural, morphological, and biocompatibility studies. The structural analysis was carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the morphological analysis was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These studies were done as a function of growth parameters, such as power applied to the target, substrate temperature, and flow ratios. The studies of biocompatibility were carried out on zirconium oxynitride films deposited on stainless steel 316L through proliferation and cellular adhesion. The XRD analysis showed that films deposited at 623 K, with a flow ratio ΦN{sub 2}/ΦO{sub 2} of 1.25 and a total deposit time of 30 min grew preferentially oriented along the (111) plane of the zirconium oxynitride monoclinic phase. The SEM analyses showed that the films grew homogeneously, and the AFM studies indicated that the average rugosity of the film was 5.9 nm and the average particle size was 150 nm. Finally, through the analysis of the biocompatibility, we established that the films have a better surface than the substrate (stainless steel 316L) in terms of adhesion and proliferation of bone cells. - Highlights: ►ZrO{sub x}N{sub y} thin films were deposited using reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. ►We studied the effect of deposition parameters on ZrO{sub x}N{sub y} thin films microstructure. ►We have been able to grow bone cells on ZrO{sub x}N{sub y} coated stainless steel 316L.

  7. Characterization of AZO and Ag based films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miao, Dagang; Jiang, Shouxiang; Zhao, Hongmei; Shang, Songmin; Chen, Zhuoming

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Highly infrared reflective AZO and Ag based films were prepared. • Ag showed better crystallization on AZO film than on glass substrate. • Infrared reflection rate was inversely proportional to the film sheet resistance. • Film with infrared reflection of 97% in FIR region was acquired. - Abstract: Ag, AZO/Ag, Ag/AZO and AZO/Ag/AZO films were prepared on glass substrates by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technology. The prepared films were systematically investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), UV–visible spectrophotometer, a four-point probe system and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The results indicated that Ag inner layer starts forming a continuous film at the thickness of 10 nm and Ag layer presents superior crystallization on AZO substrate than that on glass substrate. The continuous Ag inner layer film provided the highest average visible transmittance of 85.4% (AZO/Ag/AZO). The lowest sheet resistance of 3.21 Ω/sq and the highest infrared reflection rate of 97% in FIR region can be obtained on AZO/Ag (15 nm)/AZO film. The high infrared reflection property of the AZO/Ag/AZO coating makes it a promising candidate for solar control films

  8. Structure dependent resistivity and dielectric characteristics of tantalum oxynitride thin films produced by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cristea, D., E-mail: daniel.cristea@unitbv.ro [Department of Materials Science, Transilvania University, 500036 Brasov (Romania); Crisan, A. [Department of Materials Science, Transilvania University, 500036 Brasov (Romania); Cretu, N. [Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics Department, Transilvania University, 500036 Brasov (Romania); Borges, J. [Centro de Física, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710 - 057 Braga (Portugal); Instituto Pedro Nunes, Laboratório de Ensaios, Desgaste e Materiais, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra (Portugal); SEG-CEMUC, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra (Portugal); Lopes, C.; Cunha, L. [Centro de Física, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710 - 057 Braga (Portugal); Ion, V.; Dinescu, M. [National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Lasers Department, “Photonic Processing of Advanced Materials” Group, PO Box MG-16, RO 77125 Magurele-Bucharest (Romania); Barradas, N.P. [Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, E.N. 10 ao km 139,7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS (Portugal); Alves, E. [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, E.N. 10 ao km 139,7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS (Portugal); Apreutesei, M. [MATEIS Laboratory-INSA de Lyon, 21 Avenue Jean Capelle, 69621 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Université de Lyon, Institut des Nanotechnologies de Lyon INL-UMR5270, CNRS, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Ecully F-69134 (France); Munteanu, D. [Department of Materials Science, Transilvania University, 500036 Brasov (Romania)

    2015-11-01

    Highlights: • Tantalum oxynitride thin films have been deposited by magnetron sputtering, in various configurations. • The rising of the reactive gases mixture flow has the consequence of a gradual increase in the non-metallic content in the films, which results in a 10 orders of magnitude resistivity domain. • The higher resistivity films exhibit dielectric constants up to 41 and quality factors up to 70. - Abstract: The main purpose of this work is to present and to interpret the change of electrical properties of Ta{sub x}N{sub y}O{sub z} thin films, produced by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. Some parameters were varied during deposition: the flow of the reactive gases mixture (N{sub 2} and O{sub 2}, with a constant concentration ratio of 17:3); the substrate voltage bias (grounded, −50 V or −100 V) and the substrate (glass, (1 0 0) Si or high speed steel). The obtained films exhibit significant differences. The variation of the deposition parameters induces variations of the composition, microstructure and morphology. These differences cause variation of the electrical resistivity essentially correlated with the composition and structural changes. The gradual decrease of the Ta concentration in the films induces amorphization and causes a raise of the resistivity. The dielectric characteristics of some of the high resistance Ta{sub x}N{sub y}O{sub z} films were obtained in the samples with a capacitor-like design (deposited onto high speed steel, with gold pads deposited on the dielectric Ta{sub x}N{sub y}O{sub z} films). Some of these films exhibited dielectric constant values higher than those reported for other tantalum based dielectric films.

  9. Characterization of tin selenides synthesized by high-energy milling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcela Achimovičová

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Tin selenides SnSeX (x=1,2 were synthesized from tin and selenium powder precursors by high-energy milling in the planetary ballmill Pulverisette 6 (Fritsch, Germany. The orthorhombic tin selenide SnSe and the hexagonal tin diselenide SnSe2 phases were formed after4 min and 5 min of milling, respectively. Specific surface area of both selenides increased with increasing time of mechanochemicalsynthesis. The particle size distribution analysis demonstrated that the synthesized products contain agglomerated selenide particlesconsisting of numerous idiomorphic tin selenide crystals, measuring from 2 to more than 100 nm in diameter, which were also documentedby TEM. UV-Vis spectrophotometry confirmed that tin selenide particles do not behave as quantum dots.

  10. Enhanced electrical properties of AZO thin films grown on different substrates by using a facing-target sputtering system with hetero targets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, ChangHyun; Bae, Kang; Jin, IkHyeon; Kim, HwaMin; Sohn, SunYoung

    2015-09-01

    Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films were deposited on glass, polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at room temperature by using conventional rf-magneton sputtering (CMS) and a facing-target sputtering (FTS) with hetero targets of Al2O3 and ZnO. Their structural, surface morphology, electrical and optical properties were characterized by using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Hall-effect measurement and ultravioletvisible spectrophotometry, respectively. The films exhibit highly c-axis preferred orientation and a closely packed nanocrystalline. Structure the FTS-films deposited on plastic substrate are found to receive much less stress due to bombardment of high-energy particles compress to the CMS-films deposited on plastic substrates, during the sputtering process, which can enhance the electrical properties and crystalline quality of the FTS-films compared with those of the CMS-films. The resistivities of the FTS-films are 6.50 × 10-4 Ω·cm on glass, 7.0 × 10-4 Ω·cm on PEN and 7.4 × 10-4 Ω·cm on PET while the values for the CMS-films are 7.6 × 10-4 Ω·cm on glass, 1.20 × 10-3 Ω·cm on PEN and 1.58 × 10-3 Ω·cm on PET.

  11. Effect of working pressure on corrosion behavior of nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khun, N W; Liu, E

    2011-06-01

    Nitrogen doped diamond-like carbon thin films were deposited on highly conductive p-silicon(100) substrates using a DC magnetron sputtering deposition system by varying working pressure in the deposition chamber. The bonding structure, adhesion strength, surface roughness and corrosion behavior of the films were investigated by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, micro-scratch test, atomic force microscopy and potentiodynamic polarization test. A 0.6 M NaCl electrolytic solution was used for the corrosion tests. The optimum corrosion resistance of the films was found at a working pressure of 7 mTorr at which a good balance between the kinetics of the sputtered ions and the surface mobility of the adatoms promoted a microstructure of the films with fewer porosities.

  12. Preparation of Ag-containing diamond-like carbon films on the interior surface of tubes by a combined method of plasma source ion implantation and DC sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatada, R.; Flege, S.; Bobrich, A.; Ensinger, W.; Dietz, C.; Baba, K.; Sawase, T.; Watamoto, T.; Matsutani, T.

    2014-08-01

    Adhesive diamond-like carbon (DLC) films can be prepared by plasma source ion implantation (PSII), which is also suitable for the treatment of the inner surface of a tube. Incorporation of a metal into the DLC film provides a possibility to change the characteristics of the DLC film. One source for the metal is DC sputtering. In this study PSII and DC sputtering were combined to prepare DLC films containing low concentrations of Ag on the interior surfaces of stainless steel tubes. A DLC film was deposited using a C2H4 plasma with the help of an auxiliary electrode inside of the tube. This electrode was then used as a target for the DC sputtering. A mixture of the gases Ar and C2H4 was used to sputter the silver. By changing the gas flow ratios and process time, the resulting Ag content of the films could be varied. Sample characterizations were performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, a ball-on-disk test was performed to investigate the tribological properties of the films. The antibacterial activity was determined using Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

  13. Deposition and characterization of ZrMoN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fontes Junir, A.S.; Felix, L.C.; Oliveira, G.B. de; Fernandez, D.R.; Carvalho, R.G.; Tentardini, E.K.; Silva Junior, A.H. da

    2016-01-01

    Thin films of ZrMoN were deposited by magnetron reactive sputtering technique in order to study the molybdenum influence on the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of these coatings. Three thin films with molybdenum concentrations from 25 to 40 at.% were selected. The displacement of characteristic peaks of ZrN where identified by GIXRD results of films with larger Mo content. This result is indicative of the Mo accommodation in the lattice structure. Hardness tests revealed favorable results with values up to 33 GPa. Oxidation tests showed that ZrN oxidized at 500 °C with a monoclinic ZrO 2 and tetragonal formation; whereas the thin films with Mo addition impeded the formation of the monoclinic ZrO 2 phase at partial oxidation. (author)

  14. Single-crystal-like GdNdOx thin films on silicon substrates by magnetron sputtering and high-temperature annealing for crystal seed layer application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ziwei Wang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Single-crystal-like rare earth oxide thin films on silicon (Si substrates were fabricated by magnetron sputtering and high-temperature annealing processes. A 30-nm-thick high-quality GdNdOx (GNO film was deposited using a high-temperature sputtering process at 500°C. A Gd2O3 and Nd2O3 mixture was used as the sputtering target, in which the proportions of Gd2O3 and Nd2O3 were controlled to make the GNO’s lattice parameter match that of the Si substrate. To further improve the quality of the GNO film, a post-deposition annealing process was performed at a temperature of 1000°C. The GNO films exhibited a strong preferred orientation on the Si substrate. In addition, an Al/GNO/Si capacitor was fabricated to evaluate the dielectric constant and leakage current of the GNO films. It was determined that the single-crystal-like GNO films on the Si substrates have potential for use as an insulator layer for semiconductor-on-insulator and semiconductor/insulator multilayer applications.

  15. TiCx thin films coatings prepared by reactive sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saoula, N.; Handa, K.; Kesri, R.

    2004-01-01

    Full text.Transition metal carbides and nitrides attract large technological interest due to their unique properties like high hardness and young modulus, high electric conductivity, a considerable high-temperature strength, high corrosion resistance and high melting or decomposition temperatures. They have been applied as coatings for tools because of their superior properties. these materials have such properties due to atomic bonding, which shows a mixed covalent, metallic and ionic character. Among these nitrides and carbides titanium carbide is a compound of particular importance. Titanium carbide combines the advantages of a high melting point (3140 celsius degree) and hardness (3000 Hv) with those of relative lightness (density 4.93 10 3 Kg m -3 ).It also exhibits high resistance to both corrosion and oxidation and a relatively low friction coefficient. Usually, TiC films are produced by deposition with plasma-enhanced CVD (PCVD), thermal chemical vapour deposition (CVD) or activated reactive evaporation methods. However, these methods require high temperature (>600 celsius degree) substrates to achieve the deposition, which sometimes causes thermal damage to the deposited films. At temperature above 550 celsius degree, thermal diffusion of materials not suitable may also occur. In addition, it has been reported that the maximum temperature which permits the appropriate coating of hardened steel tools is 500 celsius degree. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a deposition technique for TiC films using low-temperature substrates to avoid thermal damage. So, different physical vapour deposition (PVD) processes for deposition of TiC at relatively low temperatures have been used through the years. These processes are based on vaporisation of titanium in hydrocarbon atmosphere or on sputtering of solid TiC target or titanium target in hydrocarbon atmosphere. the most often-used hydrocarbon gases are methane, acetylene, ethene and ethane. In previous works, we

  16. Low-Damage Sputter Deposition on Graphene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ching-Tzu; Casu, Emanuele; Gajek, Marcin; Raoux, Simone

    2013-03-01

    Despite its versatility and prevalence in the microelectronics industry, sputter deposition has seen very limited applications for graphene-based electronics. We have systematically investigated the sputtering induced graphene defects and identified the reflected high-energy neutrals of the sputtering gas as the primary cause of damage. In this talk, we introduce a novel sputtering technique that is shown to dramatically reduce bombardment of the fast neutrals and improve the structural integrity of the underlying graphene layer. We also demonstrate that sputter deposition and in-situ oxidation of 1 nm Al film at elevated temperatures yields homogeneous, fully covered oxide films with r.m.s. roughness much less than 1 monolayer, which shows the potential of using such technique for gate oxides, tunnel barriers, and multilayer fabrication in a wide range of graphene devices.

  17. Photoluminescence of Mg{sub 2}Si films fabricated by magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liao, Yang-Fang [Institute of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials and Technology of College of BigData and Information Engineering of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025 (China); School of Physics and Electronic Science of Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001 (China); Xie, Quan, E-mail: qxie@gzu.edu.cn [Institute of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials and Technology of College of BigData and Information Engineering of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025 (China); Xiao, Qing-Quan [Institute of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials and Technology of College of BigData and Information Engineering of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025 (China); Engineering Center for Avionics Electrical and Information Network of Guizhou Provincial Colleges and Universities, Anshun 561000 (China); Chen, Qian; Fan, Meng-Hui [Institute of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials and Technology of College of BigData and Information Engineering of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025 (China); Xie, Jing [Institute of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials and Technology of College of BigData and Information Engineering of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025 (China); School of Physics and Electronic Science of Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001 (China); Huang, Jin; Zhang, Jin-Min; Ma, Rui; Wang, Shan-Lan; Wu, Hong-Xian; Fang, Di [Institute of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials and Technology of College of BigData and Information Engineering of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025 (China)

    2017-05-01

    Highlights: • High quality Mg{sub 2}Si films were grown on Si (111) and glass substrates with magnetron sputtering, respectively. • The first observation of Photoluminescence (PL) of Mg{sub 2}Si films was reported. • The Mg{sub 2}Si PL emission wavelengths are almost independence on temperature in the range of 77–300 K. • The strongest PL emissions may be attributed to interstitial Mg donor level to valence band transitions. • The activation energy of Mg{sub 2}Si is determined from the quenching of major luminescence peaks. - Abstract: To understand the photoluminescence mechanisms and optimize the design of Mg{sub 2}Si-based light-emitting devices, Mg{sub 2}Si films were fabricated on silicon (111) and glass substrates by magnetron sputtering technique, and the influences of different substrates on the photoelectric properties of Mg{sub 2}Si films were investigated systematically. The crystal structure, cross-sectional morphology, composition ratios and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) of the Mg{sub 2}Si films were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and PL measurement system, respectively. XRD results indicate that the Mg{sub 2}Si film on Si (111) displays polycrystalline structure, whereas Mg{sub 2}Si film on glass substrate is of like-monocrystalline structure.SEM results show that Mg{sub 2}Si film on glass substrate is very compact with a typical dense columnar structure, and the film on Si substrate represents slight delamination phenomenon. EDS results suggest that the stoichiometry of Mg and Si is approximately 2:1. Photoluminescence (PL) of Mg{sub 2}Si films was observed for the first time. The PL emission wavelengths of Mg{sub 2}Si are almost independence on temperature in the range of 77–300 K. The PL intensity decreases gradually with increasing temperature. The PL intensity of Mg{sub 2}Si films on glass substrate is much larger than that of Mg

  18. Properties of reactively radio frequency-magnetron sputtered (Zr,Sn)TiO4 dielectric films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, C.-L.; Hsu, C.-H.

    2004-01-01

    Zirconium tin titanium oxide doped 1 wt % ZnO thin films on n-type Si substrate were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering at a fixed rf power of 350 W with various argon-oxygen (Ar/O 2 ) mixture and different substrate temperatures. Electrical properties and microstructures of ZnO-doped (Zr 0.8 Sn 0.2 )TiO 4 thin films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering on n-type Si(100) substrates at different Ar/O 2 ratios and substrate temperatures have been investigated. The surface structural and morphological characteristics analyzed by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscope were sensitive to the deposition conditions, such as Ar/O 2 ratio (100/0-80/20) and substrate temperature (350 deg. C-450 deg. C). The selected-area diffraction pattern showed that the deposited films exhibited a polycrystalline microstructure. All films exhibited ZST (111) orientation perpendicular to the substrate surface and the grain size as well as the deposition rate of the films increased with the increase of both the Ar partial pressure and the substrate temperature. At a Ar/O 2 ratio of 100/0, rf power level of 350 W and substrate temperature of 450 deg. C, the Zr 0.8 Sn 0.2 TiO 4 films with 6.44 μm thickness possess a dielectric constant of 42 (at 10 MHz), a dissipation factor of 0.065 (at 10 MHz), and a leakage current density of 2x10 -7 A/cm 2 at an electrical field of 1 kV/cm

  19. DC-magnetron sputtering of ZnO:Al films on (00.1)Al2O3 substrates from slip-casting sintered ceramic targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miccoli, I.; Spampinato, R.; Marzo, F.; Prete, P.; Lovergine, N.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • ZnO:Al was DC-sputtered on sapphire >350 °C by slip-casting sintered AZO target. • Films are highly (00.1)-oriented, smooth and transparent in the NIR–visible range. • Films growth rate decreases with temperature, while their grain size increases. • A high temperature reduction for sticking coefficients of impinging species is proved. • We prove that Thornton model does not apply to high-temperature DC-sputtered ZnO. - Abstract: High (>350 °C) temperature DC-sputtering deposition of ZnO:Al thin films onto single-crystal (00.1) oriented Al 2 O 3 (sapphire) substrates is reported, using a ultrahigh-density, low-resistivity and low-cost composite ceramic target produced by slip-casting (pressureless) sintering of ZnO–Al 2 O 3 (AZO) powders. The original combination of high-angle θ–2θ (Bragg–Brentano geometry) X-ray diffraction with low angle θ–2θ X-ray reflectivity (XRR) techniques allows us to define the AZO target composition and investigate the structural properties and surface/interface roughness of as-sputtered ZnO:Al films; besides, the growth dynamics of ZnO:Al is unambiguously determined. The target turned out composed of the sole wurtzite ZnO and spinel ZnAl 2 O 4 phases. X-ray diffraction analyses revealed highly (00.1)-oriented (epitaxial) ZnO:Al films, the material mean crystallite size being in the 13–20 nm range and increasing with temperature between 350 °C and 450 °C, while the film growth rate (determined via XRR measurements) decreases appreciably. XRR spectra also allowed to determine rms surface roughness <1 nm for present films and showed ZnO:Al density changes by only a few percent between 350 °C and 450 °C. The latter result disproves the often-adopted Thornton model for the description of the sputter-grown ZnO films and instead points out toward a reduction of the sticking coefficients of impinging species, as the main origin of film growth rate and grain size dependence with temperature. Zn

  20. Properties of RF sputtered zinc oxide based thin films made from different targets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez, M A; Herrero, J; Gutierrez, M T [Instituto de Energias Renovables, Madrid (Spain)

    1994-01-01

    The effect of deposition parameters on optoelectronic and structural properties of ZnO based thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering have been studied. Different targets (pure Zn, ZnO, Zn-Al (98/2 at%), ZnO-Al (98/2 at%), and ZnO-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (98/2 wt%)) have been investigated to compare resulting samples and establish the best target composition. From reactive sputtering, using a Zn-Al target, transparent conductive zinc oxide has been obtained at 380{sup o}C with E{sub g}=3.25-3.35 eV and {rho}=4.8x10{sup -4} {Omega}cm. Reduction of substrate temperature at 200{sup o}C has been possible by nonreactive sputtering from ZnO-Al and ZnO-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} targets. The values of the energy gap and resistivity under these conditions are 3.30-3.35 eV and 1x10{sup -3} {Omega}cm respectively

  1. Plasma polymer films rf sputtered from PTFE under various argon pressures

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Stelmashuk, Vitaliy; Biederman, H.; Slavinská, D.; Zemek, Josef; Trchová, Miroslava

    2005-01-01

    Roč. 77, č. 2 (2005), s. 131-137 ISSN 0042-207X R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) OC 527.10; GA MŠk(CZ) OC 527.90 Grant - others:EUREKAΣ2080(XE) OE57 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100521; CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : RF sputtering * PTFE * fluorcarbon plasma polymers * thin film * teflon * deposition Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 0.909, year: 2005

  2. Alloying process of sputter-deposited Ti/Ni multilayer thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, H.; Kim, H.Y.; Miyazaki, S.

    2006-01-01

    Alloying process of a Ti/Ni multilayer thin film was investigated in detail by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The Ti/Ni multilayer thin film was prepared by depositing Ti and Ni layers alternately on a SiO 2 /Si substrate. The number of each metal layer was 100, and the total thickness was 3 μm. The alloy composition was determined as Ti-51 at.%Ni by electron probe micro analysis (EPMA). The DSC curve exhibited three exothermic peaks at 621, 680 and 701 K during heating the as-sputtered multilayer thin film. In order to investigate the alloying process, XRD and TEM observation was carried out for the specimens heated up to various temperatures with the heating rate same as the DSC measurement. The XRD profile of the as-sputtered film revealed only diffraction peaks of Ti and Ni. But reaction layers of 3 nm in thickness were observed at the interfaces of Ti and Ni layers in cross-sectional TEM images. The reaction layer was confirmed as an amorphous phase by the nano beam diffraction analysis. The XRD profiles exhibited that the intensity of Ti diffraction peak decreased in the specimen heat-treated above 600 K. The peak from Ni became broad and shifted to lower diffraction angle. The amorphous layer thickened up to 6 nm in the specimen heated up to 640 K. The diffraction peak corresponding to Ti-Ni B2 phase appeared and the peak from Ni disappeared for the specimen heated up to 675 K. The Ti-Ni B2 crystallized from the amorphous reaction layer. After further heating above the third exothermic peak, the intensity of the peak from the Ti-Ni B2 phase increased, the peak from Ti disappeared and the peaks corresponding to Ti 2 Ni appeared. The Ti 2 Ni phase was formed by the reaction of the Ti-Ni B2 and Ti

  3. Effects of residual hydrogen in sputtering atmosphere on structures and properties of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tang, Haochun; Ishikawa, Kyohei; Ide, Keisuke [Materials and Structures Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503 (Japan); Hiramatsu, Hidenori; Hosono, Hideo; Kamiya, Toshio, E-mail: kamiya.t.aa@m.titech.ac.jp [Materials and Structures Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503 (Japan); Materials Research Center for Element Strategy, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503 (Japan); Ueda, Shigenori [National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba-city, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Ohashi, Naoki [Materials Research Center for Element Strategy, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503 (Japan); National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba-city, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan); Kumomi, Hideya [Materials Research Center for Element Strategy, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503 (Japan)

    2015-11-28

    We investigated the effects of residual hydrogen in sputtering atmosphere on subgap states and carrier transport in amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) using two sputtering systems with different base pressures of ∼10{sup −4} and 10{sup −7 }Pa (standard (STD) and ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) sputtering, respectively), which produce a-IGZO films with impurity hydrogen contents at the orders of 10{sup 20} and 10{sup 19 }cm{sup −3}, respectively. Several subgap states were observed by hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, i.e., peak-shape near-valence band maximum (near-VBM) states, shoulder-shape near-VBM states, peak-shape near-conduction band minimum (near-CBM) states, and step-wise near-CBM states. It was confirmed that the formation of these subgap states were affected strongly by the residual hydrogen (possibly H{sub 2}O). The step-wise near-CBM states were observed only in the STD films deposited without O{sub 2} gas flow and attributed to metallic In. Such step-wise near-CBM state was not detected in the other films including the UHV films even deposited without O{sub 2} flow, substantiating that the metallic In is segregated by the strong reduction effect of the hydrogen/H{sub 2}O. Similarly, the density of the near-VBM states was very high for the STD films deposited without O{sub 2}. These films had low film density and are consistent with a model that voids in the amorphous structure form a part of the near-VBM states. On the other hand, the UHV films had high film densities and much less near-VBM states, keeping the possibility that some of the near-VBM states, in particular, of the peak-shape ones, originate from –OH and weakly bonded oxygen. These results indicate that 2% of excess O{sub 2} flow is required for the STD sputtering to compensate the effects of the residual hydrogen/H{sub 2}O. The high-density near-VBM states and the metallic In segregation deteriorated the electron mobility to 0.4 cm{sup 2}/(V s)

  4. Structural and electrical properties of sputtering power and gas pressure on Ti-dope In2O3 transparent conductive films by RF magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaoumead, Accarat; Joo, Bong-Hyun; Kwak, Dong-Joo; Sung, Youl-Moon

    2013-06-01

    Transparent conductive titanium-doped indium oxide (ITiO) films were deposited on Corning glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering method. The effects of RF sputtering power and Ar gas pressure on the structural and electrical properties of the films were investigated experimentally, using a 2.5 wt% TiO2-doped In2O3 target. The deposition rate was in the range of around 20-60 nm/min under the experimental conditions of 5-20 mTorr of gas pressure and 220-350 W of RF power. The lowest resistivity of 1.2 × 10-4 Ω cm, the average optical transmittance of 75%, the high hall mobility of 47.03 cm2/V s and the relatively low carrier concentration of 1.15E+21 cm-3 were obtained for the ITiO film, prepared at RF power of 300 W and Ar gas pressure of 15 mTorr. This resistivity of 1.2 × 10-4 Ω cm is low enough as a transparent conducting layer in various electro-optical devices and it is comparable with that of ITO or ZnO:Al conducting layer.

  5. Low temperature mechanical dissipation of an ion-beam sputtered silica film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, I W; Craig, K; Bassiri, R; Hough, J; Robie, R; Rowan, S; Nawrodt, R; Schwarz, C; Harry, G; Penn, S; Reid, S

    2014-01-01

    Thermal noise arising from mechanical dissipation in oxide mirror coatings is an important limit to the sensitivity of future gravitational wave detectors, optical atomic clocks and other precision measurement systems. Here, we present measurements of the temperature dependence of the mechanical dissipation of an ion-beam sputtered silica film between 10 and 300 K. A dissipation peak was observed at 20 K and the low temperature dissipation was found to have significantly different characteristics than observed for bulk silica and silica films deposited by alternative techniques. These results are important for better understanding the underlying mechanisms of mechanical dissipation, and thus thermal noise, in the most commonly-used reflective coatings for precision measurements. (paper)

  6. Flexible Al-doped ZnO films grown on PET substrates using linear facing target sputtering for flexible OLEDs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Jin-A; Shin, Hyun-Su; Choi, Kwang-Hyuk; Kim, Han-Ki

    2010-01-01

    We report the characteristics of flexible Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films prepared by a plasma damage-free linear facing target sputtering (LFTS) system on PET substrates for use as a flexible transparent conducting electrode in flexible organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The electrical, optical and structural properties of LFTS-grown flexible AZO electrodes were investigated as a function of dc power. We obtained a flexible AZO film with a sheet resistance of 39 Ω/□ and an average transmittance of 84.86% in the visible range although it was sputtered at room temperature without activation of the Al dopant. Due to the effective confinement of the high-density plasma between the facing AZO targets, the AZO film was deposited on the PET substrate without plasma damage and substrate heating caused by bombardment of energy particles. Moreover, the flexible OLED fabricated on the AZO/PET substrate showed performance similar to the OLED fabricated on a ITO/PET substrate in spite of a lower work function. This indicates that LFTS is a promising plasma damage-free and low-temperature sputtering technique for deposition of flexible and indium-free AZO electrodes for use in cost-efficient flexible OLEDs.

  7. On niobium sputter coated cavities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arnolds-Mayer, G.; Kaufmann, U.; Downar, H.

    1988-01-01

    To coat copper cavities with a thin film of niobium, facilities for electropolishing and sputter deposition have been installed at Dornier. Experiments have been performed on samples to optimize electropolishing and deposition parameters. In this paper, characteristics concerning surface properties, adhesion of the niobium film to the copper substrate, and film properties were studied on planar samples. A 1.5 GHz single cell cavity made from oxygen free high conductivity (OFHC) copper was sputter coated twice. First rf measurements were performed in the temperature range from 300 K to 2 K

  8. Effects of Annealing on TiN Thin Film Growth by DC Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azadeh Jafari

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available We have reviewed the deposition of titanium nitride (TiN thin films on stainless steel substrates by a DC magnetron sputtering method and annealing at different annealing temperatures of 500, 600, and 700°C for 120 min in nitrogen/argon atmospheres. Effects of annealing temperatures on the structural and the optical properties of TiN films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD, atomic force microscope (AFM, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM, and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Our experimental studies reveal that the annealing temperature appreciably affected the structures, crystallite sizes, and reflection of the films. By increasing the annealing temperature to 700°C crystallinity and reflection of the film increase. These results suggest that annealed TiN films can be good candidate for tokamak first wall due to their structural and optical properties.

  9. Capability of focused Ar ion beam sputtering for combinatorial synthesis of metal films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagata, T.; Haemori, M.; Chikyow, T.

    2009-01-01

    The authors examined the use of focused Ar ion beam sputtering (FAIS) for combinatorial synthesis. A Langmuir probe revealed that the electron temperature and density for FAIS of metal film deposition was lower than that of other major combinatorial thin film growth techniques such as pulsed laser deposition. Combining FAIS with the combinatorial method allowed the compositional fraction of the Pt-Ru binary alloy to be systematically controlled. Pt-Ru alloy metal film grew epitaxially on ZnO substrates, and crystal structures changed from the Pt phase (cubic structure) to the Ru phase (hexagonal structure) in the Pt-Ru alloy phase diagram. The alloy film has a smooth surface, with the Ru phase, in particular, showing a clear step-and-terrace structure. The combination of FAIS and the combinatorial method has major potential for the fabrication of high quality composition-spread metal film.

  10. Capability of focused Ar ion beam sputtering for combinatorial synthesis of metal films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nagata, T.; Haemori, M.; Chikyow, T. [Advanced Electric Materials Center, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan)

    2009-05-15

    The authors examined the use of focused Ar ion beam sputtering (FAIS) for combinatorial synthesis. A Langmuir probe revealed that the electron temperature and density for FAIS of metal film deposition was lower than that of other major combinatorial thin film growth techniques such as pulsed laser deposition. Combining FAIS with the combinatorial method allowed the compositional fraction of the Pt-Ru binary alloy to be systematically controlled. Pt-Ru alloy metal film grew epitaxially on ZnO substrates, and crystal structures changed from the Pt phase (cubic structure) to the Ru phase (hexagonal structure) in the Pt-Ru alloy phase diagram. The alloy film has a smooth surface, with the Ru phase, in particular, showing a clear step-and-terrace structure. The combination of FAIS and the combinatorial method has major potential for the fabrication of high quality composition-spread metal film.

  11. Hetero-epitaxial growth of TiC films on MgO(001) at 100 °C by DC reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braic, M.; Zoita, N.C.; Danila, M.; Grigorescu, C.E.A.; Logofatu, C.

    2015-01-01

    Hetero-epitaxial TiC thin films were deposited at 100 °C on MgO(001) by DC reactive magnetron sputtering in a mixture of Ar and CH 4 . The 62 nm thick films were analyzed for elemental composition and chemical bonding by Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The crystallographic structure investigation by high resolution X-ray diffraction revealed that the films consist of two layers: an interface partially strained epilayer with high crystalline quality, and a relaxed layer, formed by columnar grains, maintaining the epitaxial relationship with the substrate. The films presented smooth surfaces (RMS roughness ~ 0.55 nm), with circular equi-sized grains/crystallites, as observed by atomic force microscopy. The Hall measurements in Van der Pauw geometry revealed relatively high resistivity value ~ 620 μΩ cm, ascribed to electron scattering on interfaces, on grain boundaries and on different defects/dislocations. - Highlights: • Hetero-epitaxial TiC 0.84 thin films were grown on MgO(001) at 100 °C by magnetron sputtering. • 62 nm thick films were synthesized by magnetron sputtering, using Ti, Ar and CH 4 . • The film comprises a partially strained interface epilayer and a relaxed top layer. • Both layers preserve the epitaxial relationship with the substrate. • Low RMS surface roughness ~ 0.55 nm and grains with mean lateral size of ~ 38.5 nm were observed

  12. Hetero-epitaxial growth of TiC films on MgO(001) at 100 °C by DC reactive magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Braic, M. [National Institute for Optoelectronics, 409 Atomistilor St., 077125 Magurele (Romania); Zoita, N.C., E-mail: cnzoita@inoe.ro [National Institute for Optoelectronics, 409 Atomistilor St., 077125 Magurele (Romania); Danila, M. [National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnology, 126A Erou Iancu Nicolae Blvd., 077190 Bucharest (Romania); Grigorescu, C.E.A. [National Institute for Optoelectronics, 409 Atomistilor St., 077125 Magurele (Romania); Logofatu, C. [National Institute of Materials Physics, 105 bis Atomistilor St., 077125 Magurele (Romania)

    2015-08-31

    Hetero-epitaxial TiC thin films were deposited at 100 °C on MgO(001) by DC reactive magnetron sputtering in a mixture of Ar and CH{sub 4}. The 62 nm thick films were analyzed for elemental composition and chemical bonding by Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The crystallographic structure investigation by high resolution X-ray diffraction revealed that the films consist of two layers: an interface partially strained epilayer with high crystalline quality, and a relaxed layer, formed by columnar grains, maintaining the epitaxial relationship with the substrate. The films presented smooth surfaces (RMS roughness ~ 0.55 nm), with circular equi-sized grains/crystallites, as observed by atomic force microscopy. The Hall measurements in Van der Pauw geometry revealed relatively high resistivity value ~ 620 μΩ cm, ascribed to electron scattering on interfaces, on grain boundaries and on different defects/dislocations. - Highlights: • Hetero-epitaxial TiC{sub 0.84} thin films were grown on MgO(001) at 100 °C by magnetron sputtering. • 62 nm thick films were synthesized by magnetron sputtering, using Ti, Ar and CH{sub 4}. • The film comprises a partially strained interface epilayer and a relaxed top layer. • Both layers preserve the epitaxial relationship with the substrate. • Low RMS surface roughness ~ 0.55 nm and grains with mean lateral size of ~ 38.5 nm were observed.

  13. Structure, optical properties and thermal stability of HfErO films deposited by simultaneous RF and VHF magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, H.Y.; He, H.J.; Zhang, Z.; Jin, C.G.; Yang, Y.; Wang, Y.Y.; Ye, C.; Zhuge, L.J.; Wu, X.M.

    2015-01-01

    HfErO films are deposited on Si substrates by simultaneous radio frequency (RF) and very high frequency (VHF) magnetron sputtering technique. The content of the doped ingredient of Er and the body composition of HfO x are, respectively, controlled through the VHF and RF powers. Low content of Er doping in the HfErO films can be achieved, because the VHF source of 27.12 MHz has higher ion energy and lower ion flux than the RF source resulting in low sputtering rate in the magnetron sputtering system. The structure, optical properties and thermal stability of the HfErO films are investigated in this work. Results show that the doped content of Er is independently controlled by the VHF power. The oxygen vacancies are created by the Er incorporation. The hafnium in the HfErO films forms mixed valence of Hf 2+ and Hf 4+ . The HfErO films are composed with the structures of HfO 2 , HfO and ErO x , which can be optimized through the VHF power. At high VHF power, the Hf-Er-O bonds are formed, which demonstrates that the Er atoms are doped into the lattice of HfO 2 in the HfErO films. The HfErO films have bad thermal stability as the crystallization temperature decreases from 900 to 800 C. After thermal annealing, cubic phase of HfO 2 are stabilized, which is ascribed to the oxygen vacancies creation by the Er incorporation. The optical properties such as the refractive index and the optical band gap of the HfErO films are optimized by the VHF power. (orig.)

  14. Influence of stress on the structural and dielectric properties of rf magnetron sputtered zinc oxide thin film

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menon, Rashmi; Sreenivas, K.; Gupta, Vinay

    2008-05-01

    Highly c axis oriented zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have been prepared on 1737 Corning glass substrate by planar rf magnetron sputtering under varying pressure (10-50mTorr) and different oxygen percentage (40%-100%) in reactive gas mixtures. The as-grown ZnO thin films were found to have stress over a wide range from -6×1010to-9×107dynes/cm2. The presence of stress depends strongly on processing conditions, and films become almost stress free under a unique combination of sputtering pressure and reactive gas composition. The studies show a correlation of stress with structural and electrical properties of the ZnO thin film. The stressed films possess high electrical conductivity and exhibits strong dielectric dispersion over a wide frequency (1kHz-1MHz). The dielectric constant ɛ'(ω) of stress free ZnO film was almost frequency independent and was close to the bulk value. The measured value of dc conductivity, σdc(ω) and ac conductivity σac(ω) of stress free ZnO film was 1.3×10-9 and 6.8×10-5Ω-1cm-1, respectively. The observed variation in the structural and electrical properties of ZnO thin film with stress has been analyzed in the light of growth kinetics.

  15. Study of Sb/SnO{sub 2} bi-layer films prepared by ion beam sputtering deposition technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Chun-Min [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan, ROC (China); Huang, Chun-Chieh [Department of Electrical Engineering, Cheng Shiu University, No. 840, Chengcing Road, Niaosong Township, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan, ROC (China); Kuo, Jui-Chao [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan, ROC (China); Huang, Jow-Lay, E-mail: jlh888@mail.ncku.edu.tw [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan, ROC (China); Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan, ROC (China); Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan, ROC (China)

    2014-11-03

    In the present work, bi-layer thin films of Sb/SnO{sub 2} were produced on unheated glass substrates using ion beam sputtering (IBS) technique without post annealing treatment. The thickness of Sb layers was varied from 2 to 10 nm and the Sb layers were deposited on SnO{sub 2} layers having thicknesses of 40 nm to 115 nm. The effect of thickness was studied on the morphological, electrical and optical properties. The Sb/SnO{sub 2} bi-layer resulted in lowering the electrical resistivity as well as reducing the optical transmittance. However, the optical and electrical properties of the bi-layer films were mainly influenced by the thickness of Sb layers due to progressive transfer in structures from aggregate to continuous films. The bi-layer films show the electrical resistivity of 1.4 × 10{sup −3} Ω cm and an optical transmittance of 26% for Sb film having 10 nm thickness. - Highlights: • Bi-layer Sb/SnO{sub 2} structures were synthesized by ion beam sputtering (IBS) technique. • The 6 nm-thick Sb film is a transition region in this study. • The conductivity of the bi-layer films is increased as Sb thickness increases. • The transmittance of the bi-layer films is decreased as Sb thickness increases.

  16. Fine control of the amount of preferential <001> orientation in DC magnetron sputtered nanocrystalline TiO2 films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stefanov, B; Granqvist, C G; Österlund, L

    2014-01-01

    Different crystal facets of anatase TiO 2 are known to have different chemical reactivity; in particular the {001} facets which truncates the bi-tetrahedral anatase morphology are reported to be more reactive than the usually dominant {101} facets. Anatase TiO 2 thin films were deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering in Ar/O 2 atmosphere and were characterized using Rietveld refined grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and UV/Vis spectroscopy. By varying the partial O2 pressure in the deposition chamber, the degree of orientation of the grains in the film could be systematically varied with preferred <001> orientation changing from random upto 39% as determined by March-Dollase method. The orientation of the films is shown to correlate with their reactivity, as measured by photo-degradation of methylene blue in water solutions. The results have implications for fabrication of purposefully chemically reactive thin TiO 2 films prepared by sputtering methods

  17. Surface composition of magnetron sputtered Pt-Co thin film catalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vorokhta, Mykhailo, E-mail: vorohtam@gmail.com [Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Surface and Plasma Science, V Holešovičkách 2, 18000 Prague (Czech Republic); Khalakhan, Ivan; Václavů, Michal [Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Surface and Plasma Science, V Holešovičkách 2, 18000 Prague (Czech Republic); Kovács, Gábor; Kozlov, Sergey M. [Departament de Química Física and Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Kúš, Peter; Skála, Tomáš; Tsud, Natalia; Lavková, Jaroslava [Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Surface and Plasma Science, V Holešovičkách 2, 18000 Prague (Czech Republic); Potin, Valerie [Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne, UMR 6303 CNRS-Université Bourgogne, 9 Av. A. Savary, BP 47870, F-21078 Dijon Cedex (France); and others

    2016-03-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Nanostructured Pt-Co thin catalyst films were grown on carbon by magnetron sputtering. • The surface composition of the nanostructured Pt-Co films was investigated by surface analysis techniques. • We carried out modeling of Pt-Co nanoalloys by computational methods. • Both experiment and modeling based on density functional theory showed that the surface of Pt-Co nanoparticles is almost exclusively composed of Pt atoms. - Abstract: Recently we have tested a magnetron sputtered Pt-Co catalyst in a hydrogen-fed proton exchange membrane fuel cell and showed its high catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. Here we present further investigation of the magnetron sputtered Pt-Co thin film catalyst by both experimental and theoretical methods. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy experiments confirmed the nanostructured character of the catalyst. The surface composition of as-deposited and annealed at 773 K Pt-Co films was investigated by surface analysis techniques, such as synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Modeling based on density functional theory showed that the surface of 6 nm large 1:1 Pt-Co nanoparticles is almost exclusively composed of Pt atoms (>90%) at typical operation conditions and the Co content does not exceed 20% at 773 K, in agreement with the experimental characterization of such films annealed in vacuum. According to experiment, the density of valence states of surface atoms in Pt-Co nanostructures is shifted by 0.3 eV to higher energies, which can be associated with their higher activity in the oxygen reduction reaction. The changes in electronic structure caused by alloying are also reflected in the measured Pt 4f, Co 3p and Co 2p photoelectron peak binding energies.

  18. Crystal Structure And Optical Properties Of TiO2 Thin Films Prepared By Reactive RF Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goto S.

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available In sputtering deposition process of TiO2, metal Ti or sintered TiO2 target is used as deposition source. In this study, we have compared the characteristic of target materials. When TiO2 target was used, stoichiometric TiO2 films was deposited under the Ar atmosphere containing 1.0% of oxygen. The highest sputtering rate under this atmosphere was 3.9nm/min at 3.4W/cm2. But, sintered TiO2 target is fragile and cannot endure higher density of input power than 3.4W/cm2. On the other hand, Ti target needs higher oxygen concentration (8% in sputtering gas atmosphere for obtaining rutile/anatase. Even though Ti target can be input twice power density of 7.9W/cm2, the highest deposition rate for Ti target was 1.4/nm, which was ~35% of the highest rate for TiO2 target. Then we have study out the composite target consisting of Ti plate and TiO2 chips. Using the composite target, stoichiometric TiO2 films were prepared in the rate of 9.6nm/min at 6.8 W/cm2 under the atmosphere of Ar/2.5%O2. Furthermore, we have found that the TiO2 films obtained from the composite target consisted of about 100% anatase, whereas TiO2 films obtained from other target have rutile dominant structure. The optical band gap energy of the film is determined by using the Tauc plot. The calculated band gap energies for the films deposited by Ti target and composite target were 2.95 and 3.24eV, which are equivalent to that of rutile and anatase structure, respectively.

  19. Effects of oxygen contents on the electrochromic properties of tungsten oxide films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, H.-H.

    2008-01-01

    The electrochromism have been extensively investigated due to their potential applications such as smart window of architecture and automobile glazing to save energy and modulate the transmittance of light and solar radiation. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of sputtering conditions on the microstructure and electrochromic properties of tungsten oxide films prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering. Experimental results showed that the deposition rate of WO 3-y films decreased with increasing oxygen flow rate. XRD and Raman spectra analysis suggests that the WO 3-y films deposited at various oxygen flow rates are poor crystallinity or amorphous. The transmission change between colored and bleached states at a wavelength of 550 nm was 61.4% as the oxygen content was 60%. The coloration efficiency slightly increases with increasing oxygen flow rate in the low oxygen content region and reaching a maximum value of 38.94 cm 2 /C at 60% oxygen content. In addition, the films deposited at 60% oxygen content showed a good reversibility. The effects of lithium ions intercalated on the transmission of WO 3-y films were also discussed

  20. Electrical and Optical Properties of Fluorine Doped Tin Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ziad Y. Banyamin

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO coatings have been prepared using the mid-frequency pulsed DC closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering technique in an Ar/O2 atmosphere using blends of tin oxide and tin fluoride powder formed into targets. FTO coatings were deposited with a thickness of 400 nm on glass substrates. No post-deposition annealing treatments were carried out. The effects of the chemical composition on the structural (phase, grain size, optical (transmission, optical band-gap and electrical (resistivity, charge carrier, mobility properties of the thin films were investigated. Depositing FTO by magnetron sputtering is an environmentally friendly technique and the use of loosely packed blended powder targets gives an efficient means of screening candidate compositions, which also provides a low cost operation. The best film characteristics were achieved using a mass ratio of 12% SnF2 to 88% SnO2 in the target. The thin film produced was polycrystalline with a tetragonal crystal structure. The optimized conditions resulted in a thin film with average visible transmittance of 83% and optical band-gap of 3.80 eV, resistivity of 6.71 × 10−3 Ω·cm, a carrier concentration (Nd of 1.46 × 1020 cm−3 and a mobility of 15 cm2/Vs.

  1. Remote plasma sputtering of indium tin oxide thin films for large area flexible electronics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yeadon, A.D.; Wakeham, S.J.; Brown, H.L.; Thwaites, M.J.; Whiting, M.J.; Baker, M.A.

    2011-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films with a specific resistivity of 3.5 × 10 −4 Ω cm and average visible light transmission (VLT) of 90% have been reactively sputtered onto A4 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), glass and silicon substrates using a remote plasma sputtering system. This system offers independent control of the plasma density and the target power enabling the effect of the plasma on ITO properties to be studied. Characterization of ITO on glass and silicon has shown that increasing the plasma density gives rise to a decrease in the specific resistivity and an increase in the optical band gap of the ITO films. Samples deposited at plasma powers of 1.5 kW, 2.0 kW and 2.5 kW and optimized oxygen flow rates exhibited specific resistivity values of 3.8 × 10 −4 Ω cm, 3.7 × 10 −4 Ω cm and 3.5 × 10 −4 Ω cm and optical gaps of 3.48 eV, 3.51 eV and 3.78 eV respectively. The increase in plasma density also influenced the crystalline texture and the VLT increased from 70 to 95%, indicating that more oxygen is being incorporated into the growing film. It has been shown that the remote plasma sputter technique can be used in an in-line process to produce uniform ITO coatings on PET with specific resistivities of between 3.5 × 10 −4 and 4.5 × 10 −4 Ω cm and optical transmission of greater than 85% over substrate widths of up to 30 cm.

  2. Microstructure and phase composition of sputter-deposited zirconia-yttria films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knoll, R.W.; Bradley, E.R.

    1983-11-01

    Thin ZrO 2 -Y 2 O 3 coatings ranging in composition from 3 to 15 mole % Y 2 O 3 were produced by rf sputter deposition. This composition range spanned the region on the equilibrium ZrO 2 -Y 2 O 3 phase diagram corresponding to partially stabilized zirconia (a mixture of tetragonal ZrO 2 and cubic solid solution). Microstructural characteristics and crystalline phase composition of as-deposited and heat treated films (1100 0 C and 1500 0 C) were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Effects of substrate bias (0 approx. 250 volts), which induced ion bombardment of the film during growth, were also studied. The as-deposited ZrO 2 -Y 2 O 3 films were single phase over the composition range studied, and XRD data indicated considerable local atomic disorder in the lattice. Films produced at low bias contained intergranular voids, pronounced columnar growth, and porosity between columns. At high bias, the microstructure was denser, and films contained high compressive stress. After heat treatment, all deposits remained single phase, therefore a microstructure and precipitate distribution characteristic of toughened, partially stabilized zirconia appear to be difficult to achieve in vapor deposited zirconia coatings

  3. Biocompatibility of GaSb thin films grown by RF magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishimoto, Naoki; Fujihara, Junko; Yoshino, Katsumi

    2017-07-01

    GaSb may be suitable for biological applications, such as cellular sensors and bio-medical instrumentation because of its low toxicity compared with As (III) compounds and its band gap energy. Therefore, the biocompatibility and the film properties under physiological conditions were investigated for GaSb thin films with or without a surface coating. GaSb thin films were grown on quartz substrates by RF magnetron sputtering, and then coated with (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPT). The electrical properties, surface morphology, and crystal structure of the GaSb thin film were unaffected by the MPT coating. The cell viability assay suggested that MPT-coated GaSb thin films are biocompatible. Bare GaSb was particularly unstable in pH9 buffer. Ga elution was prevented by the MPT coating, although the Ga concentration in the pH 9 buffer was higher than that in the other solutions. The surface morphology and crystal structure were not changed by exposure to the solutions, except for the pH 9 buffer, and the thin film properties of MPT-coated GaSb exposed to distilled water and H2O2 in saline were maintained. These results indicate that MPT-coated GaSb thin films are biocompatible and could be used for temporary biomedical devices.

  4. Preparation of Ga-doped ZnO films by pulsed dc magnetron sputtering with cylindrical rotating target for thin film solar cell applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Beom-Ki; Lee, Tae-Il; Park, Ji-Hyeon; Park, Kang-Il; Ahn, Kyung-Jun; Park, Sung-Kee; Lee, Woong; Myoung, Jae-Min

    2011-01-01

    Applicability of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) films for thin film solar cells (TFSCs) was investigated by preparing GZO films via pulsed dc magnetron sputtering (PDMS) with rotating target. The GZO films showed improved crystallinity and increasing degree of Ga doping with increasing thickness to a limit of 1000 nm. The films also fulfilled requirements for the transparent electrodes of TFSCs in terms of electrical and optical properties. Moreover, the films exhibited good texturing potential based on etching studies with diluted HCl, which yielded an improved light trapping capability without significant degradation in electrical propreties. It is therefore suggested that the surface-textured GZO films prepared via PDMS and etching are promising candidates for indium-free transparent electrodes for TFSCs.

  5. Preparation of Ga-doped ZnO films by pulsed dc magnetron sputtering with cylindrical rotating target for thin film solar cell applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Beom-Ki; Lee, Tae-Il; Park, Ji-Hyeon; Park, Kang-Il; Ahn, Kyung-Jun; Park, Sung-Kee; Lee, Woong; Myoung, Jae-Min

    2011-11-01

    Applicability of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) films for thin film solar cells (TFSCs) was investigated by preparing GZO films via pulsed dc magnetron sputtering (PDMS) with rotating target. The GZO films showed improved crystallinity and increasing degree of Ga doping with increasing thickness to a limit of 1000 nm. The films also fulfilled requirements for the transparent electrodes of TFSCs in terms of electrical and optical properties. Moreover, the films exhibited good texturing potential based on etching studies with diluted HCl, which yielded an improved light trapping capability without significant degradation in electrical propreties. It is therefore suggested that the surface-textured GZO films prepared via PDMS and etching are promising candidates for indium-free transparent electrodes for TFSCs.

  6. Growth Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N films on Si substrates by magnetron sputtering and high ammoniated two-step method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Xuewen, E-mail: wangxuew@nwu.edu.cn [School of Information Science and Technology, Northwest University, Xi' an 710127 (China); Su, Xingxing; Hu, Feng; He, Lin; He, Lewan; Zhang, Zhiyong; Zhao, Wu [School of Information Science and Technology, Northwest University, Xi' an 710127 (China); Wang, Kai-Ge; Wang, Shuang [Institute of Photonics & Photo-Technology, International Joint Research Centre of Photoelectric Technology & Nano-functional Materials and Application, Northwest University, Xi' an 710069 (China)

    2016-05-15

    In this paper, Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N films on Si substrates were synthesized with adjusting process parameters by magnetron sputtering and high ammoniated two-step method innovatively, while gallium oxide was used as gallium target, and aluminum was used as aluminum target, ammonia gas and nitrogen were used as nitrogen source. The influence of process parameters on the quality of Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N films was researched with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Energy Diffraction Spectrum (EDS) for the prepared samples. The results showed that Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N film can be grown on the Si substrate by magnetron sputtering and high ammoniated two-step method, and substrate temperature, sputtering power, nitrogen concentration also have a great impact on the quality of Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N film. The sample was developed along (002) peak preferred with high orientation at 200 °C. High-quality film could be grown when the x is 0.32 in Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1−x}N films grown in 300 °C substrate temperature, 150 W sputtering power and 50% nitrogen concentration conditions, which is used for gas sensitive sensor. And compared stress by the measurement of Raman with an excitation wavelength λ = 532 nm. The samples were tested by photoluminescence (PL), which indicated two light-emitting peaks at 405 nm and 645 nm when the excitation wavelength is 325 nm. The measure in Hall Effect Measurement System showed that the carrier concentration and mobility were changed with different Al components. - Highlights: • Grow Al{sub 0.32}Ga{sub 0.68}N films on Si by RF sputtering and high ammoniated two-step method. • The sample was developed along (002) peak preferred with high orientation at 200 °C. • The growth technics of the film was employed for the preparation of gas sensors. • Carrier concentration and mobility were changed with different Al components.

  7. The effects of film thickness on the electrical, optical, and structural properties of cylindrical, rotating, magnetron-sputtered ITO films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jae-Ho; Seong, Tae-Yeon; Ahn, Kyung-Jun; Chung, Kwun-Bum; Seok, Hae-Jun; Seo, Hyeong-Jin; Kim, Han-Ki

    2018-05-01

    We report the characteristics of Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) films intended for use as transparent conducting electrodes; the films were prepared via a five-generation, in-line type, cylindrical, rotating magnetron sputtering (CRMS) system as a function of film thickness. By using a rotating cylindrical ITO target with high usage (∼80%), we prepared high conductivity, transparent ITO films on five-generation size glass. The effects of film thickness on the electrical, optical, morphological, and structural properties of CRMS-grown ITO films are investigated in detail to correlate the thickness and performance of ITO films. The preferred orientation changed from the (2 2 2) to the (4 0 0) plane with increasing thickness of ITO is attributed to the stability of the (4 0 0) plane against resputtering during the CRMS process. Based on X-ray diffraction, surface field emission scanning electron microscopy, and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, we suggest a possible mechanism to explain the preferred orientation and effects of film thickness on the performance of CRMS-grown ITO films.

  8. Bare and protected sputtered-noble-metal films for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talaga, David; Bonhommeau, Sébastien

    2014-11-01

    Sputtered silver and gold films with different surface morphologies have been prepared and coated with a benzenethiol self-assembled monolayer. Rough noble metal films showed strong Raman features assigned to adsorbed benzenethiol molecules upon irradiation over a wide energy range in the visible spectrum, which disclosed the occurrence of a significant surface-enhanced Raman scattering with maximal enhancement factors as high as 6 × 106. In addition, the adsorption of ethanethiol onto silver surfaces hinders their corrosion over days while preserving mostly intact enhancement properties of naked silver. This study may be applied to develop stable and efficient metalized probes for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

  9. Effects of oxygen partial pressure on structural and gasochromic properties of sputtered VOx thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jang, Wei-Luen [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Lu, Yang-Ming [Department of Electrical Engineering, National University of Tainan, Tainan 70005, Taiwan (China); Lu, Ying-Rui [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Program for Science and Technology of Accelerator Light Source, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan (China); Chen, Chi-Liang [Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan (China); Dong, Chung-Li, E-mail: dong.cl@nsrrc.org.tw [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Chou, Wu-Ching [Department of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan (China); Chen, Jeng-Lung; Chan, Ting-Shan; Lee, Jyh-Fu; Pao, Chih-Wen [National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC), Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan (China); Hwang, Weng-Sing [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China)

    2013-10-01

    VOx films were deposited by radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering from a vanadium target in an Ar–O{sub 2} gas mixture and pure O{sub 2}. For the films deposited in the gas mixture, the Ar flow rate was controlled at 20 sccm and the oxygen flow rate was controlled at 1, 3, and 5 sccm, respectively. A thin (∼ 5 nm) Pt layer was deposited on the VOx thin films as a hydrogen catalyst. The long-range structural order, short-range atom arrangement, and gasochromic properties of the deposited films were studied. The grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) results indicate that the deposited films are amorphous. Lamellar structures were found at oxygen flow rates of 3 sccm and above. The X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results show that the short-range atom arrangement of the lamellar VOx thin films is similar to that of crystal V{sub 2}O{sub 5}. The GIXRD and XAS results show that the film obtained with the gas mixture and at an oxygen flow rate of 1 sccm did not significantly change after exposure to hydrogen, whereas the other films exhibited decreased interlayer distance, oxidation state, and crystallinity. The color of the films changed from light or deep yellow to gray. The results suggest that the gasochromic properties of the VOx thin films are related to the V{sub 2}O{sub 5}-like atom arrangement and the interlayer distance of the lamellar structure. The films deposited with an oxygen flow rate of 3 sccm and above can be applied to H{sub 2} gas sensors. - Highlights: • Sputtered VOx film capped by Pt have potential for application in hydrogen sensor. • We present the X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of the gasochromic VOx films. • Correlation of gasochromism and electronic structure of VOx film were studied. • Correlation of gasochromism and atomic structure were investigated.

  10. Structure and composition of Ba{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} films deposited on (001) MgO substrates and the influence of sputtering pressure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Twigg, M.E.; Alldredge, L.M.B.; Chang, W.; Podpirka, A.; Kirchoefer, S.W.; Pond, J.M.

    2013-12-02

    The structure and composition of Ba{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} thin films, sputter deposited on (001) MgO substrates, have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Deviations in film stoichiometry are seen to strongly correlate with the structural and dielectric properties of these films, with the films deposited at the lower sputtering pressures either Ti-deficient or capped with a titanium oxide layer similar to the rutile TiO{sub 2} phase. Preferential sputtering of cations is found to be an important factor governing film stoichiometry. The Ti-deficient films deposited at a lower sputtering pressure contain Ruddlesden–Popper faults that increase the average lattice constant of the film and result in compressive strain and low dielectric tunability. - Highlights: • Ba{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} (BST) film deposited at very low pressure is capped with TiO{sub 2} layer. • TiO{sub 2} capped film is under only slight compressive strain, but has poor tunability. • BST films deposited at low pressure contain Ruddlesden–Popper Faults (RPFs). • RPF-containing films have high compressive strains and poor dielectric tunability. • High-pressure films have no RPFs, little compression strain, and high tunability.

  11. Electrical resistivity of CuAlMo thin films grown at room temperature by dc magnetron sputtering

    OpenAIRE

    Birkett, Martin; Penlington, Roger

    2016-01-01

    We report on the thickness dependence of electrical resistivity of CuAlMo films grown by dc magnetron sputtering on glass substrates at room temperature. The electrical resistance of the films was monitored in situ during their growth in the thickness range 10–1000 nm. By theoretically modelling the evolution of resistivity during growth we were able to gain an insight into the dominant electrical conduction mechanisms with increasing film thickness. For thicknesses in the range 10–25 nm the ...

  12. Comparison of the electrical and optical properties of direct current and radio frequency sputtered amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yao, Jianke; Gong, Li; Xie, Lei; Zhang, Shengdong

    2013-01-01

    The electrical and optical properties of direct current and radio frequency (RF) sputtered amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) films are compared. It is found that the RF sputtered a-IGZO films have better stoichiometry (In:Ga:Zn:O = 1:1:1:2.5–3.0), lower electrical conductivity (σ < 8 S/cm), higher refractive index (n = 1.9–2.0) and larger band gap (E g = 3.02–3.29 eV), and show less shift of Fermi level (△ E F ∼ 0.26 eV) and increased concentration of electrons (△ N e ∼ 10 4 ) in the conduction band with the reduction concentration of oxygen vacancy (V O ). Although a-IGZO has intensively been studied for a semiconductor channel material of thin film transistors in next-generation flat panel displays, its fundamental material parameters have not been thoroughly reported. In this work, the work function (φ) of a-IGZO films is tested with the ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that the φ of a-IGZO films is in the range of 4.0–5.0 eV depending on the V O . - Highlights: ► Amorphous InGaZnO 4 (a-IGZO) films were prepared with different sputtering modes. ► Electrical and optical properties of the different films were compared. ► Fermi level (△E F ) shift in a-IGZO films were tested by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. ► The relation of △E F with the properties of a-IGZO films were discussed. ► Work function was tested by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy

  13. Indium oxide-based transparent conductive films deposited by reactive sputtering using alloy targets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyazaki, Yusuke; Maruyama, Eri; Jia, Junjun; Machinaga, Hironobu; Shigesato, Yuzo

    2017-04-01

    High-quality transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films, Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) and In2O3-ZnO (IZO), were successfully deposited on either synthetic silica or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates in the “transition region” by reactive dc magnetron sputtering using In-Zn and In-Sn alloy targets, respectively, with a specially designed plasma emission feedback system. The composition, crystallinity, surface morphology, and electrical and optical properties of the films were analyzed. All of the IZO films were amorphous, whereas the ITO films were polycrystalline over a wide range of deposition conditions. The minimum resistivities of the IZO and ITO films deposited on the heated PET substrates at 150 °C were 3.3 × 10-4 and 5.4 × 10-4 Ω·cm, respectively. By applying rf bias to unheated PET substrates, ITO films with a resistivity of 4.4 × 10-4 Ω·cm were deposited at a dc self-bias voltage of -60 V.

  14. Development of natively textured surface hydrogenated Ga-doped ZnO-TCO thin films for solar cells via magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Fei; Chen, Xin-liang; Geng, Xin-hua; Zhang, De-kun; Wei, Chang-chun; Huang, Qian; Zhang, Xiao-dan; Zhao, Ying

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Natively textured surface hydrogenated gallium-doped zinc oxide (HGZO) thin films have been deposited via magnetron sputtering on glass substrates. ► The directly deposited HGZO thin films present rough crater-type surface morphology. ► Typical HGZO thin film exhibits a high electron mobility of 41.3 cm 2 /V s and a relative low sheet resistance of ∼7.0 Ω. ► These HGZO thin films have high optical transmittances in the visible and near infrared region (∼380–1100 nm). ► A gradient H 2 growth method for fabricating HGZO thin films has been proposed in magnetron sputtering process. - Abstract: The main purposes are to obtain high quality transparent conductive oxide (TCO) based on zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films with high optical transparency in the visible and near infrared spectral range, high electrical conductivity and good light-scattering capability to enhance the path of the light inside the Si-based thin film solar cells. Natively textured surface hydrogenated gallium-doped ZnO (HGZO) thin films have been deposited via pulsed direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering on glass substrates at a substrate temperature of 553 K. These natively textured HGZO thin films exhibit high optical transmittance (over 80%) in the visible and near infrared region (λ = 380–1100 nm) and excellent electrical properties. The optimized HGZO thin film with crater-type textured surface obtained at the hydrogen flow rate of ∼2.0 sccm exhibits a high electron mobility of 41.3 cm 2 /V s and a relatively low sheet resistance of ∼7.0 Ω. The influences of hydrogen flow rates on the surface morphology, electrical and optical properties of HGZO thin films were investigated in detail. In addition, we put forward a method of gradient H 2 growth technique for fabricating HGZO thin films so as to obtain rough surface structure with good light-scattering capability and high electrical conductivity. “Crater-like” surface feature size and optical transmittance

  15. The Use of OXYGEN-18 in the Development of Methods for Controlled Sputter Deposition of High Critical Transition Temperature Material Thin Films of Predicted Composition and Good Uniformity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tidrow, Steven Clay

    Two primary concerns, in the sputter deposition of high T_{c} material films, are the prevention of oxygen deficiency in the films and the elimination of the negative ion effect. "Oxygen deficiency" occurs when the amount of oxygen incorporated into the film is less than the amount of oxygen required to form the superconducting material lattice. Oxygen deficiency is due to the volatile nature of oxygen. The negative ion effect occurs when an atom or molecule (typically oxygen) gains an extra electron, is accelerated away from the target and impinges upon a film being grown directly in front of the sputtering target. The impinging particle has enough energy to cause resputtering of the deposited film. The presence of Sr and to a greater extent Ba, may enhance the negative ion effect in these materials. However, it is oxygen which readily forms negative ions that is primarily responsible for the negative ion effect. Thus, oxygen must be given special attention in the sputter deposition of high T_{c} material films. A specially designed sputtering system is used to demonstrate that the negative ion effect can be reduced such that large uniform high T_{c} material films possessing predicted and repeated composition can be grown in an on-axis arrangement. Utilizing this same sputtering system and the volatile nature of oxygen, it is demonstrated that oxygen processes occurring in the chamber during growth of high T_ {c} material films can be investigated using the tracer ^{18}O. In particular, it is shown that ^{18}O can be utilized as a tool for (1) investigating the negative ion effect, (2) investigating oxygen incorporation into high T_{c} material films, (3) investigating oxygen incorporation into the target, (4) tailoring films for oxygen migration and interface investigations and (5) tailoring films for the other specific oxygen investigations. Such sputtering systems that utilize the tracer ^{18}O are necessary for systematic growth of high T_ {c} material films

  16. Fundamental aspects of cathodic sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harman, R.

    1979-01-01

    The main fundamental aspects and problems of cathodic sputtering used mainly for thin film deposition and sputter etching are discussed. Among many types of known sputtering techniques the radiofrequency /RF/ diode sputtering is the most universal one and is used for deposition of metals, alloys, metallic compounds, semiconductors and insulators. It seems that nowadays the largest number of working sputtering systems is of diode type. Sometimes also the dc or rf triode sputtering systems are used. The problems in these processes are practically equivalent and comparable with the problems in the diode method and therefore our discussion will be, in most cases applicable for both, the diode and triode methods

  17. Optical emission spectroscopy during fabrication of indium-tin-oxynitride films by RF-sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koufaki, M.; Sifakis, M.; Iliopoulos, E.; Pelekanos, N.; Modreanu, M.; Cimalla, V.; Ecke, G.; Aperathitis, E.

    2006-01-01

    Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) and indium-tin-oxynitride (ITON) films have been deposited on glass by rf-sputtering from an ITO target, using Ar plasma and N 2 plasma, respectively, and different rf-power. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was employed to identify the species present in the plasma and to correlate them with the properties of the ITO and ITON thin films. Emission lines of ionic In could only be detected in N 2 plasma, whereas in the Ar plasma additional lines corresponding to atomic In and InO, were detected. The deposition rate of thin films was correlated with the In species, rather than the nitrogen species, emission intensity in the plasma. The higher resistivity and lower carrier concentration of the ITON films, as compared to the respective properties of the ITO films, were attributed to the incorporation of nitrogen, instead of oxygen, in the ITON structure

  18. Vanadium oxide thin films deposited on silicon dioxide buffer layers by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Sihai; Ma Hong; Wang Shuangbao; Shen Nan; Xiao Jing; Zhou Hao; Zhao Xiaomei; Li Yi; Yi Xinjian

    2006-01-01

    Thin films made by vanadium oxide have been obtained by direct current magnetron sputtering method on SiO 2 buffer layers. A detailed electrical and structural characterization has been performed on the deposited films by four-point probe method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). At room temperature, the four-point probe measurement result presents the resistance of the film to be 25 kU/sheet. The temperature coefficient of resistance is - 2.0%/K. SEM image indicates that the vanadium oxide exhibits a submicrostructure with lamella size ranging from 60 nm to 300 nm. A 32 x 32-element test microbolometer was fabricated based on the deposited thin film. The infrared response testing showed that the response was 200 mV. The obtained results allow us to conclude that the vanadium oxide thin films on SiO 2 buffer layers is suitable for uncooled focal plane arrays applications

  19. Effect of arc suppression on the physical properties of low temperature dc magnetron sputtered tantalum thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subrahmanyam, A.; Valleti, Krishna; Joshi, Srikant V.; Sundararajan, G.

    2007-01-01

    Arcing is a common phenomenon in the sputtering process. Arcs and glow discharges emit electrons which may influence the physical properties of films. This article reports the properties of tantalum (Ta) thin films prepared by continuous dc magnetron sputtering in normal and arc-suppression modes. The substrate temperature was varied in the range of 300-673 K. The tantalum films were ∼1.8 μm thick and have good adherence to 316 stainless steel and single-crystal silicon substrates. The phase of the Ta thin film determines the electrical and tribological properties. The films deposited at 300 K using both methods were crystallized in a tetragonal structure (β phase) with a smooth surface (grain size of ∼10 nm) and exhibited an electrical resistivity of ∼194 μΩ cm and a hardness of ∼20 GPa. When the substrate temperature was 473 K and higher, the arc-suppression mode appears to influence the films to crystallize in the α phase with a grain size of ∼40 nm, whereas the normal power mode gave mixed phases β and α beyond 473 K, the arc-suppression mode yields larger grain sizes in the Ta thin films and the hardness decreases. These changes in the physical properties in arc-suppression mode are attributed to either the change in plasma characteristics or the energetic particle bombardment onto the substrate, or both

  20. Two-Functional Direct Current Sputtered Silver-Containing Titanium Dioxide Thin Films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ditta IB

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The article reports on structure, mechanical, optical, photocatalytic and biocidal properties of Ti–Ag–O films. The Ti–Ag–O films were reactively sputter-deposited from a composed Ti/Ag target at different partial pressures of oxygen on unheated glass substrate held on floating potentialU fl. It was found that addition of ~2 at.% of Ag into TiO2film has no negative influence on UV-induced hydrophilicity of TiO2film. Thick (~1,500 nm TiO2/Ag films containing (200 anatase phase exhibit the best hydrophilicity with water droplet contact angle (WDCA lower than 10° after UV irradiation for 20 min. Thick (~1,500 nm TiO2/Ag films exhibited a better UV-induced hydrophilicity compared to that of thinner (~700 nm TiO2/Ag films. Further it was found that hydrophilic TiO2/Ag films exhibit a strong biocidal effect under both the visible light and the UV irradiation with 100% killing efficiency ofEscherichia coliATCC 10536 after UV irradiation for 20 min. Reported results show that single layer of TiO2with Ag distributed in its whole volume exhibits, after UV irradiation, simultaneously two functions: (1 excellent hydrophilicity with WDCA < 10° and (2 strong power to killE. colieven under visible light due to direct toxicity of Ag.

  1. Ultraviolet emitting (Y1-xGd x)2O3-δ thin films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering; structure-property-thin film processing relationships

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fowlkes, J.D.; Fitz-Gerald, J.M.; Rack, P.D.

    2007-01-01

    The effects that the oxygen partial pressure, substrate temperature and annealing temperature have on the cathodoluminescence (CL) efficiency of radio frequency magnetron sputter deposited Gd-doped Y 2 O 3 thin films is investigated. Furthermore these sputtering parameters are correlated to the degree of crystallinity, the phases present (cubic (α) versus monoclinic (β) Y 2 O 3 ), and the stoichiometry of the thin films. Films deposited at room temperature (RT) did not CL, however, the films were activated by a post-deposition anneal at 1273 K for 6 h. Films deposited at 873 K had a very low CL efficiency which was significantly enhanced by a post-deposition anneal. For RT deposited films the external CL efficiency increased with increasing oxygen partial pressure for the range studied, however the opposite trend was observed for the 873 K deposited films. Examination of the morphology and grain size of the high temperature deposited films revealed that the average grain size increased with decreasing partial pressure and the observed increase in the external CL efficiency was attributed to enhanced anomalous diffraction. An intrinsic CL efficiency term was determined to circumvent the effects of the enhanced anomalous diffraction, and the CL efficiency was correlated to the integrated intensity of the (222) of the cubic α-Y 2 O 3 phase

  2. Thin films of thermoelectric compound Mg2Sn deposited by co-sputtering assisted by multi-dipolar microwave plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le-Quoc, H.; Lacoste, A.; Hlil, E.K.; Bes, A.; Vinh, T. Tan; Fruchart, D.; Skryabina, N.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Mg 2 Sn thin films deposited by plasma co-sputtering, on silicon and glass substrates. → Formation of nano-grained polycrystalline films on substrates at room temperature. → Structural properties vary with target biasing and target-substrate distance. → Formation of the hexagonal phase of Mg 2 Sn in certain deposition conditions. → Power factor ∼5.0 x 10 -3 W K -2 m -1 for stoichiometric Mg 2 Sn films doped with ∼1 at.% Ag. - Abstract: Magnesium stannide (Mg 2 Sn) thin films doped with Ag intended for thermoelectric applications are deposited on both silicon and glass substrates at room temperature by plasma assisted co-sputtering. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of fine-grained polycrystalline thin films with thickness of 1-3 μm. Stoichiometry, microstructure and crystal structure of thin films are found to vary with target biasing and the distance from targets to substrate. Measurements of electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient at room temperature show the maximum power factor of ∼5.0 x 10 -3 W K -2 m -1 for stoichiometric Mg 2 Sn thin films doped with ∼1 at.% Ag.

  3. Turnover of texture in low rate sputter-deposited nanocrystalline molybdenum films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Druesedau, T.P.; Klabunde, F.; Loehmann, M.; Hempel, T.; Blaesing, J.

    1997-01-01

    The crystallite size and orientation in molybdenum films prepared by magnetron sputtering at a low rate of typical 1 (angstrom)s and a pressure of 0.45 Pa was investigated by X-ray diffraction and texture analysis. The surface topography was studied using atomic force microscopy. Increasing the film thickness from 20 nm to 3 microm, the films show a turnover from a (110) fiber texture to a (211) mosaic-like texture. In the early state of growth (20 nm thickness) the development of dome-like structures on the surface is observed. The number of these structures increases with film thickness, whereas their size is weakly influenced. The effect of texture turnover is reduced by increasing the deposition rate by a factor of six, and it is absent for samples mounted above the center of the magnetron source. The effect of texture turnover is related to the bombardment of the films with high energetic argon neutrals resulting from backscattering at the target under oblique angle and causing resputtering. Due to the narrow angular distribution of the reflected argon, bombardment of the substrate plane is inhomogeneous and only significant for regions close to the erosion zone of the magnetron

  4. Structure, optical properties and thermal stability of HfErO films deposited by simultaneous RF and VHF magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, H.Y. [Soochow University, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Suzhou (China); Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, School of Tongda, Nanjing (China); Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); He, H.J.; Zhang, Z.; Jin, C.G.; Yang, Y.; Wang, Y.Y.; Ye, C. [Soochow University, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Suzhou (China); Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); Zhuge, L.J. [Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); Soochow University, Analysis and Testing Center, Suzhou (China); Wu, X.M. [Soochow University, College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Suzhou (China); Soochow University, Key Lab of Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies of Jiangsu Province and Key Lab of Modern Optical Technologies of Education Ministry of China, Suzhou (China); Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Shanghai (China)

    2015-01-23

    HfErO films are deposited on Si substrates by simultaneous radio frequency (RF) and very high frequency (VHF) magnetron sputtering technique. The content of the doped ingredient of Er and the body composition of HfO{sub x} are, respectively, controlled through the VHF and RF powers. Low content of Er doping in the HfErO films can be achieved, because the VHF source of 27.12 MHz has higher ion energy and lower ion flux than the RF source resulting in low sputtering rate in the magnetron sputtering system. The structure, optical properties and thermal stability of the HfErO films are investigated in this work. Results show that the doped content of Er is independently controlled by the VHF power. The oxygen vacancies are created by the Er incorporation. The hafnium in the HfErO films forms mixed valence of Hf{sup 2+} and Hf{sup 4+}. The HfErO films are composed with the structures of HfO{sub 2}, HfO and ErO{sub x}, which can be optimized through the VHF power. At high VHF power, the Hf-Er-O bonds are formed, which demonstrates that the Er atoms are doped into the lattice of HfO{sub 2} in the HfErO films. The HfErO films have bad thermal stability as the crystallization temperature decreases from 900 to 800 C. After thermal annealing, cubic phase of HfO{sub 2} are stabilized, which is ascribed to the oxygen vacancies creation by the Er incorporation. The optical properties such as the refractive index and the optical band gap of the HfErO films are optimized by the VHF power. (orig.)

  5. Thermal spike model interpretation of sputtering yield data for Bi thin films irradiated by MeV {sup 84}Kr{sup 15+} ions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mammeri, S. [Centre de Recherche Nucléaire d’Alger, B.P. 399, 02 Bd. Frantz Fanon, Alger-gare, Algiers (Algeria); Ouichaoui, S., E-mail: souichaoui@gmail.com [Université des Sciences et de la Technologie H. Boumediene (USTHB), Faculté de Physique, Laboratoire SNIRM, B.P. 32, El-Alia, 16111 Bab Ezzouar, Algiers (Algeria); Ammi, H. [Centre de Recherche Nucléaire d’Alger, B.P. 399, 02 Bd. Frantz Fanon, Alger-gare, Algiers (Algeria); Pineda-Vargas, C.A. [iThemba LABS, National Research Foundation, P.O. Box 722, Somerset West 7129 (South Africa); Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, CPUT, P.O. Box 1906, Bellville 7535 (South Africa); Dib, A. [Centre de Recherche Nucléaire d’Alger, B.P. 399, 02 Bd. Frantz Fanon, Alger-gare, Algiers (Algeria); Msimanga, M. [iThemba LABS, National Research Foundation, P. Bag 11, Wits 2050, Johannesburg (South Africa); Department of Physics, Tshwane University of Technology, P. Bag X680, Pretoria 001 (South Africa)

    2015-07-01

    A modified thermal spike model initially proposed to account for defect formation in metals within the high heavy ion energy regime is adapted for describing the sputtering of Bi thin films under MeV Kr ions. Surface temperature profiles for both the electronic and atomic subsystems have been carefully evaluated versus the radial distance and time with introducing appropriate values of the Bi target electronic stopping power for multi-charged Kr{sup 15+} heavy ions as well as different target physical proprieties like specific heats and thermal conductivities. Then, the total sputtering yields of the irradiated Bi thin films have been determined from a spatiotemporal integration of the local atomic evaporation rate. Besides, an expected non negligible contribution of elastic nuclear collisions to the Bi target sputtering yields and ion-induced surface effects has also been considered in our calculation. Finally, the latter thermal spike model allowed us to derive numerical sputtering yields in satisfactorily agreement with existing experimental data both over the low and high heavy ion energy regions, respectively, dominated by elastic nuclear collisions and inelastic electronic collisions, in particular with our data taken recently for Bi thin films irradiated by 27.5 MeV Kr{sup 15+} heavy ions. An overall consistency of our model calculation with the predictions of sputtering yield theoretical models within the target nuclear stopping power regime was also pointed out.

  6. Growth and characterization of a-axis oriented Cr-doped AlN films by DC magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Panda, Padmalochan; Ramaseshan, R., E-mail: seshan@igcar.gov.in; Dash, S. [Materials Science Group, IGCAR, Kalpakkam, 603102 (India); Krishna, Nanda Gopala [Corrosion Science and Technology Group, IGCAR, Kalpakkam, 603102 (India)

    2016-05-23

    Wurtzite type Cr-doped AlN thin films were grown on Si (100) substrates using DC reactive magnetron sputtering with a function of N{sub 2} concentration (15 to 25%). Evolution of crystal structure of these films was studied by GIXRD where a-axis preferred orientation was observed. The electronic binding energy and concentration of Cr in these films were estimated by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). We have observed indentation hardness (H{sub IT}) of around 28.2 GPa for a nitrogen concentration of 25%.

  7. Microstructural, thermal and mechanical behavior of co-sputtered binary Zr–Cu thin film metallic glasses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Apreutesei, M. [MATEIS Laboratory-INSA de Lyon, Bât. B. Pascal, 7 Avenue Jean Capelle, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Steyer, P., E-mail: philippe.steyer@insa-lyon.fr [MATEIS Laboratory-INSA de Lyon, Bât. B. Pascal, 7 Avenue Jean Capelle, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Joly-Pottuz, L. [MATEIS Laboratory-INSA de Lyon, Bât. B. Pascal, 7 Avenue Jean Capelle, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Billard, A. [LERMPS-UTBM, Site de Montbéliard, 90010 Belfort Cédex (France); Qiao, J.; Cardinal, S. [MATEIS Laboratory-INSA de Lyon, Bât. B. Pascal, 7 Avenue Jean Capelle, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France); Sanchette, F. [LASMIS-UTT, UMR CNRS 6279, 12 rue Marie Curie, CS 42060, 10004 Troyes Cedex (France); Pelletier, J.M.; Esnouf, C. [MATEIS Laboratory-INSA de Lyon, Bât. B. Pascal, 7 Avenue Jean Capelle, 69621 Villeurbanne Cedex (France)

    2014-06-30

    Bulk metallic glasses have attracted considerable attention over the last decades for their outstanding mechanical features (high strength, super-elasticity) and physico-chemical properties (corrosion resistance). Recently, some attempts to assign such original behavior from bulk materials to modified surfaces have been reported in the literature based on multicomponent alloys. In this paper we focused on the opportunity to form a metallic glass coating from the binary Zr–Cu system using a magnetron co-sputtering physical vapor deposition process. The composition of the films can be easily controlled by the relative intensities applied to both pure targets, which made possible the study of the whole Zr–Cu system (from 13.4 to 85.0 at.% Cu). The chemical composition of the films was obtained by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and their microstructure was characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal stability of the films was deduced from an in situ X-ray diffraction analysis (from room temperature up to 600 °C) and correlated with the results of the differential scanning calorimetry technique. Their mechanical properties were determined by nanoindentation experiments. - Highlights: • We reported deposition of Zr-Cu thin film metallic glasses by co-sputteringFilms were XRD-amorphous in a wide composition range (33.3 – 85.0 at.% Cu) • Microstructure investigation revealed some local nanodomains • We examined the thermal stability by means of in situ X-ray diffraction • Nanoindentation was used to obtained mechanical properties of thin films.

  8. Fabrication and Characterization of CZTS Thin Films Prepared by the Sulfurization of RF-Sputtered Stacked Metal Precursors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abusnina, Mohamed; Moutinho, Helio; Al-Jassim, Mowafak; DeHart, Clay; Matin, Mohammed

    2014-09-01

    In this work, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were prepared by the sulfurization of metal precursors deposited sequentially via radio frequency magnetron sputtering on Mo-coated soda-lime glass. The stack order of the precursors was Mo/Zn/Sn/Cu. Sputtered precursors were annealed in sulfur atmosphere with nine different conditions to study the impact of sulfurization time and substrate temperature on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of the final CZTS films. X-ray fluorescence was used to determine the elemental composition ratio of the metal precursors. Final CZTS films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). XRD and EDS were combined to investigate the films' structure and to identify the presence of secondary phases. XRD analysis indicated an improvement in film crystallinity with an increase of the substrate temperature and annealing times. Also indicated was the minimization and/or elimination of secondary phases when the films experienced longer annealing time. EDS revealed slight Sn loss in films sulfurized at 550°C; however, an increase of the sulfurization temperature to 600°C did not confirm these results. SEM study showed that films treated with higher temperatures exhibited dense morphology, indicating the completion of the sulfurization process. The estimated absorption coefficient was on the order of 104 cm-1 for all CZTS films, and the values obtained for the optical bandgap energy of the films were between 1.33 eV and 1.52 eV.

  9. Influences of the RF power ratio on the optical and electrical properties of GZO thin films by DC coupled RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng, Shou [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu 233018 (China); Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233018 (China); Yao, Tingting, E-mail: yaott0815@163.com [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu 233018 (China); Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233018 (China); Yang, Yong; Zhang, Kuanxiang; Jiang, Jiwen; Jin, Kewu; Li, Gang; Cao, Xin; Xu, Genbao; Wang, Yun [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Float Glass, Bengbu 233018 (China); Bengbu Design & Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu 233018 (China)

    2016-12-15

    Ga-doped zinc oxide (GZO) thin films were deposited by closed field unbalanced DC coupled RF magnetron sputtering system at room temperature. The RF sputtering power ratio was adjusted from 0% to 100%. The crystal structure, surface morphology, transmittance and electrical resistivity of GZO films mainly influenced by RF sputtering power ratio were investigated by X-ray diffractometer, scanning electronic microscope, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer and Hall effect measurement. The research results indicate that the increasing RF power ratio can effectively reduce the discharge voltage of system and increase the ionizing rate of particles. Meanwhile, the higher RF power ratio can increase the carrier mobility in GZO thin film and improve the optical and electrical properties of GZO thin film significantly. Within the optimal discharge voltage window, the film deposits at 80% RF power ratio exhibits the lowest resistivity of 2.6×10{sup −4} Ω cm. We obtain the GZO film with the best average optical transmittance is approximately 84% in the visible wavelength. With the increasing RF power ratio, the densification of GZO film is enhanced. The densification of GZO film is decrease when the RF power ratio is 100%.

  10. Control of surface ripple amplitude in ion beam sputtered polycrystalline cobalt films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Colino, Jose M., E-mail: josemiguel.colino@uclm.es [Institute of Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus de la Fabrica de Armas, Toledo 45071 (Spain); Arranz, Miguel A. [Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real 13071 (Spain)

    2011-02-15

    We have grown both polycrystalline and partially textured cobalt films by magnetron sputter deposition in the range of thickness (50-200 nm). Kinetic roughening of the growing film leads to a controlled rms surface roughness values (1-6 nm) increasing with the as-grown film thickness. Ion erosion of a low energy 1 keV Ar+ beam at glancing incidence (80{sup o}) on the cobalt film changes the surface morphology to a ripple pattern of nanometric wavelength. The wavelength evolution at relatively low fluency is strongly dependent on the initial surface topography (a wavelength selection mechanism hereby confirmed in polycrystalline rough surfaces and based on the shadowing instability). At sufficiently large fluency, the ripple wavelength steadily increases on a coarsening regime and does not recall the virgin surface morphology. Remarkably, the use of a rough virgin surface makes the ripple amplitude in the final pattern can be controllably increased without affecting the ripple wavelength.

  11. Scaling of surface roughness in sputter-deposited ZnO:Al thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohanty, Bhaskar Chandra; Choi, Hong-Rak; Cho, Yong Soo

    2009-01-01

    We have studied surface roughness scaling of ZnO:Al thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering of a compound target within framework of the dynamic scaling theory using atomic force microscopy. We have observed a crossover in scaling behavior of surface roughness at a deposition time of 25 min. Both the regimes are characterized by power-law dependence of local surface width w(r,t) on deposition time for small r, typical of anomalous scaling. The scaling exponents for the first regime indicate the existence of a new dynamics. For t≥25 min, the films follow super-rough scaling behavior with global exponents α=1.5±0.2 and β=1.03±0.01, and local exponents α local =1 and β local =0.67±0.05. The anomaly in the scaling behavior of the films is discussed in terms of the shadowing instability and bombardment of energetic particles during growth of the films.

  12. Role of copper/vanadium on the optoelectronic properties of reactive RF magnetron sputtered NiO thin films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panneerselvam, Vengatesh; Chinnakutti, Karthik Kumar; Thankaraj Salammal, Shyju; Soman, Ajith Kumar; Parasuraman, Kuppusami; Vishwakarma, Vinita; Kanagasabai, Viswanathan

    2018-04-01

    In this study, pristine nickel oxide (NiO), copper-doped NiO (Cu-NiO) and vanadium-doped NiO (V-NiO) thin films were deposited using reactive RF magnetron co-sputtering as a function of dopant sputtering power. Cu (0-8 at%) and V (0-1 at%) were doped into the NiO lattice by varying the sputtering power of Cu and V in the range of 5-15 W. The effect of dopant concentration on optoelectronic behavior is investigated by UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer and Hall measurements. XRD analysis showed that the preferred orientation of the cubic phase for undoped NiO changes from (200) to (111) plane when the sputtering parameters are varied. The observed changes in the lattice parameters and bonding states of the doped NiO indicate the substitution of Ni ions by monovalent Cu and trivalent V ions. The optical bandgap of pristine NiO, Cu-NiO, and V-NiO was found to be 3.6, 3.45, and 3.05 eV, respectively, with decreased transmittance and resistivity. Further analysis using SEM and AFM described the morphological behavior of doped NiO thin films and Raman spectroscopy indicated the structural changes on doping. These findings would be helpful in fabricating solid-state solar cells using doped NiO as efficient hole transporting material.

  13. β-FeSi2 films prepared on 6H-SiC substrates by magnetron sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Li; Hongbin, Pu; Chunlei, Zheng; Zhiming, Chen

    2015-06-01

    β-FeSi2 thin films have been successfully prepared by magnetron sputtering and post rapid thermal annealing method on 6H-SiC (0001) substrates using a FeSi2 target and a Si target. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy are applied to analyze the formation of β-FeSi2 films. XRD spectra reveal that the amorphous FeSi2 films are transformed to β-FeSi2 phase as the annealing temperature is increased from 500 to 900 °C for 5 min and the optimal annealing temperature is 900 °C. The formation of β-FeSi2 is also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations indicate that the film is flat, relatively compact and the interface between β-FeSi2 and 6H-SiC is clear. Atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements demonstrate that the surface roughness confirmed by the root mean square (RMS) of the β-FeSi2 film is 0.87 nm. Near-infrared spectrophotometer observation shows that the absorption coefficient is of the order of 105 cm-1 and the optical band-gap of the β-FeSi2 film is 0.88 eV. The β-FeSi2 film with high crystal quality is fabricated by co-sputtering a FeSi2 target and a Si target for 60 min and annealing at 900 °C for 5 min. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51177134) and the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (No. 2015JM6286).

  14. Structure evolution of zinc oxide thin films deposited by unbalance DC magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aryanto, Didik, E-mail: didi027@lipi.go.id [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Serpong 15314, Tangerang Selatan (Indonesia); Materials Research Group, Physics Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia); Marwoto, Putut; Sugianto [Physics Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia); Materials Research Group, Physics Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia); Sudiro, Toto [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Serpong 15314, Tangerang Selatan (Indonesia); Birowosuto, Muhammad D. [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Serpong 15314, Tangerang Selatan (Indonesia); CINTRA UMI CNRS/NTU/THALES 3288 Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, level 6, 637553 (Singapore); Sulhadi [Physics Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Gunungpati, Semarang 50229 Jawa Tengah (Indonesia)

    2016-04-19

    Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films are deposited on corning glass substrates using unbalanced DC magnetron sputtering. The effect of growth temperature on surface morphology and crystallographic orientation of ZnO thin film is studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The surface morphology and crystallographic orientation of ZnO thin film are transformed against the increasing of growth temperature. The mean grain size of film and the surface roughness are inversely and directly proportional towards the growth temperature from room temperature to 300 °C, respectively. The smaller grain size and finer roughness of ZnO thin film are obtained at growth temperature of 400 °C. The result of AFM analysis is in good agreement with the result of XRD analysis. ZnO thin films deposited in a series of growth temperatures have hexagonal wurtzite polycrystalline structures and they exhibit transformations in the crystallographic orientation. The results in this study reveal that the growth temperature strongly influences the surface morphology and crystallographic orientation of ZnO thin film.

  15. Transparent conducting Al-doped ZnO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering with dc and rf powers applied in combination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minami, Tadatsugu; Ohtani, Yuusuke; Miyata, Toshihiro; Kuboi, Takeshi

    2007-01-01

    A newly developed Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin-film magnetron-sputtering deposition technique that decreases resistivity, improves resistivity distribution, and produces high-rate depositions has been demonstrated by dc magnetron-sputtering depositions that incorporate rf power (dc+rf-MS), either with or without the introduction of H 2 gas into the deposition chamber. The dc+rf-MS preparations were carried out in a pure Ar or an Ar+H 2 (0%-2%) gas atmosphere at a pressure of 0.4 Pa by adding a rf component (13.56 MHz) to a constant dc power of 80 W. The deposition rate in a dc+rf-MS deposition incorporating a rf power of 150 W was approximately 62 nm/min, an increase from the approximately 35 nm/min observed in dc magnetron sputtering with a dc power of 80 W. A resistivity as low as 3x10 -4 Ω cm and an improved resistivity distribution could be obtained in AZO thin films deposited on substrates at a low temperature of 150 deg. C by dc+rf-MS with the introduction of hydrogen gas with a content of 1.5%. This article describes the effects of adding a rf power component (i.e., dc+rf-MS deposition) as well as introducing H 2 gas into dc magnetron-sputtering preparations of transparent conducting AZO thin films

  16. Deposition and characterization of NbAIN thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carvalho, R.G.; Felix, L.C.; Fernandez, D.A.R.; Fontes Junior, A.S.; Oliveira, G.B.; Tentardini, E.K.

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this work was to study NbAlN thin films and the influence of variation in the concentration of aluminum in the crystal structure and oxidation resistance of these coatings. The thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering and characterized by Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and oxidation tests at high temperatures. NbAlN thin films were deposited and present at concentration of 10, 20 and 42 at% Al. The NbAlN crystalline phase obtained was the δ-NbN, however it was observed a shift of the peaks in the patterns obtained GIXRD of regions for larger angles for these samples, indicating the formation of a solid solution. The higher oxidation resistance temperature was 700° C for the sample with 42 in at% Al. From the SEM analysis it was possible to observe the surface of the film after oxidation, all films showed defects, however the amount of such defects was lower in samples with higher aluminum concentrations. (author)

  17. Structural study and fabrication of nano-pattern on ultra thin film of Ag grown by magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banerjee, S.; Mukherjee, S.; Kundu, S.

    2001-01-01

    We present the structural study of ultra thin Ag films using grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity and the modification of these films with the tip of an atomic force microscope. Ag thin films are deposited using dc magnetron sputtering on a Si(001) substrate. Initially, the growth of the film is carpet like and above a certain thickness (∼42 A) the film structure changes to form mounds. This ultra thin film of Ag having carpet-like growth can be modified by the tip of an atomic force microscope, which occurs due to the porous nature of the film. A periodic pattern of nanometer dimensions has been fabricated on this film using the atomic force microscope tip. (author)

  18. Activation of sputter-processed indium-gallium-zinc oxide films by simultaneous ultraviolet and thermal treatments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tak, Young Jun; Ahn, Byung Du; Park, Sung Pyo; Kim, Si Joon; Song, Ae Ran; Chung, Kwun-Bum; Kim, Hyun Jae

    2016-02-23

    Indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) films, deposited by sputtering at room temperature, still require activation to achieve satisfactory semiconductor characteristics. Thermal treatment is typically carried out at temperatures above 300 °C. Here, we propose activating sputter- processed IGZO films using simultaneous ultraviolet and thermal (SUT) treatments to decrease the required temperature and enhance their electrical characteristics and stability. SUT treatment effectively decreased the amount of carbon residues and the number of defect sites related to oxygen vacancies and increased the number of metal oxide (M-O) bonds through the decomposition-rearrangement of M-O bonds and oxygen radicals. Activation of IGZO TFTs using the SUT treatment reduced the processing temperature to 150 °C and improved various electrical performance metrics including mobility, on-off ratio, and threshold voltage shift (positive bias stress for 10,000 s) from 3.23 to 15.81 cm(2)/Vs, 3.96 × 10(7) to 1.03 × 10(8), and 11.2 to 7.2 V, respectively.

  19. Giant Negative Piezoresistive Effect in Diamond-like Carbon and Diamond-like Carbon-Based Nickel Nanocomposite Films Deposited by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering of Ni Target

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meškinis, Šaru Nas; Gudaitis, Rimantas; Šlapikas, Kęstutis

    2018-01-01

    deposited by either reactive HIPIMS or dc magnetron sputtering of Ni target was explained by possible clustering of the sp2-bonded carbon and/or formation of areas with the decreased hydrogen content. It was suggested that the tensile stress-induced rearrangements of these conglomerations have resulted......Piezoresistive properties of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon (DLC) and DLC-based nickel nanocomposite (DLC:Ni) films were studied in the range of low concentration of nickel nanoparticles. The films were deposited by reactive high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) of Ni target, and some...... samples were deposited by direct current (dc) reactive magnetron sputtering for comparison purposes. Raman scattering spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to study the structure and chemical composition of the films. A four...

  20. Optical properties of ITO films obtained by high-frequency magnetron sputtering with accompanying ion treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krylov, P. N., E-mail: ftt@uni.udm.ru; Zakirova, R. M.; Fedotova, I. V. [Udmurt State University (Russian Federation)

    2013-10-15

    A variation in the properties of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films obtained by the method of reactive magnetron sputtering with simultaneous ion treatment is reported. The ITO films feature the following parameters in the optical range of 450-1100 nm: a transmission coefficient of 80%, band gap of 3.50-3.60 eV, and a refractive index of 1.97-2.06. All characteristics of the films depend on the ion-treatment current. The latter, during the course of deposition, reduces the resistivity of the ITO films with the smallest value of the resistivity being equal to 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3} {Omega} cm. The degradation of films with a high resistivity when kept in air is observed.

  1. Influence of the substrate texture on the structural and electrochemical properties of sputtered LiCoO2 thin films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Ki-Taek; Cho, Gyu-Bong; Kim, Ki-Won; Nam, Tae-Hyun; Jeong, Hyo-Min; Huh, Sun-Chul; Chung, Han-Shik; Noh, Jung-Pil

    2013-01-01

    LiCoO 2 thin films were fabricated on textured and annealed STS304 substrates by direct current magnetron sputtering method. The effects of the substrate texture on the structural and electrochemical properties of the LiCoO 2 thin film deposited on both the substrates have been investigated. The crystal structures and surface morphologies of the deposited films were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Based on the XRD analysis, the LiCoO 2 thin film deposited on the textured substrate was found to exhibit (003) preferred orientation, while the film deposited on annealed substrate exhibited (104) preferred orientation. In addition, SEM analysis revealed that the film deposited on the textured substrate showed a smooth morphology. On the other hand, the film deposited on the annealed substrate exhibited a very rough surface morphology, which resulted in a higher surface area. Consequently, the initial discharge capacity of the film deposited on the annealed substrate was higher than that of the film deposited on the textured substrate. The film deposited on the textured substrate exhibited a good cyclic performance compared to the film deposited on the annealed substrate. - Highlights: • The sputtered LiCoO 2 thin films were influenced by the substrate texture. • The film deposited on the annealed substrate exhibited (104) preferred orientation. • The film deposited on the textured substrate exhibited a good cyclic performance

  2. Significant effect of substrate temperature on the phase structure, optical and electrical properties of RF sputtered CIGS films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yu Zhou; Yan Yong; Li Shasha; Zhang Yanxia; Yan Chuanpeng; Liu Lian; Zhang Yong [Key Laboratory of Magnetic Suspension Technology and Maglev Vehicle, Ministry of Education, Superconductivity and New energy R and D Center (SNERDC), Mail Stop 165, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031 (China); Zhao Yong, E-mail: yzhao@swjtu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Magnetic Suspension Technology and Maglev Vehicle, Ministry of Education, Superconductivity and New energy R and D Center (SNERDC), Mail Stop 165, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031 (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, NSW (Australia)

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Secondary phase exist in the RF sputtered CIGS films as it deposited at 150 Degree-Sign C and 500 Degree-Sign C. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CIGS films deposited beyond 350 Degree-Sign C show (1 1 2) prefer orientation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer E{sub g} of the CIGS films increased with the increase of substrate temperature. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Conductivity of the films is affected by 'variable range hopping' mechanism. - Abstract: This work studied the effect of substrate temperature on the phase structure, optical and electrical properties of the one-step radio frequency sputtered Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGS) thin films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that all the deposited CIGS films are chalcopyrite phase with polycrystalline structure. The films deposited beyond the substrate temperature of 350 Degree-Sign C show (1 1 2) prefer orientation. Raman spectra reveal that the 150 Degree-Sign C deposited CIGS film coexists with Cu{sub 2-x}Se phase and the 500 Degree-Sign C deposited film contains ordered defect compound (ODC) phase. With the increase of substrate temperature, energy band gap of the CIGS film increase from 0.99 to 1.27 eV. Films deposited at higher temperature exhibit larger electrical conductivity. Conductivity of the CIGS films is dominated by 'variable range hopping' mechanism. The disorder in our CIGS the films is associated with the formation of intrinsic defects such as V{sub Se} and In{sub Cu} for their low formation energy.

  3. Reactive magnetron sputtering of Si-C-N films with controlled mechanical and optical properties

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Vlček, J.; Kormunda, M.; Čížek, J.; Soukup, Z.; Peřina, Vratislav; Zemek, Josef

    2003-01-01

    Roč. 12, č. 8 (2003), s. 1287-1294 ISSN 0925-9635 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ME 203; GA MŠk OC 527.90 Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM 235200002 Keywords : silicon-carbon-nitride films * magnetron co-sputtering Subject RIV: BG - Nuclear, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Colliders Impact factor: 1.867, year: 2003

  4. On the structure and surface chemical composition of indium-tin oxide films prepared by long-throw magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chuang, M.J.; Huang, H.F.; Wen, C.H.; Chu, A.K.

    2010-01-01

    Structures and surface chemical composition of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films prepared by long-throw radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique have been investigated. The ITO films were deposited on glass substrates using a 20 cm target-to-substrate distance in a pure argon sputtering environment. X-ray diffraction results showed that an increase in substrate temperature resulted in ITO structure evolution from amorphous to polycrystalline. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy micrographs suggested that the ITO films were free of bombardment of energetic particles since the microstructures of the films exhibited a smaller grain size and no sub-grain boundary could be observed. The surface composition of the ITO films was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Oxygen atoms in both amorphous and crystalline ITO structures were observed from O 1 s XPS spectra. However, the peak of the oxygen atoms in amorphous ITO phase could only be found in samples prepared at low substrate temperatures. Its relative peak area decreased drastically when substrate temperatures were larger than 200 o C. In addition, a composition analysis from the XPS results revealed that the films deposited at low substrate temperatures contained high concentration of oxygen at the film surfaces. The oxygen-rich surfaces can be attributed to hydrolysis reactions of indium oxides, especially when large amount of the amorphous ITO were developed near the film surfaces.

  5. Effects of Mg Doping on the Performance of InGaN Films Made by Reactive Sputtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuo, Dong-Hau; Li, Cheng-Che; Tuan, Thi Tran Anh; Yen, Wei-Chun

    2015-01-01

    Mg-doped InGaN (Mg-InGaN) films have been deposited directly on Si (100) substrates by radio-frequency reactive sputtering technique with single cermet targets in an Ar/N2 atmosphere. The cermet targets with a constant 5% indium content were made by hot pressing the mixture of metallic In, Ga, and Mg powders and ceramic GaN powder. The Mg-InGaN films had a wurtzite structure with a preferential () growth plane. The SEM images showed that Mg-InGaN films were smooth, continuous, free from cracks and holes, and composed of nanometer-sized grains. As the Mg dopant content in Mg-InGaN increased to 7.7 at.%, the film was directly transformed into p-type conduction without a post-annealing process. It had high hole concentration of 5.53 × 1018 cm-3 and electrical mobility of 15.7 ± 4.2 cm2 V-1 s-1. The over-doping of Mg in InGaN degraded the electrical properties. The bandgap of Mg-InGaN films decreased from 2.92 eV to 2.84 eV, as the Mg content increased from 7.7% to 18.2%. The constructed p-type Mg-InGaN/ n-type GaN diode was used to confirm the realization of the p-type InGaN by sputtering technique.

  6. Evaluation of Cu2ZnSnS4 Absorber Films Sputtered from a Single, Quaternary Target

    OpenAIRE

    Carlhamn Rasmussen, Liv

    2013-01-01

    Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is a promising absorber material for thin-film solar cells since it contains no rare or toxic elements, has a high absorption coefficient and a near ideal bandgap energy. It does, however, present some challenges due to the limited single-phase region of the desired kesterite phase and its instability towards decomposition. Sputtering of CZTS from quaternary, compound targets using RF magnetron sputtering is known. In this thesis work CZTS absorbers were made using pulsed DC ...

  7. Study of working pressure on the optoelectrical properties of Al–Y codoped ZnO thin-film deposited using DC magnetron sputtering for solar cell applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsu, Feng-Hao; Wang, Na-Fu; Tsai, Yu-Zen; Chuang, Ming-Chieh; Cheng, Yu-Song; Houng, Mau-Phon

    2013-01-01

    Low cost transparent conductive Al–Y codoped ZnO (AZOY) thin-films were prepared on a glass substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering technique with various working pressures in the range of 5–13 mTorr. The relationship among the structural, electrical, and optical properties of sputtered AZOY films was studied as a function of working pressure. The XRD measurements show that the crystallinity of the films degraded as the working gas pressure increased. The AZOY thin-film deposited at a working pressure of 5 mTorr exhibited the lowest electrical resistivity of 4.3 × 10 −4 Ω cm, carrier mobility of 30 cm 2 /V s, highest carrier concentration of 4.9 × 10 20 cm −3 , and high transmittance in the visible region (400–800 nm) of approximately 90%. Compared with Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin-films deposited using DC or RF magnetron sputtering methods, a high carrier mobility was observed in our AZOY thin-films. This result can be used to effectively decrease the absorption of near infrared-rays in solar cell applications. The mechanisms are attributed to the larger transition energy between Ar atoms and sputtering particles and the size compensation of the dopants. Finally, the optimal quality AZOY thin-film was used as an emitter layer (or window layer) to form AZOY/n-Si heterojunction solar cells, which exhibited a stable conversion efficiency (η) of 9.4% under an AM1.5 illumination condition.

  8. Structural, optical and electrical peculiarities of r.f. plasma sputtered indium tin oxide films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boycheva, Sylvia; Sytchkova, Anna Krasilnikova; Grilli, Maria Luisa; Piegari, Angela

    2007-01-01

    In this work the influence of the deposition conditions on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the ITO films was studied. Films were deposited by r.f. plasma sputtering technique in Ar and varying Ar + O 2 gas mixtures, with and without substrate heating. Transmittance and reflectance of the films were measured in the range 350-2500 nm; the refractive index (n) and the extinction coefficient (k) were calculated by the spectral data simulation. The sheet resistance of the films was measured by four-point probe method. X-ray diffraction analysis was performed to study the texture of the films. Threshold behaviour was observed in the optical and electrical properties of ITO films deposited in Ar + O 2 atmosphere at a certain oxygen concentration determined by a fix combination of all other deposition conditions. A schematic diagram for the change of the film properties versus composition was suggested, which explains the obtained results

  9. Epitaxial growth of rhenium with sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oh, Seongshik [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States) and Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)]. E-mail: soh@boulder.nist.gov; Hite, Dustin A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Cicak, K. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Osborn, Kevin D. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Simmonds, Raymond W. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); McDermott, Robert [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Cooper, Ken B. [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Steffen, Matthias [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Martinis, John M. [University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Pappas, David P. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States)

    2006-02-21

    We have grown epitaxial Rhenium (Re) (0001) films on {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (0001) substrates using sputter deposition in an ultra high vacuum system. We find that better epitaxy is achieved with DC rather than with RF sputtering. With DC sputtering, epitaxy is obtained with the substrate temperatures above 700 deg. C and deposition rates below 0.1 nm/s. The epitaxial Re films are typically composed of terraced hexagonal islands with screw dislocations, and island size gets larger with high temperature post-deposition annealing. The growth starts in a three dimensional mode but transforms into two dimensional mode as the film gets thicker. With a thin ({approx}2 nm) seed layer deposited at room temperature and annealed at a high temperature, the initial three dimensional growth can be suppressed. This results in larger islands when a thick film is grown at 850 deg. C on the seed layer. We also find that when a room temperature deposited Re film is annealed to higher temperatures, epitaxial features start to show up above {approx}600 deg. C, but the film tends to be disordered.

  10. Pulsed voltage deposited lead selenide thin film as efficient counter electrode for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jin, Bin Bin [Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province & School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062 (China); Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Industry, Shaanxi Institute of Technology, Xi’an 710300 (China); Wang, Ye Feng [Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province & School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062 (China); Wang, Xue Qing [Faculty of Chemical, Environmental and Biological Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China); Zeng, Jing Hui, E-mail: jhzeng@ustc.edu [Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province & School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062 (China)

    2016-04-30

    Highlights: • PbSe thin film is deposited on FTO glass by a pulse voltage electrodeposition method. • The thin film is used as counter electrode (CE) in quantum dot-sensitized solar cell. • Superior electrocatalytic activity and stability in the polysulfide electrolyte is received. • The narrow band gap characteristics and p-type conductivity enhances the cell efficiency. • An efficiency of 4.67% is received for the CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells. - Abstract: Lead selenide (PbSe) thin films were deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass by a facile one-step pulse voltage electrodeposition method, and used as counter electrode (CE) in CdS/CdSe quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). A power conversion efficiency of 4.67% is received for the CdS/CdSe co-sensitized solar cells, which is much better than that of 2.39% received using Pt CEs. The enhanced performance is attributed to the extended absorption in the near infrared region, superior electrocatalytic activity and p-type conductivity with a reflection of the incident light at the back electrode in addition. The physical and chemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), reflectance spectra, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel polarization measurements. The present work provides a facile pathway to an efficient CE in the QDSSCs.

  11. Thermal stability of tungsten sub-nitride thin film prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, X.X. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050 (China); State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730050 (China); Wu, Y.Z., E-mail: youzhiwu@163.com [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050 (China); Mu, B. [College of Petrochemical Technology, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050 (China); Qiao, L. [State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730050 (China); Li, W.X.; Li, J.J. [Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Wang, P., E-mail: pengwang@licp.cas.cn [State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730050 (China)

    2017-03-15

    Tungsten sub-nitride thin films deposited on silicon samples by reactive magnetron sputtering were used as a model system to study the phase stability and microstructural evolution during thermal treatments. XRD, SEM&FIB, XPS, RBS and TDS were applied to investigate the stability of tungsten nitride films after heating up to 1473 K in vacuum. At the given experimental parameters a 920 nm thick crystalline film with a tungsten and nitrogen stoichiometry of 2:1 were achieved. The results showed that no phase and microstructure change occurred due to W{sub 2}N film annealing in vacuum up to 973 K. Heating up to 1073 K led to a partial decomposition of the W{sub 2}N phase and the formation of a W enrichment layer at the surface. Increasing the annealing time at the same temperature, the further decomposition of the W{sub 2}N phase was negligible. The complete decomposition of W{sub 2}N film happened as the temperature reached up to 1473 K.

  12. Control of amorphous films properties in the case of combined sputtering of targets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okunev, V.D.; Yurov, A.G.

    1979-01-01

    A possibility of controlling amorphous film properties produced by combined sputtering of two targets: was investigated one of the targets was made of a basis material-polycrystalline CdGeAs 2 , the other one was made of a material of additives. As the additives the Ni,Co elements with low chemical activity and the Cu,Te additives with high chemical activity were used. Besides, to study the effect of deviation from amorphous CdGeAs 2 stoichiometry on film properties, the Gd,Ge,As additives were investigated. The various additives influence on electric conductivity of amorphous films has been studied. It is shown that approximately 1 at% Ni or Co contents results in reducing film specific resistance by 6 orders. Cu and Te introduction results in the change of the structure and type of amorphous layer conductivity. The conclusion has been drawn, that introduction of the elements with high chemical activity can be used as the method of producing films with new physicochemical properties

  13. Preparation of transparent Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} thin films by RF magnetron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chiu, Te-Wei, E-mail: tewei@ntut.edu.tw; Chang, Chih-Hao; Yang, Li-Wei; Wang, Yung-Po

    2015-11-01

    Highlights: • Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. • Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} thin films have high transmittance and antibacterial properties. • Mechanical properties of Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} thin films were investigated. - Abstract: Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} thin films were deposited on non-alkali glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. Its crystal structure, microstructure, optical property, mechanical property, and antibacterial activity were investigated by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction, transmittance spectra, nanoindenter, and antibiotics test, respectively. A single-phase of Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} was obtained while annealing at 700 °C in air and its optical transparency was >80% in the visible region. The hardness and elastic modulus of the film were 6.7 GPa and 82 GPa, respectively. Antibiotics testing result revealed that Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} surface had a superior antibacterial performance even at a dark environment. Therefore, Cu{sub 2}Y{sub 2}O{sub 5} is a promising novel transparent antibacterial hard coating material.

  14. Influence of deposition parameters on the optical and structural properties of TiO/sub 2/ films produced by reactive dc plasmatron sputtering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schiller, S; Beister, G; Sieber, W; Schirmer, G; Hacker, E

    1981-09-11

    We investigated the variations in the structure and optical properties of TiO/sub 2/ films produced by reactive d.c. plasmatron sputtering with the most important deposition parameters. Over a wide range, the phase composition (ratio of rutile to anatase) and the grain size of the TiO/sub 2/ films can be influenced in a controlled manner by variations in the substrate temperature and the oxygen partial pressure. Because of their high refractive index and low light-scattering losses, plasmatron-sputtered TiO/sub 2/ films are of great interest in the field of optical interference coatings, e.g. for dielectric multilayer stacks.

  15. Studies on the electrical properties of reactive DC magnetron-sputtered indium-doped silver oxide thin films: The role of oxygen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Subrahmanyam, A [Semiconductor Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036 (India); Barik, Ullash Kumar [Semiconductor Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036 (India)

    2007-03-15

    Indium ({approx}10 at.%)-doped silver oxide (AIO) thin films have been prepared on glass substrates at room temperature (300 K) by reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique using an alloy target made of pure (99.99%) silver and indium (90:10 at.%) metals. The oxygen flow rates have been varied in the range 0.00-3.44 sccm during sputtering. The X-ray diffraction data on these indium-doped silver oxide films show polycrystalline nature. With increasing oxygen flow rate, the carrier concentration, the Hall mobility and the electron mean free path decrease. These films show a very low positive temperature coefficient of resistivity {approx}3.40x10{sup -8} ohm-cm/K. The work function values for these films (measured by Kelvin probe technique) are in the range 4.81-5.07 eV. The high electrical resistivity indicate that the films are in the island state (size effects). Calculations of the partial ionic charge (by Sanderson's theory) show that indium doping in silver oxide thin films enhance the ionicity.

  16. Studies on the electrical properties of reactive DC magnetron-sputtered indium-doped silver oxide thin films: The role of oxygen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subrahmanyam, A.; Barik, Ullash Kumar

    2007-01-01

    Indium (∼10 at.%)-doped silver oxide (AIO) thin films have been prepared on glass substrates at room temperature (300 K) by reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique using an alloy target made of pure (99.99%) silver and indium (90:10 at.%) metals. The oxygen flow rates have been varied in the range 0.00-3.44 sccm during sputtering. The X-ray diffraction data on these indium-doped silver oxide films show polycrystalline nature. With increasing oxygen flow rate, the carrier concentration, the Hall mobility and the electron mean free path decrease. These films show a very low positive temperature coefficient of resistivity ∼3.40x10 -8 ohm-cm/K. The work function values for these films (measured by Kelvin probe technique) are in the range 4.81-5.07 eV. The high electrical resistivity indicate that the films are in the island state (size effects). Calculations of the partial ionic charge (by Sanderson's theory) show that indium doping in silver oxide thin films enhance the ionicity

  17. Role of intericosahedral chains on the hardness of sputtered boron carbide films

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacobsohn, L.G.; Averitt, R.D.; Wetteland, C.J.; Schulze, R.K.; Nastasi, M.; Daemen, L.L.; Jenei, Z.; Asoka-Kumar, P.

    2004-01-01

    The relationship between the structure and mechanical properties of sputter-deposited boron carbide films was investigated. Changes in the structure induced by annealing were characterized in terms of chemical composition, chemical bonding, and concentrations of defects and trapped impurities. The creation of intericosahedral chains for higher annealing temperatures was revealed by infrared and Raman measurements, and the intensity of the infrared band at 1500 cm-1 was found to be related to the hardness. The presence of residual trapped Ar atoms and of open-volume defects is insensitive to relatively high annealing temperatures and does not influence the recovery of the hardness. Our results suggest postdeposition annealing as a pathway to enhance the mechanical properties of boron carbide films

  18. Effects of Sb-doping on the grain growth of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 thin films fabricated by means of single-target sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Shu; Wu, Lu; Yue, Ruoyu; Yan, Zongkai; Zhan, Haoran; Xiang, Yong

    2013-01-01

    To investigate the effects of Sb doping on the kinetics of grain growth in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) thin films during annealing, CIGS thin films were sputtered onto Mo coated substrates from a single CIGS alloy target, followed by chemical bath deposition of Sb 2 S 3 thin layers on top of CIGS layers and subsequent annealing at different temperatures for 30 min in Se vapors. X-ray diffraction results showed that CIGS thin films were obtained directly using the single-target sputtering method. After annealing, the In/Ga ratio in Sb-doped CIGS thin films remained stable compared to undoped film, possibly because Sb can promote the incorporation of Ga into CIGS. The grain growth in CIGS thin films was enhanced after Sb doping, exhibiting significantly larger grains after annealing at 400 °C or 450 °C compared to films without Sb. In particular, the effect was strikingly significant in grain growth across the film thickness, resulting in columnar grain structure in Sb-doped films. This grain growth improvement may be led by the diffusion of Sb from the front surface to the CIGS-Mo back interface, which promoted the mass transport process in CIGS thin films. - Highlights: ► Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) thin films made by sputtering from a single CIGS target. ► Chemical bath deposition used to introduce antimony into CIGS absorber layers. ► In/Ga ratio decreases in Sb-doped annealed films, comparatively to undoped films. ► Sb-doped CIGS films are superior to undoped films in terms of grain-growth kinetics

  19. Mechanical, tribological and corrosion properties of CrBN films deposited by combined direct current and radio frequency magnetron sputtering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jahodova, Vera; Ding, Xing-zhao; Seng, Debbie H.L.; Gulbinski, W.; Louda, P.

    2013-01-01

    Cr–B–N films were deposited on stainless steel substrates by a combined direct current and radio frequency (RF) reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering process using two elemental Cr and one compound BN targets. Boron content in the as-deposited films was qualitatively analyzed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Films' microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nanoindentation and pin-on-disk tribometer experiments. Corrosion behavior of the Cr–B–N films was evaluated by electrochemical potentiodynamic polarization method in a 3 wt.% NaCl solution. All the films were crystallized into a NaCl-type cubic structure. At lower RF power applied on the BN target (≤ 600 W), films are relatively randomly oriented, and films' crystallinity increased with increasing RF power. With increasing RF power further (≥ 800 W), films became (200) preferentially oriented, and films' crystallinity decreased gradually. With incorporation of a small amount of boron atoms into the CrN films, hardness, wear- and corrosion-resistance were all improved evidently. The best wear and corrosion resistance was obtained for the film deposited with 600 W RF power applied on the BN target. - Highlights: • CrBN films deposited by direct current and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. • CrBN exhibited higher hardness, wear- and corrosion-resistance than pure CrN. • The best wear- and corrosion-resistant film was deposited with 600 W RF power

  20. Friction and wear measurements of sputtered MoS/sub x/ films amorphized by ion bombardment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikkelsen, N.J.; Chevallier, J.; Soerensen, G.; Straede, C.A.

    1988-01-01

    The present study presents an experimental evidence for amorphization of rf sputtered MoS/sub x/ films by ion bombardment. Even at low doses (3 x 10 15 ions/cm 2 ) of 400 keV argon ions a complete amorphization was confirmed by x-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy. As a result of the ion bombardment the film density increased 100% to almost the bulk value for MoS 2 . The friction coefficient for ion beam amorphized MoS/sub x/ was measured to be 0.04 in agreement with the values reported for crystalline films but disagreeing considerably with the friction coefficient of 0.4 previously reported for amorphous films