Influence of p-layer on the performance of n-i-p μc-Si:H thin film solar cells

The high pressure radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) process was adopted to prepare the n-i-p microcrystalline silicon solar cells,the influence of p-type layers on the performance of the solar cells was investigated,and the optimum p layer suited to the n-i-p microcrystalline silicon solar cells was obtained.The experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the solar cells can be highly affected by the structural and optical properties of the p-layers,and the performance of solar cells can be greatly improved by optimizing p layers.We have achieved an initial active-area efficiency of 8.17% (V oc =0.49 V,J sc =24.9 mA/cm 2 ,FF=67%) for the μc-Si:H single-junction n-i-p solar cells and an initial active-area efficiency of 10.93% (V oc =1.31 V,J sc =13.09 mA/cm 2 ,FF=64%) for the a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem n-i-p solar cells.     

Fabrication of compositionally graded thin films by gravity-assisted pulsed laser ablation

A compositionally graded thin film of FeSi₂ was fabricated by a gravity-assisted pulsed laser ablation (GAPLA) system. By this method, a compositionally graded structure was successfully produced under a gravity field of 5400 G. We demonstrate that the atomic fraction of Fe, the heavier component of the thin film measured by scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), showed increasing spatial distribution with the direction of gravity. We found that optimal laser fluence exists to give a thin film having the largest possible spatial compositional gradient. We found that surface energy density on the substrate surface is the key parameter to control the composition distribution. Furthermore, the ratio of Fe/Si of the film did not match that of the target. This result shows that the Si component is selectively etched during the film-forming process. Relatively high laser fluence as well as a very narrow space between the target and the substrate are essential to etch the film once it is deposited, in order to re-ionize and etch Si selectively while gravity accelerates both Fe and Si particles to the direction of gravity. We hypothesize that this process accounts for both the change in the stoichiometry and the formation of composition distribution.     

Fabrication and performance of polymer–nanocomposite anti-reflective thin films deposited by RIR-MAPLE

Design of polymer anti-reflective (AR) optical coatings for plastic substrates is challenging because polymers exhibit a relatively narrow range of refractive indices. Here, we report synthesis of a four-layer AR stack using hybrid polymer:nanoparticle materials deposited by resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation. An Er:YAG laser ablated frozen solutions of a high-index composite containing TiO₂ nanoparticles and poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA), alternating with a layer of PMMA. The optimized AR coatings, with thicknesses calculated using commercial software, yielded a coating for polycarbonate with transmission over 97 %, scattering <3 %, and a reflection coefficient below 0.5 % across the visible range, with a much smaller number of layers than would be predicted by a standard thin film calculation. The TiO₂ nanoparticles contribute more to the enhanced refractive index of the high-index layers than can be accounted for by an effective medium model of the nanocomposite.     

A computer simulation of nucleation and growth of thin films

~~A computer simulation of nucleation and growth of thin films~~     

Fabrication and characterization of nanocrystalline Al,Co:ZnO thin films by a sol–gel dip coating

The consequence of annealing on the micro-structural and electrochemical characteristics of Al doped CoZnO thin films deposited by sol–gel dip coating technique are studied. X-ray diffraction indicates that films have a hexagonal wurtzite structure oriented towards the (100). Optical properties of films are recorded by transmission curves utilising a UV–VIS spectrophotometer. The investigation of the optical transmission spectra indicates that the band gap of the films decrease from 3.99 eV to minimum 3.83 eV upon annealing. All films show room temperature ferromagnetism whose magnetization increases with annealing. Dip coated films possess polycrystalline nanosized grains with porous morphology.     

Fabrication and characterization of pure and Sn/Sb-doped ZnO thin films deposited by sol–gel method

Undoped and doped ZnO thin films were prepared by sol–gel method and deposited on tin-doped indium oxides (ITO) substrate using spin coating technique. The effects of Sn and Sb dopants on structural and optical properties were investigated. The starting material was zinc acetate dihydrate, 2-methoxyethanol was used as solvent and monoethanolamine (MEA) as stabilizer. ZnO films were doped with 2% and 7% Sn and Sb concentrations. Optical measurements show an important effect of Sn and Sb dopants on optical band gap.     

Fabrication of c-Si：H（p）/c-Si（n） Heterojunction Solar Cells with Microcrystalline Emitters

The p-type microcrystalline silicon （μc-Si：H） on n-type crystalline silicon （c-Si） heterojunction solar cells is fabricated by radio-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition （rf-PECVD）. The effect of the μc- Si：Hp-layers on the performance of the heterojunction solar cells is investigated. Optimum μc-Si：H p-layer is obtained with hydrogen dil u tion ratio of 99.65 %, rf-power of 0. 08 W/cm^2 , gas phase doping ratio of 0. 125 %, and the p-layer thickness of 15nm. We fabricate μc-Si：H（p）/c-Si（n） heterojunction solar cells without texturing and obtained an efficiency of 13.4%. The comparisons of the solar-cell performances using different surface passivation techniques are discussed.     

Crystal growth of phosphor perovskite titanate thin films under excimer laser irradiation

Ca_0.997Pr_0.002TiO₃ (CPTO) thin films that show strong red luminescence were successfully prepared by means of an excimer laser assisted metal organic deposition (ELAMOD) process with a KrF laser at a fluence of 100 mJ/cm², a pulse duration of 26 ns, and a repetition rate of 20 Hz at 100°C in air. The CPTO films grew on the silica, borosilicate, and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glasses. The crystallinity of the CPTO films depended on the substrates; the films were well grown on the borosilicate and ITO glasses compared to the silica glass. To elucidate the key factors for the crystallization of the CPTO films in this process, we carried out numerical simulations for the temperature variation at the laser irradiation, using a heat diffusion equation, and compared the experimental data with thermal simulations. According to the results, we have shown that a large optical absorbance of the film and a small thermal conductivity of the substrate provide effective annealing time and temperature for the crystallization of the CPTO films, and polycrystalline intermediate layer which has a large optical absorption such as the ITO also plays a key role for the nucleation of the CPTO crystals in the ELAMOD process.     

Epitaxial growth of titanium oxide thin films on c-cut and α-cut sapphire substrates

C-cut and α-cut sapphire substrates are used to grow epitaxial titanium oxide films by pulsed-laser deposition at 700 °C under a controlled oxygen pressure in the 10⁻¹-10⁻⁵ mbar range. The rutile phase is evidenced in films whatever the substrate and the oxygen pressure while the anatase phase is only observed on c-cut sapphire substrate and for oxygen pressure down to 10⁻³ mbar. No other titanium oxide phases (i.e. TiO, Ti₂O₃ or Magneli phases) are identified despite the oxygen-deficiency observed in films grown at low oxygen pressure. According to asymmetric X-ray diffraction measurements performed on films, the main axis growth and the in-plane epitaxial relationships between titanium oxide films and sapphire substrates are found to be depending on the orientation of the sapphire basal plane and on the oxygen pressure. The anatase crystallites are highly oriented with the following epitaxial relationship . The rutile phase is (2 0 0) oriented on c-cut sapphire substrate and displays two distinct in-plane relationships: . The use of α-cut sapphire substrate leads to the growth of rutile crystallites (2 0 0) or (1 0 1) oriented. In these cases, the in-plane orientations are , respectively. For the two substrates used, schematic views of atomic arrangement of the different interfaces are proposed.     

Observation of the early stages of growth and the formation of growth spirals in epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films by AFM

Ultrathin epitaxial films of YBa₂Cu₃O_7– on SrTiO₃ prepared by Direct Current (DC) sputtering and pulsed laser deposition were imaged by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to follow the different stages of growth of the thin films. Series of films with thicknesses between 1.2 nm and 12 nm (1–10 monolayers of YBa₂Cu₃O_7–) were prepared under identical conditions, optimized with respect to electrical and structural properties, to obtain information on the mechanisms responsible for the formation of growth spirals which are commonly observed in films having a thickness of several 10 nm or more. It could be shown that few layers are formed by a layered growth mode where material is attached laterally to 2D islands which are only one c-axis unit cell in height. In a later stage of growth when about 8–10 layers have been formed, the growth process changes to a mode which is mediated by growth spirals. This could be directly monitored in the AFM images where different defect structures like vertically sheared growth fronts and dendrite-like terraces of stacked islands as well as the resulting growth spirals could be identified.     

Low-temperature growth of γ phase in thermally deposited In2Se3 thin films

In the present report, we have studied the structural and optical change in the In₂Se₃ thin films prepared by the thermal evaporation method, deposited on a glass substrate and annealed at 250°C. Both the structural and optical studies revealed the formation of γ-In₂Se₃ phase on annealing at such low temperature as 250°C which is not observed before. Raman analysis indicates that the as-prepared film consists of both α and γ-In₂Se₃ phases and the annealed film contains only γ-In₂Se₃ phase. The absorption mechanism in the studied film follows the direct allowed transition. The optical band gap is found to be decreased with annealing due to the increase in the width of localized states near to the band edges. Transmittance is found to be decreased and the absorption is increased with annealing due to the change in the film density which enhances its suitability for solar cell applications.     

Influence of growth morphology on the Néel temperature of CrRu thin films and heterostructures

Dimensionality effects on epitaxial and polycrystalline Cr_1?xRu_x alloy thin films and in Cr/Cr–Ru heterostructures are reported. X-ray analysis on Cr_0.9965Ru_0.0035 epitaxial films indicates an increase in the coherence length in growth directions (1 0 0) and (1 1 0) with increasing thickness (d), in the range 20≤d≤300 nm. Atomic force microscopy studies on these films shows pronounced vertical growth for d>50 nm, resulting in the formation of columnar structures. The Néel temperatures (T_N) of the Cr_0.9965Ru_0.0035 films show anomalous behaviour as a function of d at thickness d≈50 nm. It is interesting to note that this thickness corresponds to that for which a change in film morphology occurs. Experiments on epitaxial Cr_1?xRu_x thin films, with 0≤x≤0.013 and d=50 nm, give T_N–x curves that correspond well with that of bulk Cr_1?xRu_x alloys. Studies on Cr/Cr_0.9965Ru_0.0035 superlattices prepared on MgO(1 0 0), with the Cr layer thickness varied between 10 and 50 nm, keeping the Cr_0.9965Ru_0.0035 thickness constant at 10 nm, indicate a sharp decrease in T_N as the Cr separation layers reaches a thickness of 30 nm; ascribed to spin density wave pinning in the Cr layers for d<30 nm by the adjacent CrRu layers.     

The influence of SiNx substrate on crystallinity of μc-Si film used in thin film transistors

This paper found that the crystalline volume ratio （Xc） of μc-Si deposited on SiNx substrate is higher than that on 7059 glass. At the same silane concentration （SC） （for example, at SC=2%）, the Xc of μc-Si deposited on SiNx is more than 64%, but just 44% if deposited on Conning 7059. It considered that the ‘hills＇ on SiNx substrate would promote the crystalline growth of μc-Si thin film, which has been confirmed by atomic force microscope （AFM） observation. Comparing several thin film transistor （TFT） samples whose active-layer were deposited under various SC, this paper found that the appropriate SC for the μc-Si thin film used in TFT as active layer should be more than 2%, and Xc should be around 50%. Additionally, the stability comparison of μc-Si TFT and a-Si TFT is shown in this paper.     

Decay rate of a bound μ-meson

The decay rate of the bound -meson is calculated in the frame-work of the theory of weak interactions with spin-zero intermediary boson. It is shown that it decreases monotously with the atomic number of the -mesoatom, as required by the experiment.The thesis, of which this paper is a part, was worked out under the consistent guidance of Prof. V. Votruba, Dr. Sc., which is gratefully acknowledged.     

Determination of the optical parameters of a-Si:H thin films deposited by hot wire–chemical vapour deposition technique using transmission spectrum only

Three demonstration samples of intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films were deposited using hot wire–chemical vapour deposition (HW–CVD) technique. The optical parameters and the thickness were determined from the extremes of the interference fringes of transmission spectrum in the range of 400–2500 nm using the envelope method. The calculated values of the refractive index (n) were fitted using the two-term Cauchy dispersion relation and the static refractive index values (n ₀) obtained were 2.799, 2.629 and 3.043 which were in the range of the reported values. The calculated thicknesses for all samples were cross-checked with Taly-Step profilometer and found to be almost equal. Detailed analysis was carried out to obtain the optical band gap (E _g) using Tauc’s method and the estimated values were 1.99, 2.01 and 1.75 eV. The optical band gap values were correlated with the hydrogen content (C _H) in the samples calculated from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. An attempt was made to apply Wemple–DiDomenico single-effective oscillator model to the a-Si:H samples to calculate the optical parameters. The optical band gap obtained by Tauc’s method and the static refractive index calculated from Cauchy fitting are in good agreement with those obtained by the single-effective oscillator model. The real and the imaginary parts of dielectric constant (ε _r, ε _i), and the optical conductivity (σ) were also calculated.     

Characterization of CdS1−xSex thin films by chemical bath deposition technique

The cadmium sulfo selenide CdS_1?xSe_x thin films were chemical bath deposited in aqueous media onto coated glass substrates. As-deposited CdS_1?xSe_x thin films were annealed at 350 °C in air for 30 min. The structural, morphological, compositional and optical properties of deposited CdS_1?xSe_x thin films were studied using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDAX), and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer respectively. X-ray diffraction patterns of CdS_1?xSe_x thin films reveal the polycrystalline nature and hexagonal structure. The microstructural parameters such as crystallite size (D), micro strain (?), and dislocation density were calculated and found to depend on compositions. The surface morphology and grain size are found to be influenced with the annealing temperature. The presence of Cd, S and Se of the CdS_1?xSe_x thin films and the composition of CdS_1?xSe_x thin film are estimated by EDAX analysis. The optical transmittance and absorption spectra were recorded in the range 400–2500 nm. The band gap of the CdS_1?xSe_x thin films is found to decrease from 2.5 eV to 1.75 eV.     

Resonantly pumped 1.645 μm high repetition rate Er:YAG laser Q-switched by a graphene as a saturable absorber

A fiber laser resonantly pumped 1.645 μm passively Q-switched Er:YAG laser is reported. Graphene on a silicon carbide was used as the saturable absorber for the Q-switching. The pulse energy of the 1.645 μm Q-switched Er:YAG laser was 7.05 μJ, with a pulse repetition rate of 35.6 kHz and an average output power of 251 mW.     

Influence of deposition rate on the properties of ZrO_2 thin films prepared in electron beam evaporation method

ZrO2 thin films were prepared in electron beam thermal evaporation method. And the deposition rate changed from 1.3 to 6.3 nm/s in our study. X-ray diffractometer and spectrophotometer were employed to characterize the films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra pattern shows that films structure changed from amorphous to polycrystalline with deposition rate increasing. The results indicate that internal stresses of the films are compressive in most case. Thin films deposited in our study are inhomogeneous, and the inhomogeneity is enhanced with the deposition rate increasing.     

Preparation of high J c YBa2Cu3O7−δ superconducting thin films by ion beam sputtering deposition

Preparation of high T _c and high J _c YBa₂Cu₃O_7– superconducting thin films by ion beam sputtering deposition is reported. The main factors affecting the composition of the films and the orientation of the crystal grains have been examined. Experimental results show that the Y, Ba and Cu composition of as-deposited films can be conveniently and accurately adjusted by a combined sputtering target which consists of a large sintered target of YBa₂Cu₃O_7– and a small one that is Ba and Cu rich (YBa_2.5Cu_3.3O_x). Fabrication conditions of highly oriented superconducting thin films are described. YBa₂Cu₃O_7– superconducting films with zero resistance at 88–90.5K and critical current density J _c (at 77K) of 1.5×10⁵ A/cm² are obtained.     

TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF μc-Si:H FILMS PREPARED BY VERY HIGH HYDROGEN-DILUTED SILANE PLASMA

Highly hydrogen-diluted silane plasma is used to fabricate microcrystalline silicon films in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition system. X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman scattering spectroscopy are utilized to characterize their microstructure properties. Dark conductivity and drift mobility are measured by the travelling wave method. With the decreasing gas flow ratio of silane-to-hydrogen from 2% to 0.2%, the crystalline volume fraction and the drift mobility increase at room temperature. Meanwhile, the dark conductivity increases initially and then decreases. The relationship between the microstructures and transport properties is discussed.