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Author: Nanke Jiang Publisher: ISBN: Category : Photovoltaic cells Languages : en Pages : 144
Book Description
This dissertation presents a study on the fabrication of zinc nitride and zinc oxy-nitride films, and related hetero-structures on glass, silicon and other substrates. The goals of this study include gaining fundamental understanding on the electrical and optical properties, the chemical-bonding states and the micro-structure of these materials and examining their potential for photovoltaic and other electronic and optoelectronic applications. Reactive radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was used as the deposition method, which potentially enables control of composition of the thin films, as well as fabrication of multilayer structures for the study of possible hetero-junctions between zinc nitride and zinc oxy-nitrides. Along with reactive sputtering, several other fabrication methods, such as thermal evaporation and solution (e.g. silver or carbon paste) painting, were used as auxiliaries where necessary. The characterization techniques employed include (i) x-ray based techniques (x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXS)), (ii) optical based methods (spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), optical spectrophotometry, Raman spectroscopy), (iii) scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and (iv) electrical measurements (resistivity, Hall effect measurements, current-voltage and photovoltaic measurements). The cross-correlation between the deposition/post-deposition conditions and the physical properties of the films was investigated. The deposition conditions, such as the nitrogen (or oxygen) partial concentration in the sputtering gas mixture, substrate temperatures, total deposition pressure, as well as the post-deposition treatments such as thermal treatment and/or oxidation in ambient, were studied in detail. Zinc nitride, with a small fraction of "naturally" incorporated oxygen, is found to be a promising candidate for photovoltaic applications because of its optical and electrical properties. Also, the capability of property tuning for the zinc oxy-nitride material system was demonstrated by intentionally introducing varied amount oxygen into zinc nitride. In order to better understand the crystalline structure and the electronic band structure of these materials, first principle density functional theory (DFT) was used for computations of pure zinc nitride and the doping effects in it with both native elements (Zn, N) and copper family elements (Cu, Ag, Au) as possible p-type dopants. Atomic geometry, formation energy, as well as electronic structure of defects in zinc nitride were studied and a general consistency was observed between theoretically calculated and experimentally determined results. Defect density of states (DOS) suggest that among all three studied copper-family elements, copper is a good candidate for a p-type dopant. Technological insight and approaches to the fabrication of device-relevant structures were the other important outcomes of this work. Our studies showed that the fabrication of device-relevant ohmic contacts, rectifying metal-nitride junctions and p-n junctions was possible. Substantial photovoltaic action was observed in a single junction solar cell configuration that uses p-type zinc oxy-nitride as an absorber layer.
Author: Nanke Jiang Publisher: ISBN: Category : Photovoltaic cells Languages : en Pages : 144
Book Description
This dissertation presents a study on the fabrication of zinc nitride and zinc oxy-nitride films, and related hetero-structures on glass, silicon and other substrates. The goals of this study include gaining fundamental understanding on the electrical and optical properties, the chemical-bonding states and the micro-structure of these materials and examining their potential for photovoltaic and other electronic and optoelectronic applications. Reactive radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was used as the deposition method, which potentially enables control of composition of the thin films, as well as fabrication of multilayer structures for the study of possible hetero-junctions between zinc nitride and zinc oxy-nitrides. Along with reactive sputtering, several other fabrication methods, such as thermal evaporation and solution (e.g. silver or carbon paste) painting, were used as auxiliaries where necessary. The characterization techniques employed include (i) x-ray based techniques (x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXS)), (ii) optical based methods (spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), optical spectrophotometry, Raman spectroscopy), (iii) scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and (iv) electrical measurements (resistivity, Hall effect measurements, current-voltage and photovoltaic measurements). The cross-correlation between the deposition/post-deposition conditions and the physical properties of the films was investigated. The deposition conditions, such as the nitrogen (or oxygen) partial concentration in the sputtering gas mixture, substrate temperatures, total deposition pressure, as well as the post-deposition treatments such as thermal treatment and/or oxidation in ambient, were studied in detail. Zinc nitride, with a small fraction of "naturally" incorporated oxygen, is found to be a promising candidate for photovoltaic applications because of its optical and electrical properties. Also, the capability of property tuning for the zinc oxy-nitride material system was demonstrated by intentionally introducing varied amount oxygen into zinc nitride. In order to better understand the crystalline structure and the electronic band structure of these materials, first principle density functional theory (DFT) was used for computations of pure zinc nitride and the doping effects in it with both native elements (Zn, N) and copper family elements (Cu, Ag, Au) as possible p-type dopants. Atomic geometry, formation energy, as well as electronic structure of defects in zinc nitride were studied and a general consistency was observed between theoretically calculated and experimentally determined results. Defect density of states (DOS) suggest that among all three studied copper-family elements, copper is a good candidate for a p-type dopant. Technological insight and approaches to the fabrication of device-relevant structures were the other important outcomes of this work. Our studies showed that the fabrication of device-relevant ohmic contacts, rectifying metal-nitride junctions and p-n junctions was possible. Substantial photovoltaic action was observed in a single junction solar cell configuration that uses p-type zinc oxy-nitride as an absorber layer.
Author: Ting Wen Publisher: ISBN: Category : Optoelectronics Languages : en Pages : 122
Book Description
Zinc nitride thin films possess a small optical band gap with direct transition, low resistivity, high mobility and carrier concentration. Therefore, it may be suitable as an optoelectronic material for infrared sensors, smart windows and energy conversion devices. The objective of this work is to grow zinc nitride thin films using RF magnetron sputtering, understand its mechanical, optical, and electrical properties, and investigate its performance as light sensing devices. Synthesis and characterization of zinc nitride thin films has been investigated in this work. An RF magnetron sputtering deposition was employed to synthesize zinc nitride thin films using pure metal zinc target in either N2-Ar or N2-Ar-H2 mixtures. The microstructural, optical and electrical characterizations of the representative films were investigated with stylus profilometry, XRD, AFM, SEM, TEM, UV-VIS-NIR double beam spectrometry, and Hall effect measurement. The photoresponse of the zinc nitride photoconductors was also studied under the irradiation of white light and NIR light. The as-deposited zinc nitride thin films were relatively soft and densely packed with smooth surface. It possesses a narrow optical band gap in the NIR range with direct transition. The zinc nitride showed n-type conductivity with low resistivity and high carrier concentration. To study the RF discharge power effect, the zinc nitride thin films were synthesized at different discharge powers densities. With discharge power density increasing, the film deposition rate increased, and the zinc nitride films acquired better crystalline structure, smaller optical band gap and less oxygen contaminations. After thermal annealing at moderate temperatures in either air or O2, the annealed zinc nitride thin films were photoconductive under irradiation of both NIR light and white light. The largest photoresponse and fastest response times were measured at the room temperature for the zinc nitride thin films annealed at 300 degree in the air. Hydrogen inclusion can modify the electrical and optical properties of crystalline semiconductor films by introducing impurity donor states. The ZnNx:H films deposited in N2-Ar-H2 mixture acquired less oxygen contamination and higher relative nitrogen atom concentration than the ZnNx films deposited in N2-Ar mixture. The as-deposited ZnNx:H films showed a clear photonic behavior under white light irradiation, and the annealed ZnNx:H films exhibited a pronounced change in resistance under both white light and NIR light irradiation comparing to the annealed ZnNx films. This was the first time to report photoresponse of zinc nitride thin films fabricated by reactive sputtering method. The photoconductivity was gradually improved by optimization of deposition conditions, annealing conditions and film compositions.
Author: Tuomas Hänninen Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press ISBN: 9176853748 Category : Languages : en Pages : 73
Book Description
Silicon nitride and silicon nitride-based ceramics have several favorable material properties, such as high hardness and good wear resistance, which makes them important materials for the coating industry. This thesis focuses the synthesis of silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, and silicon carbonitride thin films by reactive magnetron sputtering. The films were characterized based on their chemical composition, chemical bonding structure, and mechanical properties to link the growth conditions to the film properties. Silicon nitride films were synthesized by reactive high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) from a Si target in Ar/N2 atmospheres, whereas silicon oxynitride films were grown by using nitrous oxide as the reactive gas. Silicon carbonitride was synthesized by two different methods. The first method was using acetylene (C2H2) in addition to N2 in a Si HiPIMS process and the other was co-sputtering of Si and C, using HiPIMS for Si and direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) for graphite targets in an Ar/N2 atmosphere. Langmuir probe measurements were carried out for the silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride processes and positive ion mass spectrometry for the silicon nitride processes to gain further understanding on the plasma conditions during film growth. The target current and voltage waveforms of the reactive HiPIMS processes were evaluated. The main deposition parameter affecting the nitrogen concentration of silicon nitride films was found to be the nitrogen content in the plasma. Films with nitrogen contents of 50 at.% were deposited at N2/Ar flow ratios of 0.3 and above. These films showed Si-N as the dominating component in Si 2p X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) core level spectra and Si–Si bonds were absent. The substrate temperature and target power were found to affect the nitrogen content to a lower extent. The residual stress and hardness of the films were found to increase with the film nitrogen content. Another factors influencing the coating stress were the process pressure, negative substrate bias, substrate temperature, and HiPIMS pulse energy. Silicon nitride coatings with good adhesion and low levels of compressive residual stress were grown by using a pressure of 600 mPa, a substrate temperature below 200 °C, pulse energies below 2.5 Ws, and negative bias voltages up to 100 V. The elemental composition of silicon oxynitride films was shown to depend on the target power settings as well as on the nitrous oxide flow rate. Silicon oxide-like films were synthesized under poisoned target surface conditions, whereas films deposited in the transition regime between poisoned and metallic conditions showed higher nitrogen concentrations. The nitrogen content of the films deposited in the transition region was controlled by the applied gas flow rate. The applied target power did not affect the nitrogen concentration in the transition regime, while the oxygen content increased at decreasing target powers. The chemical composition of the films was shown to range from silicon-rich to effectively stoichiometric silicon oxynitrides, where no Si–Si contributions were found in the XPS Si 2p core level spectra. The film optical properties, namely the refractive index and extinction coefficient, were shown to depend on the film chemical bonding, with the stoichiometric films displaying optical properties falling between those of silicon oxide and silicon nitride. The properties of silicon carbonitride films were greatly influenced by the synthesis method. The films deposited by HiPIMS using acetylene as the carbon source showed silicon nitride-like mechanical properties, such as a hardness of ~ 20 GPa and compressive residual stresses of 1.7 – 1.9 GPa, up to film carbon contents of 30 at.%. At larger film carbon contents the films had increasingly amorphous carbon-like properties, such as densities below 2 g/cm3 and hardnesses below 10 GPa. The films with more than 30 at.% carbon also showed columnar morphologies in cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, whereas films with lower carbon content showed dense morphologies. Due to the use of acetylene the carbonitride films contained hydrogen, up to ~ 15 at.%. The co-sputtered silicon carbonitride films showed a layered SiNx/CNx structure. The hardness of these films increased with the film carbon content, reaching a maximum of 18 GPa at a film carbon content of 12 at.%. Comparatively hard and low stressed films were grown by co-sputtering using a C target power of 1200 W for a C content around 12 at.%, a negative substrate bias less than 100 V, and a substrate temperature up to 340 °C.
Author: Fahad Alnjiman Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Zinc tin nitride (ZnSnN2) thin films have been deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering at room temperature. The stoichiometry of the films has been controlled by optimizing the deposition conditions such as the voltage applied to the metallic targets, the deposition pressure and the composition of the gas mixture. By using the optimized parameters, the deposited films are highly crystallized on the different used substrates. A special attention has been devoted to the determination of the film structure. Among the various structures reported in the literature, we have shown by transmission electron microscopy that the films crystallised in a hexagonal structure. Nevertheless, the structure of our films does not fit with that reported in the literature for the hexagonal ZnSnN2 material. In addition to this structural study, we have performed fine characterization using conversion electron Mossbauer spectrometry and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Both methods show that the optimized films contain Sn4+ ions in tetrahedral configuration. Nevertheless, oxygen contamination at the column boundaries has been evidenced. The electrical and optical properties of the films have been determined has a function of the film composition. The results obtained in this PhD work clearly evidence that ZnSnN2 is a suitable material for photovoltaic applications.
Author: Al-Ahsan Talukder Publisher: ISBN: Category : Electronic dissertations Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Magnetron sputtering is a popular vacuum plasma coating technique used for depositing metals, dielectrics, semiconductors, alloys, and compounds onto a wide range of substrates. In this work, we present two popular types of magnetron sputtering, i.e., pulsed DC and RF magnetron sputtering, for depositing piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films with high Young's modulus. The effects of important process parameters on the plasma I-V characteristics, deposition rate, and the properties of the deposited AlN films, are studied comprehensively. The effects of these process parameters on Young's modulus of the deposited films are also presented. Scanning electron microscope imaging revealed a c-axis oriented columnar growth of AlN. Performance of surface acoustic devices, utilizing the AlN films deposited by magnetron sputtering, are also presented, which confirms the differences in qualities and microstructures of the pulsed DC and RF sputtered films. The RF sputtered AlN films showed a denser microstructure with smaller grains and a smoother surface than the pulsed DC sputtered films. However, the deposition rate of RF sputtering is about half of the pulsed DC sputtering process. We also present a novel ion source enhanced pulsed DC magnetron sputtering for depositing high-quality nitrogen-doped zinc telluride (ZnTe:N) thin films. This ion source enhanced magnetron sputtering provides an increased deposition rate, efficient N-doping, and improved electrical, structural, and optical properties than the traditional magnetron sputtering. Ion source enhanced deposition leads to ZnTe:N films with smaller lattice spacing and wider X-ray diffraction peak, which indicates denser films with smaller crystallites embedded in an amorphous matrix.
Author: Nanke Jiang
Author: Nanke Jiang
Author: Ting Wen
Author: Tuomas Hänninen
Author: 
Author: 
Author: Qi Wang
Author: Fahad Alnjiman
Author: Al-Ahsan Talukder
Author: 
Author: Mustafa M. El-Muradi