Macroscopic intrinsic stress formation in amorphous CuTi films

During the growth of amorphous CuTi films prepared under UHV conditions onto quartz substrates, macroscopic intrinsic stresses are generated. The intrinsic stresses are measured in situ as a function of the film thickness for a wide range of substrate temperatures and film compositions. Depending on the preparation conditions, compressive stresses during the early growth stages and thickness-independent tensile stresses at higher thicknesses are observed. Films with Cu-content above 50 at% deposited at room temperature do not generate any detectable intrinsic stresses. The results are discussed in terms of a model for the growth of amorphous binary alloy films published earlier.     

Annealing effect on microstructure and mechanical properties of amorphous Al-C-N films

Al-C-N thin films with different Al contents were deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrates by closed-field unbalanced reactive magnetron sputtering in the mixture of argon and nitrogen gases. These films were subsequently vacuum-annealed at 700 °C and 1000 °C, respectively. The microstructures of as-deposited and annealed films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM); while the hardness and elastic modulus values were measured by nano-indention method. The results indicated that the microstructure of both as-deposited and annealed Al-C-N films strongly depended on Al content. For thin films at low Al content, film delamination rather than crystallization occurred after the sample was annealed at 1000 °C. For thin films at high Al content, annealing led to the formation of AlN nanocrystallites, which produced nanocomposites of AlN embedded into amorphous matrices. Both the density and size of AlN nanocrystallites were found to decrease with increasing depth from the film surface. With increasing of annealing temperature, both hardness and elastic modulus values were decreased; this trend was decreased at high Al content. Annealing did not change elastic recovery property of Al-C-N thin films.     

Thickness-dependent crystallization behavior of fast-growth phase-change amorphous films

The crystallization behavior of amorphous films embedded in substrates with thickness of several nanometers is investigated based on a thermodynamic model. It is found that there is an optimum layer thickness where the crystallization speed of the films is maximized with the lowest energy barrier for crystallization. This is induced by an energetic change from glass/substrate interface energy to crystal/substrate interface energy as the crystal size is larger than the film thickness during the crystallization. Thus, the crystallization speed in thin films is affected by its thickness.     

Structure and tribological properties of amorphous carbon films deposited by electrochemical method on GCr15 steel substrate

Amorphous carbon films were deposited on GCr15 steel substrates by electrolysis of methanol, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and the methanol-DMSO intermixture electrolytes, respectively, under high voltage and low temperature conditions. The microstructure and wear morphology of the deposited films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (EDX), respectively. The tribological properties of the films were evaluated using a ball-on-disk rotating friction tester under dry friction condition. The results show that the films deposited by electrodeposition technique on GCr15 steel substrates are amorphous carbon films. It is also found that the electrolytes have an obvious influence on the tribological properties of the deposited films with the electrodeposition method. The tribological properties of the films deposited with the intermixture electrolyte are better than those of the films deposited by other pure electrolytes. The related growth mechanism of the films in the liquid-phase electrodeposition is discussed as well in this study. Via the reaction of the CH₃ groups with each other to form carbon network and reaction of the CH₃ and SO²⁺ groups to achieve the doping of sulfur atom in the carbon network, respectively, in other words, amorphous carbon films can be obtained on GCr15 steel substrates by electrodeposition technique.     

Optical properties of amorphous films

We have analyzed the optical properties of a-Ge_30-xSb_xS₇₀ chalcogenide glass films (x=0,10,20 and 30 at%); the chalcogenide films were prepared by vacuum thermal evaporation. The optical-absorption data indicate that the absorption mechanism is non-direct transition. We found that the optical band gap, E_opt, decreases from 2.04±0.01 to 1.74±0.01 eV, whereas the refractive index increases with increasing Sb content. Data are analyzed by the Wemple equation, which is based on the single-oscillator model.     

Solution processed amorphous InGaZnO semiconductor thin films and transistors

Amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) semiconductor thin films and transistors were deposited on alkali-free glasses by the sol–gel route. The atomic ratio of In:Ga:Zn in the solution was 0.7:0.3:1. In this study, the effects of annealing temperature on the structural, surface condition, optical transmittance, and electrical resistivity of a-IGZO semiconductor thin films were investigated. GIXRD measurements and TEM-NBD analysis indicated that all annealed IGZO thin films had an amorphous phase structure. The dried IGZO sol–gel films annealed at a temperature higher than 425 °C had a flat surface and exhibited high transparency (>89%) in the visible region. According to results from TGA, FT-IR and XPS, the residual organic compounds in the dried IGZO sol–gel films were completely removed at the annealing temperatures higher than 450 °C. Therefore, we chose the 450 °C annealed thin film as the active channel layer in the bottom-gate, bottom-contact (BGBC) thin-film transistor (TFT) in the present study. Current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the 450 °C annealed a-IGZO TFT revealed that it operated in n-type behavior with a positive threshold voltage (enhancement mode).     

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利用在线椭偏仪对非晶碳氢膜进行了光学常数、沉积率和刻蚀率的测量。在无直流负偏压或偏压较小时,薄膜呈现聚合物结构,折射率和消光系数较小;当增加直流负偏压时,薄膜的折射率和消光系数显著提高,所成膜为硬质非晶碳氢膜。在以CH4作为气源进行沉积时,随着偏压的增加,沉积率先升高再降低,在偏压为-100V时,沉积率为最大。H2/N2(30%N2)的混合气体的刻蚀率要比单独用H2作为刻蚀气体的刻蚀率要大。对于CH4/N2(30%N2),在偏压从0V增加到300V过程中,在大约50V时,基底上的薄膜有一个从沉积到刻蚀的转化过程。     

Photocrystallization in amorphous thin films of Se70Te30−xCdx

Summary The present paper reports a study of photocrystallization in a-Se₇₀Te_30−xCd_x films (0≤x≤4). The photocrystallization is achieved by shining white light at room temperature for different exposure times. The results indicate that the photocrystallization is suppressed on addition of Cd in binary Se₇₀Te₃₀ system. This is explained in terms of the structure of Se-Te-Cd system. Work supported by University Grants Commission. The authors of this paper have agreed to not receive the proofs for correction.     

Nanomechanical characterization of amorphous hydrogenated carbon thin films

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) thin films deposited on a silicon substrate under various mixtures of methane-hydrogen gas by electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (ECR-MPCVD) was investigated. Microstructure, surface morphology and mechanical characterizations of the a-C:H films were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nanoindentation technique, respectively. The results indicated there was an increase of the hydrogen content, the ratio of the D-peak to the G-peak (I_D/I_G) increased but the surface roughness of the films was reduced. Both hardness and Young's modulus increased as the hydrogen content was increased. In addition, the contact stress-strain analysis is reported. The results confirmed that the mechanical properties of the amorphous hydrogenated carbon thin films improved using a higher H₂ content in the source gas.     

Analyzing in-plane magnetic anisotropy from surface morphology for amorphous films

A method is developed to analyze the in-plane magnetic anisotropy from surface morphology for amorphous films. The lateral sizes along radial direction (R_RD) and tangent direction (R_TD) of rotational substrate, which are extracted from the surface morphology of Co_66.3Zr_33.7 amorphous films, are used to calculate stress anisotropy energy E_σ. It is found that E_σ is consistent with the magnetic anisotropy energy K_μ for the samples deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrate and then a relationship K_μ ∝ 1/R_RD − 1/R_TD can be obtained. This method is sensitive to the initial state of substrate so its application range is discussed.     

Investigation of nonlinear optical parameters of zinc based amorphous chalcogenide films

Third order nonlinear optical properties of amorphous Zn_x–S_y–Se_100−x−y chalcogenide films have been investigated using single beam transmission z-scan technique at 1064 nm of Nd:YAG laser. Measurement of optical properties of amorphous Zn_x–S_y–Se_100−x−y chalcogenide films prepared by thermal evaporation technique has been made. X-ray diffraction patterns of chalcogenide films confirm the amorphous nature. Optical band gap (E_g) has been estimated using Tauc's plot method from transmission spectra that is found to decrease with increase in content due to valence band broadening and band tailing the system. Nonlinear refractive index (n₂), nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) and third order nonlinear susceptibility (χ³) of chalcogenide films have been estimated. Self-focusing effect has been observed in closed aperture and reverse saturable absorption in open aperture scheme. Limiting threshold and dynamic range have been calculated from optical limiting studies. The increase in nonlinearity with increase in Zn content has been observed that is understood to be due to decrease in band gap on Zn doping. High nonlinearity makes these films a potential candidate for waveguides, fibers and two photon absorption in optical limiters.     

Improvement in electrical and photovoltaic properties of a-Si/c-Si heterojunction with slanted nano-columnar amorphous silicon thin films for photovoltaic applications

The flat a-Si and slanted nanocolumnar (S-nC) a-Si thin films were prepared on c-Si and corning glass substrates by e-beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) technique. The structural properties of all the grown thin films were determined by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and Raman spectroscopy. Surface and cross-sectional morphology of a-Si/c-Si and S-nC a-Si/c-Si heterojunctions were investigated by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). Sculptured thin films demonstrate potential for significant nanoscale applications in the area of thin film technology. The electrical and photovoltaic properties of these heterojunctions have been investigated by means of dc current–voltage (I–V) measurements at room temperature in dark and light conditions. The S-nC STFs' performance has been found to be improvable on changing the morphology of the thin film. We have found that, the porous morphology of this structure improves the photosensitivity features in photovoltaic devices and solar cell technology. We gained a high open voltage value, such as 900 mV in S-nC a-Si/c-Si thin film, without any doping process.     

The microstructures and electrical properties of Y-doped amorphous vanadium oxide thin films

One of promising approaches for further improving the sensitivity of microbolometer arrays with greatly-reduced pixel size is using the thermal-sensitive materials with higher performance. In this paper, Y-doped vanadium oxide (VO_x) thin films prepared by a reactively sputtering process exhibit enhanced performance for the microbolometer application compared with frequently-applied VO_x thin films. Both undoped and Y-doped VO_x thin films are amorphous due to the relatively low deposition temperature. Y-doped VO_x thin films exhibit smoother surface morphology than VO_x due to the restrained expansion of particles during depositions. Y-doping increases the temperature coefficient of resistivity by over 20% for the doping level of 1.30 at%. The change rate of resistivity, after aging for 72 h, of thin films was reduced from about 15% for undoped VO_x to 2% due to the introduction of Y. Moreover, Y-doped VO_x thin films have a low 1/f noise level as VO_x ones. Y-doping provides an attractive approach for preparing VO_x thermal-sensitive materials with enhanced performance for microbolometers.     

Effects of Cr doping on physical properties of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O films

Amorphous thin films of InGaZnO₄ (a-IGZO) doped with Cr have been fabricated by using pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). The electrical, optical and magnetic properties of Cr-doped a-IGZO films grown at 25 °C and 150 °C were investigated. The conductivity, optical transmission and band gap of films are remarkably enhanced by increasing the growth temperature. Conductivity, carrier concentration and mobility decrease with increasing the Cr content. However, the optical transmission and band gap are not significantly affected by Cr doping. Moreover, all Cr-doped films exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetism.     

Control of wettability of hydrogenated amorphous carbon thin films by laser-assisted micro- and nanostructuring

A flexible and rapid surface functionalization of amorphous carbon films shows a great potential for various application fields such as biological surfaces and tribological systems. For this purpose, the combination of thin film deposition and subsequent laser material processing was investigated. Amorphous carbon layers doped with hydrogen were deposited on silicon wafers by reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering. Films with three different hydrogen contents were synthesized. Subsequent to the thin film deposition process, UV laser material processing at wavelengths of 193 nm or 248 nm was performed with respect to chemical surface modification and surface structuring on micro- and nanometer scale. Depending on structure size and laser-induced chemical surface modification the adjustment of the surface energy and wetting behaviour in a broad range from hydrophobic to hydrophilic was possible. The chemical modification and the ablation mechanisms near the ablation threshold were strongly influenced by the hydrogen content in amorphous carbon thin films.Structural and chemical information of the as-deposited and modified films was obtained by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measurements.     

Characterization of amorphous organic thin films, determination of precise model for spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements

The optical properties of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃), N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-bis(1-naphthyl)-1-1′biphenyl-4,4″diamine (α-NPD) and other amorphous organic materials for OLEDs application, e.g. 4,4-bis(2,2-diphenyl vinyl)-1,1-biphenyl (DPVBI) and Spiro-DPVBI have been studied by multi-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The thin films of these materials have been deposited by organic vapor phase deposition (OVPD). The structural characterization has been performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray reflectometry (XRR). Comparison of the measurements using these different independent techniques enables the precise determination of the optical model for dielectric function of these thin films. The detail analyses on Alq₃ and α-NPD show that the Kim model with Gaussian broadening provides a significantly better fit to the ellipsometry data than the frequently used harmonic oscillator model. This conclusion is further proved by performing similar measurements on other amorphous organic samples for OLEDs application, e.g. DPVBI and Spiro-DPVBI. This result can be explained by the characteristic features of electronic states in organic molecules.     

Preparation and characterizations of amorphous nanostructured SiC thin films by low energy pulsed laser deposition

Amorphous silicon carbide (SiC) thin films were deposited on silicon substrates by pulsed laser ablation at room temperature. Thicknesses and surface morphology of the thin films were characterized using optical profilers, atomic force and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Nanohardnes, modulus and scratch resistance properties were determined using XP nanoindenter. The results show that crack free, smooth and nanostructured thin films can be deposited using low laser energy densities.     

Solid-phase crystallization of amorphous Si films on glass and Si wafer

When amorphous silicon films deposited on glass by physical or chemical vapor deposition are annealed, they undergo crystallization by nucleation and growth. The growth rate of Si crystallites is the highest in their 〈111〉 directions along or nearly along the film surface. The directed crystallization is likely to develop the 〈110〉//ND or 〈111〉//ND oriented Si crystallites. As the annealing temperature increases, the equiaxed crystallization increases, which in turn increases the random orientation. When amorphous Si is under a stress of the order of 0.1 GPa at about 540 °C, the tensile stress increases the growth rate of Si grains, whereas the compressive stress decreases the growth rate. However, the crystal growth rate increases with the increasing hydrostatic pressure, when the pressure is of the order of GPa at 530–540 °C. These phenomena have been discussed based on the directed crystallization model advanced before, which has been further elaborated.     

Structural and optoelectronic properties of amorphous GaN thin films

Amorphous gallium nitride (a-GaN) thin films were deposited on glass substrate by electron beam evaporation technique at room temperature and high vacuum using N ₂ as carrier gas. The structural properties of the films was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was clear from XRD spectra and SEM study that the GaN thin films were amorphous. The absorbance, transmittance and reflectance spectra of these films were measured in the wavelength range of 300–2200 nm. The absorption coefficient spectral analysis in the sharp absorption region revealed a direct band gap of E _g = 3:1 eV. The data analysis allowed the determination of the dispersive optical parameters by calculating the refractive index. The oscillator energy E ₀ and the dispersion energy E _d, which is a measure of the average strength of inter-band optical transition or the oscillator strength, were determined. Electrical conductivity of a-GaN was measured in a different range of temperatures. Then, activation energy of a-GaN thin films was calculated which equalled E _a = 0:434 eV.