Thin Solid Films最新文献

{"title":"Tailoring the composition and deposition kinetics of RF-sputtered BaTiO3 thin films through working pressure and target-substrate distance adjustments","authors":"Edgar Chaslin,&nbsp;Jade Clément,&nbsp;Quentin Simon,&nbsp;Alejandro Borroto,&nbsp;Mohamed Himdi,&nbsp;Xavier Castel","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140836","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140836","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Optimizing the growth of BaTiO₃ thin films is essential for operating their ferroelectric and dielectric properties for embedded microelectronic applications. The present study investigates in a combinatorial-like approach the deposition of BaTiO₃ thin films by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering on SiO₂/Si substrates under various working pressures (1 to 6 Pa) and target-substrate distances (7.5 to 9.2 cm). X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) characterizations were used to establish the relationships between the sputtering deposition parameters and the resulting deposition rates, crystalline quality, surface roughness, and stoichiometry of the BaTiO₃ thin films. Low pressures and short distances lead to high kinetic growth of amorphous Ba-deficient films. Increasing working pressure <span><math><mo>×</mo></math></span> target-substrate distance values above 0.30 Pa.m enables to attain the stoichiometric Ba/Ti ratio. This result is related to both Ba and Ti species thermalization into the plasma leading to improve the chemical composition of the films. Furthermore, crystalline quality of the BaTiO₃ films is improved by reducing the deposition rate through working pressure and target-substrate distance adjustment. These results can provide valuable roadmaps to set BaTiO₃ sputtering parameters for high-quality thin films deposition based on the stoichiometry balance and deposition kinetics, that can be further extended to other perovskite compounds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140836"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145737382","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":"Enhancement of electrochemical reversibility and self-organization of vacuum evaporated 1, 4, 5, 8-naphthalene-tetracarboxylic-dianhydride thin films for dynamic glasses applications","authors":"P. Aruna ,&nbsp;M.R. Rajani ,&nbsp;Aditya Surana ,&nbsp;Shreyas Kapri ,&nbsp;S. Sindhu ,&nbsp;Rajesh Cheruku ,&nbsp;C.M. Joseph","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140831","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140831","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The electrochromic properties of post-deposition high vacuum (1.3 × 10^–4 Pa) annealed 1, 4, 5, 8-naphthalene-tetracarboxylic-dianhydride (NTCDA) thin films were investigated in this study. As-deposited samples were vacuum annealed at different temperatures of 323 K, 373 K, 423 K and 473 K. From x-ray diffraction patterns, it was observed that annealing increased the crystallinity due to a better molecular packing of the NTCDA thin films and scanning electron micrographs revealed that the annealing promotes uniformity and diminishes structural defects. Band gap was around 2.25 eV for the as-deposited NTCDA film. Electrochemical reversibility was calculated for all the annealed samples and it was found that the film annealed at 423 K exhibited better reversibility compared to the other annealed films. Post deposition annealing changes the self-organization of NTCDA thin films which in turn influences its electrochromic properties.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140831"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145682788","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":"Polymorphism and defect structure of CdTe thin films grown on different substrates by thermal sputtering","authors":"I.S. Volchkov ,&nbsp;I.O. Koshelev ,&nbsp;D.R. Khairetdinova ,&nbsp;P.V. Reznikova ,&nbsp;D.N. Khmelenin ,&nbsp;A.V. Butashin ,&nbsp;V.M. Kanevsky","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140835","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140835","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The paper presents data on the structural features, including defects features, of thin CdTe films grown by high-vacuum thermal sputtering on Al₂O₃ (0001), Si (111) substrates, fluorine tin oxide and indium tin oxide layers on silicate glasses, and amorphous silicate glass under different temperature conditions. The results demonstrate that the kinetic features of sputtering processes lead excess Cd formation with increasing substrate temperature what could be related to an increase of desorption rates of Cd and Te atoms. This leads to a violation of stoichiometry and the formation of Te precipitates covered with a TeO₂ layer due to the presence of free Te regions, which has been demonstrated using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, diffraction of electrons and Raman spectroscopy. It is shown for the first time that increasing the substrate temperature to 500 °C leads not only to a decrease in the film growth rate due to an increase in the desorption rates of the sputtered atoms, but also to the formation of a highly oriented thin CdTe film with a sphalerite structure on an amorphous substrate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140835"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145737379","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":"Thermoplasmonic enhanced detection efficiency by gold nanoparticles/ chlorophyll heterojunction on silicon nanowires","authors":"S. Valimohammadi ,&nbsp;S.M. Hamidi ,&nbsp;L. Rajaee","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140837","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140837","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents the development of a ternary heterojunction nanostructure for visible-light detection at 532 nm. Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were grown using the metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) method. The structure incorporates gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), synthesized via laser ablation (a fixed amount of S₀: 1500 µL), which were combined with varying concentrations of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) (S₁: 1000 µL, S₂: 1500 µL, S₃: 2000 µL). Characterization techniques included SEM and AFM to confirm SiNWs morphology, UV–Vis spectroscopy to examine the optical properties of the Au/Chl-a combination, and current-voltage (I-V) measurements to evaluate the enhanced photodetector performance. Key findings demonstrated that plasmon-exciton dipole interactions effectively increase electron-hole pair separation via the formation of plexcitons. Furthermore, thermoplasmonic heating raised the temperature of the optimal sample (SiNWs@S₂) to 51.6 °C (compared to the baseline SiNWs@S₀ temperature of 40.7 °C), representing a 26.78 % improvement. This system shows promising potential for high-performance optical sensing applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140837"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145737383","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 growth temperature on interface diffusion and magnetic properties of Ni-Mn-Sn-Pd thin films","authors":"Manuel G. Pinedo-Cuba ,&nbsp;Renzo Rueda-Vellasmín ,&nbsp;Justiniano Quispe-Marcatoma ,&nbsp;Carlos V. Landauro ,&nbsp;Valberto P. Nascimento ,&nbsp;Noemi R. Checca-Huamán ,&nbsp;Víctor A. Peña-Rodríguez ,&nbsp;Edson C. Passamani","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140843","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140843","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In thin film growth, temperature is a key parameter that typically improves crystal quality. However, the temperature also promotes diffusion in the film-substrate interface. The present study investigated the effect of the substrate temperature (<span><math><msub><mi>T</mi><mi>S</mi></msub></math></span>) on the crystal ordering and magnetic properties of Ni-Mn-Sn-Pd pseudo-Heusler alloy thin films. Different chemical orderings were gradually observed in the films as a result of varying <span><math><msub><mi>T</mi><mi>S</mi></msub></math></span>, with the following sequence: a dominant cubic A2-type structure found in the film prepared at 300 K, a presence of B32a-type structure in the film deposited at 673 K, and a mixture of B2 and <span><math><mrow><mi>L</mi><msub><mn>2</mn><mn>1</mn></msub></mrow></math></span> structures in the film produced at 873 K. Besides the enhancement of atomic ordering with rising <span><math><msub><mi>T</mi><mi>S</mi></msub></math></span>, an increase in the grain size of the cubic phases was also noted, both factors directly contributing to the observed improvements in the magnetic properties of the Ni-Mn-Sn-Pd films. All the films showed a magneto-structural phase transition at approximately <span><math><mrow><mn>50</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>K</mi></mrow></math></span> regardless of the <span><math><msub><mi>T</mi><mi>S</mi></msub></math></span> value. It was also shown that at <span><math><mrow><msub><mi>T</mi><mi>S</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mn>873</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>K</mi></mrow></math></span>, Ni atoms diffused into the Si substrate up to 27 nm, passing through buffer layers, i.e., <span><math><mtext>Pt</mtext></math></span> and natural SiO₂. This study demonstrates that the highest <em>T</em>_s favoured significant improvements on magneto-structural properties, but also promotes an undesired strong diffusion of Ni into the Si substrates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140843"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840214","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":"Silicon-induced phase evolution and electrical switching in AgxSi1-x nanocomposite films synthesized by ion-beam sputtering","authors":"K.A. Barkov ,&nbsp;V.V. Babakov ,&nbsp;S.A. Ivkov ,&nbsp;G.P. Potudanskii ,&nbsp;A.I. Chukavin ,&nbsp;Y.A. Peshkov ,&nbsp;M.V. Grechkina ,&nbsp;K.E. Velichko ,&nbsp;I.E. Zanin ,&nbsp;S.V. Kannykin ,&nbsp;B.L. Agapov ,&nbsp;S.V. Rodivilov ,&nbsp;E.S. Kersnovsky ,&nbsp;I.V. Polshin ,&nbsp;N.S. Buylov ,&nbsp;V.V. Pobedinsky ,&nbsp;D.N. Nesterov ,&nbsp;Tran Van Tu ,&nbsp;A.E. Nikonov ,&nbsp;A.V. Sitnikov","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140847","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140847","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ag-Si composite films containing silver nanoparticles are employed in memristor structures, substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, lithium-ion battery anodes, and various optoelectronic devices. However, metastable phases may emerge during the synthesis of Ag-Si films and strongly influence their properties. This study demonstrates the potential of ultra-soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (USXES) to identify metastable phases in Ag_xSi_1-x films obtained by ion-beam sputtering. The results show that silver nanoparticles 10–30 nm in size are formed in Ag_xSi_1-x films, which aggregate into conglomerates ∼200–400 nm in size, separated by a dielectric matrix based on silicon dioxide and SiO_x silicon suboxides. USXES data combined with theoretical calculations reveal the presence of the metastable Ag₂Si compound <em>(Cmcm, 63)</em> in Ag_xSi_1-x films. The Ag₂Si content increases from 10 to 30% as the Si content increases from 20 to 45 at.%. Furthermore, an abrupt increase in resistivity is observed from ∼5 × 10^–5 to ∼10^–3 Ω × cm. Moreover, due to their complex microstructure, Ag_xSi_1-x films exhibit a memristive switching effect at 0,2 V, transitioning from a high-resistance state (∼1 kΩ) to a low-resistance state (∼1 Ω).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140847"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145883924","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 post deposition treatment on optoelectronic properties of CdIn2S4","authors":"Jakub Zdziebłowski ,&nbsp;Marek Pawłowski ,&nbsp;Cezariusz Jastrzębski ,&nbsp;Nicolas Barreau ,&nbsp;Paweł Zabierowski","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140846","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140846","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The optoelectronic properties of cadmium-indium thiospinel (CdIn₂S₄) thin films are critically influenced by structural defects, particularly the degree of spinel inversion, which is essential for tuning their performance in photocatalysis and photovoltaics. This study systematically investigates how controlled post-deposition treatments affect the inversion degree, sulfur vacancy concentration, and, consequently, the fundamental electronic properties of CdIn₂S₄, including bandgap, conductivity, and photoluminescence characteristics. Our experimental findings provide clear evidence supporting theoretical predictions regarding the dependency of bandgap energy on the inversion degree. We observed a total increase of the bandgap energy by up to 0,2 eV due to spinel inversion reduction. Additionally, we highlight the significant influence of sulfur vacancy-related defects, which notably impact the electronic structure and defect state dynamics within the material. By manipulating spinel inversion through post-deposition treatment (PDT), we observe upon prolonged vacuum annealing at 300 °C the repining of the Fermi level from 0,1 eV to 0,4 eV below conduction band minimum (CBM) and further down to 0,7 eV below CBM by annealing in sulfur atmosphere. By controlling spinel inversion and sulfur vacancy defects through annealing under varied conditions, we offer valuable insights into the intricate relationship between structural imperfections and electronic properties. These insights contribute to the targeted optimization of CdIn₂S₄ and related chalcogenide semiconductors, aiding researchers in developing more efficient materials for solar energy harvesting and photocatalytic applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140846"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145883923","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":"Expression of Concern: “Impact of Laser Irradiation on the Properties of Zinc Oxide Thin Films Deposited by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering” [Thin Solid Films, Volume 825, 1 September 2025, 140753]","authors":"","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"845 ","pages":"Article 140959"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148187032","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":"Electrical characterization of sputter-induced deep levels in GaN thin films synthesized by electrodeposition","authors":"A.I.A. Ali ,&nbsp;F. Taghizadeh ,&nbsp;P. J. Janse van Ransburg ,&nbsp;W.E. Meyer ,&nbsp;J.M. Nel ,&nbsp;A. Venter","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140844","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140844","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper reports on the presence of deep-level defects in polycrystalline GaN thin films induced during the sputter deposition of Au Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). The n-GaN films, with a thickness of approximately 300 nm were electrodeposited on (111) Si substrates using a low-cost method and a current density of 3 mA.cm^-2 for 3 hours. Structural analysis by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy confirmed the polycrystalline nature and good quality of the films. Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) revealed a broad, asymmetric peak around 265 K in the as-deposited SBDs, indicating the presence of multiple defects. Laplace DLTS resolved four distinct defects with energies ranging between 0.40 eV and 0.60 eV. Thermal annealing between 450 - 500 K increased the reverse leakage current with only minor changes in the forward-bias characteristics. However, annealing at 550 K significantly reduced the leakage current by two orders of magnitude and improved the rectification ratio by one order of magnitude. All samples exhibited significant series resistance. Capacitance-voltage measurements revealed a reduction in the free carrier density near the surface, suggesting the sputter process introduced additional deep level defects. Furthermore, the deep-level energy (and therefore the likely defect composition) was found to be sensitive to the annealing temperature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140844"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840319","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":"Peculiar orientation relationships of metallic AsSb nanoparticles embedded in low temperature molecular beam epitaxy grown GaAsSb","authors":"L.A. Snigirev ,&nbsp;A.V. Myasoedov ,&nbsp;N.A. Bert ,&nbsp;V.V. Preobrazhenskii ,&nbsp;M.A. Putyato ,&nbsp;B.R. Semyagin ,&nbsp;V.V. Chaldyshev","doi":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140838","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsf.2025.140838","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>GaAs_0.97Sb_0.03 and Al_0.3Ga_0.7As_0.97Sb_0.03 epitaxial layers were grown on GaAs (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy at temperatures as low as 150 °C or 200 °C. The grown samples were then subjected to thermal treatment within a temperature range of 400–600 °C. The microstructure evolution of the samples upon annealing was examined using transmission electron microscopy. The results indicated that the second phase AsSb nanoparticles formed within the epitaxial layers as a result of thermal treatment have rhombohedral lattice of <span><math><mrow><mi>R</mi><mover><mn>3</mn><mo>¯</mo></mover><mi>m</mi></mrow></math></span> space group inherent in bulk As and Sb. However, the fine AsSb particles, measuring less than approximately 10 nm, were discovered to adopt an abnormal, symmetry-incompatible orientation in respect to the zinc-blende GaAs_0.97Sb_0.03 semiconductor matrix. Furthermore, an increase in the particle size over 10 nm was found to be accompanied by reorientation of the particles towards the ordinary, symmetry-compatible orientation relationships. This reorientation is believed to be driven by minimization of the particle-matrix lattice mismatch stress and to occur through atom migration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23182,"journal":{"name":"Thin Solid Films","volume":"833 ","pages":"Article 140838"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145737380","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}