Thin Film Counterelectrodes with High Li Charge Capacity for Electrochromic Windows

Summary.  Ce-V mixed oxide films have been deposited by RF sputtering with the aim of increasing the Li charge capacity of counter electrodes in smart windows. Such mixed oxides have shown high transmittance and optical passivity in the visible region. After electrode pre-conditioning by cyclic voltammetry, a good electrochemical reversibility in LiClO₄– propylene carbonate electrolyte was observed, and large Li-charge capacity under galvanostatic charging (up to 50 mCċcm⁻²) has been measured. The electrode charge capacity decreased after prolonged insertion-deinsertion cycles, whereas the photoptic transmittance remained about constant. After 800 cycles the Li-charge capacity decreased to 40 mCċcm⁻². The Li diffusion coefficient inside the films measured by electrochemical impedance and by galvanostatic titration ranged from 10⁻¹¹ cm²ċs⁻¹ to 10⁻¹³cm²ċs⁻¹. We observed that the Li charge capacity of the film electrodes is a function of the film deposition conditions, because it increased with the vanadium oxide concentration in the target and with the oxygen content in the sputtering atmosphere. Received June 23, 2000. Accepted (revised) August 7, 2000     

Fabrication of uniform porous alumina materials by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering

Fabrication of porous materials with uniform pore size distribution remains a challenge. In this paper, a kind of uniform porous alumina material was fabricated on a template of polystyrene microspheres by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. Surface of samples was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the phase of porous materials was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The pore size distribution of samples was tested by mercury intrusion method.     

Anisotropic energy distribution of sputtered atoms induced by low energy heavy ion bombardment

The theory of anisotropic sputtering published in Phys. Rev. B 71(2), 026101 (2005) and Radiat. Effects Defects Solids 159(5), 301 (2004) has been modified and used to calculate the sputtering yield energy distributions for copper, tungsten, and aluminum targets bombarded by low-energy argon ion. As usual, the electronic stopping is ignored in the analysis. The present theory (modified Sigmund’s theory) has been shown to fit the corresponding experimental results of sputtering yield energy distributions well, except for the cases where the larger ion incident angle and larger sputtering emission angles were considered. The larger discrepancy between the present theory and the experimental result in the latter cases is probably due to the influence of direct recoil atoms on the energy spectrum. Compared with Falcone’s analytical theory, the present theory can reproduce much better experimental results of sputtering phenomena. The fact clearly demonstrates the intrinsic relation between the ion–energy dependence of the total sputtering yield and the sputtering yield energy distribution and suggests the great importance of momentum deposited on the target surface in the physical sputtering     

Effects of post-annealing on crystalline and transport properties of Bi_2Te_3 thin films

A well-established method is highly desirable for growing topological insulator thin films with low carrier density on a wafer-level scale. Here, we present a simple, scalable method based on magnetron sputtering to obtain high-quality Bi_2 Te_3 films with the carrier density down to 4.0 × 10~(13) cm~(-2). In contrast to the most-used method of high substrate temperature growth, we firstly sputtered Bi_2 Te_3 thin films at room temperature and then applied post-annealing. It enables the growth of highly-oriented Bi_2 Te_3 thin films with larger grain size and smoother interface. The results of electrical transport show that it has a lower carrier density as well as a larger coherent length(～ 228 nm, 2 K). Our studies pave the way toward large-scale, cost-effective production of Bi_2 Te_3 thin films to be integrated with other materials in wafer-level scale for electronic and spintronic applications.     

Band offsets and electronic properties of the Ga2O3/FTO heterojunction via transfer of free-standing Ga2O3 onto FTO/glass

The determination of band offsets is crucial in the optimization of Ga₂O₃-based devices, since the band alignment types could determine the operations of devices due to the restriction of carrier transport across the heterogeneous interfaces. In this work, the band offsets of the Ga₂O₃/FTO heterojunction are studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) based on Kraut's method, which suggests a staggered type-Ⅱ alignment with a conduction band offset (ΔE_C) of 1.66 eV and a valence band offset (ΔE_V) of -2.41 eV. Furthermore, the electronic properties of the Ga₂O₃/FTO heterostructure are also measured, both in the dark and under ultraviolet (UV) illuminated conditions (254 nm UV light). Overall, this work can provide meaningful guidance for the design and construction of oxide hetero-structured devices based on wide-bandgap semiconducting Ga₂O₃.     

Influence of metal electrodes on c‐axis orientation of AlN thin films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

Nanocrystalline aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films were deposited on two types of metallic seed layers on silicon substrates, (111) textured Pt and (110) Mo, by reactive DC magnetron sputtering at low temperature (200 °C). Both textured films of Pt and Mo promote nucleation, thereby improving the crystallinity and epitaxial growth condition for AlN thin films. The deposited films were examined by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. The results indicated that the preferred orientation of crystallites greatly depends upon the kinetic energy of the sputtered species (target power) and seed layers used. Furthermore, AlN thin films with c‐axis perpendicular to the substrate grew on both types of metal electrodes at all power levels larger than 100 W. By comparing the structural properties and compressive stresses at perfect c‐axis orientation conditions, it is evident that AlN films deposited on (110) oriented Mo substrates exhibited superior properties as compared with Pt/Ti seed layers. Furthermore, less values of compressive stresses (?3 GPa) as compared with Pt/Ti substrates (?7.08 GPa) make Mo preferentially better candidate to be employed in the field of suspended Micro/Nano ‐ electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) for piezoelectric devices. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of SIMS ionization probability on depth resolution for organic/inorganic interfaces

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) relies on the fact that surface particles ejected from a solid surface are ionized under ion bombardment. By comparing the signal of molecular secondary ions desorbed from an organic film with that of the corresponding sputtered neutral precursor molecules, we investigate the variation of the molecular ionization probability when depth profiling through the film to the substrate interface. As a result, we find notable variations of the ionization probability both at the original surface and in the interface region, leading to a strong distortion of the measured SIMS depth profile. The experiments show that the effect can act in two ways, leading either to an apparent broadening or to an artificial sharpening of the observed film‐substrate transition. As a consequence, we conclude that care must be taken when assessing interface location, width, or depth resolution from a molecular SIMS depth profile.     

柔性不锈钢基底上一维TiO_2纳米线薄膜的制备及表征

采用直流磁控溅射的方法在柔性不锈钢基底(50μm)上沉积纯钛薄膜,后在NaOH碱溶液中经水热法制备了非钛基大长径比的一维TiO2纳米线薄膜,并通过场发射扫描电子显微镜(FESEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)以及光电化学的方法对不锈钢基一维TiO2纳米线薄膜进行了表征.结果表明,纯钛薄膜的致密度、结晶性能以及与基底的结合强度均随衬底温度的升高而加强;在10mol·L-1NaOH浓度下,生长一维TiO2纳米线结构的适宜温度为130-150℃;TiO2纳米线长度达到几个微米,直径在10-30nm之间,并且相互交叉生长,构成一个三维网络结构.此外,在Na2SO4溶液中对TiO2纳米线薄膜进行了线性扫描和瞬态光电流测试,结果表明,一维TiO2纳米线薄膜电极较TiO2纳米颗粒电极表现出更优异的光电化学性能.这种磁控溅射与水热反应相结合的方法,为非钛异质基底上制备一维TiO2纳米线薄膜提供了新的思路.     

射频磁控溅射法制备N掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜的光学特性

在不同氨分压比(0～30％)下,用射频磁控溅射法在玻璃和硅衬底上制备了N掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜.研究了氨分压比和退火对薄膜光学和结构特性的影响.N掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜的微结构、光学透过率、光学吸收和光学带隙随着氨分压比的增加发生了显著变化.观察到了绿光、蓝光和紫外发光带,并对每个发光带进行了讨论.     

退火对TiO2薄膜形貌、结构及光学特性影响

利用射频磁控溅射技术在熔融石英基片上制备TiO<,2>薄膜,采用X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、拉曼光谱以及透过谱研究了退火温度和退火气氛对TiO<,2>薄膜的结构、形貌和光学特性的影响.实验结果表明:在大气环境下退火,退火温度越.高,薄膜晶化越好,晶粒明显长大,温度高于700℃退火的薄膜,金红石相已明显形成.实验还发现,退火气氛对金红石相的形成是非常重要的,拉曼光谱反应出Ar气氛退火,抑制了金红石晶相的发育,薄膜仍以锐钛矿相为主.Ar气氛退火的薄膜在可见光范围内的透过率比大气退火的要低,并且由透过率曲线推知:金红石的光学带隙约为2.8 eV,比锐钛矿的光学带隙小0.2 eV.