Thin Solid Films最新文献

{"title":"Enhanced crystallinity of (Sr,Ba)Nb2O6 films on sapphire and alumina substrates","authors":"A.V. Tumarkin ,&nbsp;L.I. Ivleva ,&nbsp;K.A. Prokhorov ,&nbsp;I.A. Novikov ,&nbsp;V.V. Voronov ,&nbsp;P.A. Lykov ,&nbsp;A.O. Yakushev ,&nbsp;A. Bogdan ,&nbsp;E.N. Sapego","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140528","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140528","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Barium-strontium niobate in thin film form can be considered as a prospective ferroelectric material for microwave applications due to high dielectric nonlinearity. Its performance is linked to film structure quality, and one method to achieve high-quality films on microwave substrates goes through the process of annealing. (Sr,Ba)Nb₂O₆ films of good crystallinity were formed on sapphire and alumina substrates by magnetron sputtering. The processes of recrystallization of films on single- and polycrystalline substrates under the conditions of <em>ex situ</em> annealing at temperatures of 1100–1200 °C were studied. Highly (00<em>l</em>) oriented films on sapphire substrate were obtained by the deposition in oxygen atmosphere at a substrate temperature of 900 °C with post-growth annealing in air at an annealing temperature of 1150 °C.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"806 ","pages":"Article 140528"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142229087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterization of MoS2:Nb sputtered thin films. An application as hole transport layer in Cu2ZnSnS4/Si tandem solar cells","authors":"Claudia Malerba,&nbsp;Matteo Valentini,&nbsp;Francesca Menchini,&nbsp;Daniele Mirabile Gattia,&nbsp;Enrico Salza,&nbsp;Alberto Mittiga","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140527","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140527","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>MoS₂:Nb films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering are investigated in view of their application in infrared (IR)-transparent contacts for tandem photovoltaic devices.</p><p>This material is already known to give a good electrical contact with p-type chalcogenide semiconductors, which are typically grown onto opaque molybdenum metallic contacts and a MoS₂ layer spontaneously forms at the back interface during the on-top semiconductor growth. Our study explores a different approach, which involves the direct growth of IR-transparent MoS₂:Nb films via sputtering inside complete photovoltaic devices, like Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS)-based single junction solar cells and CZTS/Si tandem devices. Films deposited at different sputtering pressures are compared by analysing their microstructure, morphology, chemical composition, optical and electrical properties. The effects of post-deposition sulfurization treatments are also investigated. We find that MoS₂:Nb films deposited at around 0.1 Pa exhibit compactness but show a notable sulfur deficit ([S]/[Mo]≈1.4), a significant sub-bandgap optical absorptance and lack of crystallinity. Increasing the Ar pressure to 1 Pa raises the [S]/[Mo] ratio to 2.2, yielding crystalline films with good IR-transparency, although with a porous morphology. Despite 0.5 wt% Nb-doping of the sputtering target, the as-deposited films demonstrate n-type conductivity likely due to uncontrolled impurities and intrinsic defects. Ultraviolet Photoemission Spectroscopy measurements suggest that films’ work function higher than 5 eV can be obtained with a post-deposition sulfurization, making these materials suitable as Hole Transport Layer in photovoltaic applications. A similar increase in work function is expected in the CZTS/MoS₂ junctions, since the sputtered MoS₂:Nb films undergo a sulfurization process needed to obtain the overlying polycrystalline CZTS absorber.</p><p>CZTS solar cells produced with sputtered MoS₂ and Transparent Conductive Oxides contacts on glass substrates, despite plagued by severe adhesion problems, show the potentiality to give efficiencies comparable to reference devices with standard Mo back contact. Fabrication of CZTS/Si tandem devices on textured silicon bottom cells yields a maximum efficiency of 4.4 %, primarily hindered by the low quality of the CZTS film on textured substrates. Nonetheless, optoelectronic characterizations based on both spectrophotometric and quantum efficiency measurements confirm a good IR transparency of the MoS₂-based intermediate contacts and the desired electrical behaviour.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"806 ","pages":"Article 140527"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040609024003286/pdfft?md5=a7f83c05eaea1e3e6bb97f4e5ec4e5a6&pid=1-s2.0-S0040609024003286-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142239967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of amorphous zinc oxide on structural changes in a gold nanolayer after annealing","authors":"Petro Lytvyn,&nbsp;Olexandr Gudimenko,&nbsp;Volodymyr Maslov,&nbsp;Andrii Korchovyi,&nbsp;Natalia Kachur","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140518","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140518","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study aimed to investigate the impact of an amorphous zinc oxide nanolayer, approximately 5 nm thick, on the results of surface plasmon resonance measurements of the air refractive index and to assess structural changes in the underlying gold nanolayer before and after annealing. We compared the properties of the samples after annealing under two conditions: one with only the gold nanolayer in its as-deposited state on the substrate, and another with an additional amorphous zinc oxide nanolayer on top. The findings revealed that during the concurrent formation of zinc oxide via sol-gel technology on gold nanofilms and annealing at 773 K for 30 min, the zinc oxide formed an amorphous film with a thickness of 5 nm. This layer effectively protected the gold from oxidation and significantly reduced microdeformation levels from 1.51 % to 0.005 %. The surface roughness of this film was measured at 5 Å.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"806 ","pages":"Article 140518"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142161756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intensity shift correction for thin film optical parameter determination","authors":"Lingjie Fan ,&nbsp;Junyi Ye ,&nbsp;Ang Jiang ,&nbsp;Jingyi Zhao ,&nbsp;Maoxiong Zhao ,&nbsp;Haiwei Yin ,&nbsp;Lei Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140519","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140519","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In recent years, many approaches have been proposed to extract optical parameters from the spectrum of thin films and have been rapidly adopted in scientific research and industrial applications. In most cases, there are unavoidable intensity shifts in the measured thin film spectra, which lead to measurement errors in the analysis of optical parameters, especially if the instrument is not calibrated. Here we try to solve this problem from an algorithmic point of view and develop a model with a scaling factor to eliminate the effect of the intensity shift in the fitting process. In the fitting process, the scaling factor can be determined from the difference between the envelope of the thin film spectrum and the spectrum of the bare substrate, along with the extraction of optical parameters. By using the scaling factor, it is shown that the thickness results of our model are more consistent over repeated measurements of the same thin film sample than those without the scaling factor. And the standard deviation of the measured thickness decreases by as much as 89% for certain types of experimental configurations. We also characterized the thin film sample using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). A good agreement is observed between the TEM results (700.72 nm) and the results of our model (701.6 nm).</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"806 ","pages":"Article 140519"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142239966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Applicability of energy-theta mapping in resonant soft X-ray reflectometry to probe depth dependence of oxidation state and crystallographic environment in iron oxide multilayers","authors":"P.A. Dvortsova,&nbsp;S.M. Suturin","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140517","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140517","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the present paper we discuss applicability of the synchrotron method of resonant x-ray reflectometry to non-destructive depth profiling of multilayer heterostructures with low optical contrast between the sublayers. The two-dimensional mapping approach comprising evaluation and measurement of reflectance as a function of photon energy and grazing angle is shown to provide a convenient way to effectively utilize the enhancement of optical contrast between the sublayers that exists at the absorption edges of chemical elements due to particular spectral shape peculiarities related to oxidation state, crystallographic environment and magnetization. In the present study the evaluation of the resonant X-ray reflectivity maps is performed using a specially developed modeling and fitting software. Estimation of the photon energy / grazing angle combinations at which the reflectance is most sensitive to the minor changes in the physical properties of the sublayers is illustrated by the example of ferroic-on-semiconductor nanoscale heterostructures composed of nanoscale film of metallic iron oxidized from either top or bottom side. The subtle differences in resonant soft x-ray reflectance caused by variation of the oxide film thickness, oxidation state and crystallographic environment are discussed. The presented approach is applicable to a large class of heterostructures composed of sublayers that can be distinguished only by the differences in their near edge X-ray absorption fine structure.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"806 ","pages":"Article 140517"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142149542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synthesis of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework 67 thin film coatings on cobalt discs","authors":"Jose J. Delgado-Marín ,&nbsp;Francisco Montilla ,&nbsp;Javier Narciso ,&nbsp;Enrique V. Ramos-Fernández","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140515","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140515","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), and specifically Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs), have emerged as promising materials in cutting-edge applications such as gas separation, energy storage, and catalysis, due to their tunable porosity and high surface area. Among these, ZIF-67, composed of cobalt ions and 2-methylimidazolate, stands out for its chemical and structural stability. However, the synthesis of ZIF-67 thin films has faced significant challenges that limit their practical application. This work introduces a technique for depositing ZIF-67 thin films on cobalt discs by immersing them in an aqueous solution of 2-methylimidazole with carefully adjusted pH levels. Our methodology not only simplifies the synthesis process but also opens alternative avenues for the efficient and cost-effective fabrication of thin-film monoliths and other devices. This research represents a significant advance in the synthesis of MOFs, demonstrating the potential of ZIF-67 in industrial and technological applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"806 ","pages":"Article 140515"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004060902400316X/pdfft?md5=aea42874af7d6d8eb26f8027b027f0b5&pid=1-s2.0-S004060902400316X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142149543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative analysis of structural characteristics and thermal insulation properties of ZrO2 thin films deposited via chemical and physical vapor phase processes","authors":"Alexandre Jaud ,&nbsp;Laura Montalban Palmares ,&nbsp;Alice Ravaux ,&nbsp;Abderrahime Sekkat ,&nbsp;Diane Samélor ,&nbsp;Hugues Vergnes ,&nbsp;Anne-Catherine Brulez ,&nbsp;Stéphane Benayoun ,&nbsp;Constantin Vahlas ,&nbsp;Brigitte Caussat","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140516","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140516","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>ZrO₂ is a flagship material for the development of efficient thermal barrier coatings not only for aerospace applications but also on steel molds for plastic injection, especially to produce high quality miniaturized parts of low environmental impacts. In the present study, ZrO₂ thin films of thicknesses ranging between 4 and 40 μm were deposited on steel substrates by two key gas phase technologies, magnetron sputtering (PVD) and direct liquid injection metal organic CVD (DLI-MOCVD). The film morphology, structure and chemical composition were comparatively investigated and correlated to their heat transfer properties. All films were nearly stoichiometric and presented a columnar structure mainly formed of the monoclinic crystalline phase. The magnetron sputtering coatings were denser and smoother than the CVD ones, for which highly porous tree-like microstructures were observed without degradation of their mechanical properties. All films exhibited efficient thermal insulation properties, the thickest 40 µm magnetron sputtering coating displaying the most significant reduction in heat transfer. The CVD films provided the highest thermal gradient decrease across their thickness, probably thanks to their higher porosity associated to a multi-angle tree-like columnar structure, both acting as scattering zones of phonons involved in heat flow diffusion. By controlling the local deposition conditions influencing the nucleation and growth mechanisms, the film porous microstructure can thus be tuned to optimize the coating thermal properties.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"805 ","pages":"Article 140516"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142129138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of crystallite size and impurity density on the grain structure evolution of electroplated copper films during thermal and laser annealing","authors":"Silin Han,&nbsp;Chongyang Li,&nbsp;Yuhang Chen,&nbsp;Yunwen Wu,&nbsp;Ming Li,&nbsp;Tao Hang","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140514","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140514","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In this paper, the changes in microstructure and conductivity of the films before and after thermal and laser annealing are observed, which corresponds to various combinations of crystallite sizes and impurity densities. The results show that the impurities promote grain boundary migration at larger initial crystallite sizes, which contradicts previous reports. This is because the rate of grain growth is determined by the driving force and resistance to grain growth, the former provided by the energy of grain boundaries and the impurities outside the nanograin boundaries, and the latter by the impurities enriched within the boundaries. Additionally, laser annealing is more effective than thermal annealing in stimulating impurity diffusion, resulting in a reduced influence of impurities on grain growth.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"805 ","pages":"Article 140514"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142095052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The application of NiCrPt alloy targets for magnetron sputter deposition: Characterization of targets and deposited thin films","authors":"Ke Tang,&nbsp;Xin Li,&nbsp;Chuanjun Wang,&nbsp;Yue Shen,&nbsp;Yanting Xu,&nbsp;Ming Wen","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140501","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140501","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>NiSi thin films are extensively used in advanced semiconductor devices due to their desirable electrical properties. Recently, the incorporation of platinum (Pt) into NiSi thin films, resulting in NiPtSi, has been pursued to mitigate the agglomeration of NiSi and delay its transformation into NiSi₂. Typically, in semiconductor manufacturing, NiPt films are deposited onto silicon wafers through magnetron sputtering using NiPt sputtering targets. To further enhance the properties of these thin films, chromium (Cr) was introduced into the NiPt target. Initially, NiCrPt targets were fabricated through thermal mechanical treatment. Subsequently, NiCrPt thin films were deposited via magnetron sputtering using these NiCrPt targets. The study results indicate that, in comparison to NiPt targets, the addition of chromium offers several advantages: (1) it refines the grain size of NiPt in both bulk and thin film states; (2) it effectively reduces microcracks in the thin films; and (3) it increases the sputtering rate of NiCrPt targets, owing to an increased pass-through flux of 100 % and the refined grain size of the NiCrPt target. These findings provide valuable insights into the design and development of NiPt alloy sputtering targets and the production of crack-free thin films via magnetron sputtering, marking a significant advancement in the field of semiconductor manufacturing.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"805 ","pages":"Article 140501"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142083681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Binder free approach for fabrication of lithium cobalt oxide for thin film based lithium-ion µ-batteries","authors":"Ananya Bansal,&nbsp;Pramod Kumar,&nbsp;Sheetal Issar,&nbsp;Vipin Chawla,&nbsp;Ramesh Chandra","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140506","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2024.140506","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The increasing demand for microelectronics has significantly driven the advancement of thin film energy storage devices, specifically lithium-ion batteries. In this current work, binder-free lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) has been synthesized by Radio Frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on aluminium foil substrate in an argon atmosphere. The investigation focused on optimizing the cathode on aluminium foil by varying parameters, such as RF source power, working pressure, and temperature of the substrate. The deposited layers were analyzed for their structural and surface properties to confirm the formation of LCO. The surface of LCO obtained from this binder-free approach helps us create an excellent interface between cathode-electrolyte with a low contact angle (18.1°). An electrochemical analysis of the optimized sample (480 nm thick) was carried out by using 1 M lithium hexa-fluoro-phosphate. The initial charge capacity in the 2 − 4.2 V voltage range was obtained to be 624 mAh/cm³ at the C-rate of 0.05C, which is closer to the theoretical capacity (690 mAh/cm³). Signifying, over 90 % of total lithium is contributed during the charge storage mechanism. As a result, it can be interpreted that the binder-free sputtering technology can be implemented to fabricate efficient electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"805 ","pages":"Article 140506"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}