THE INTERFACE LAYERS AND CATHODOLUMINESCENCE STUDIES OF DIAMOND FILMS

Polycrystalline diamond films have been synthesized on various substrates by hot filament CVD from the mixture gases of methane and hydrogen. The interface layers between CVD diamond films and substrates have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, visible luminescence between 2.0～3.5eV of undoped and boron-doped CVD diamond films has also been studied by cathodoluminescence.

Research of Trap and Electron Density Distributions in the Interface of Polyimide/Al2O3 Nanocomposite Films Based on IDC and SAXS

The distributions of traps and electron density in the interfaces between polyimide （PI） matrix and Al2O3 nanoparticles are researched using the isothermal decay current and the small-angle x-ray scattering （SAXS） tests. According to the electron density distribution for quasi two-phase mixture doped by spherical nanoparticles, the electron densities in the interfaces of PI/Al2O3 nanocomposite films are evaluated. The trap level density and carrier mobility in the interface are studied. The experimental results show that the distribution and the change rate of the electron density in the three layers of interface are different, indicating different trap distributions in the interface layers. There is a maximum trap level density in the second layer, where the maximum trap level density for the nanocomposite film doped by 25 wt% is 1.054 × 10^22 eV·m^-3 at 1.324eV, resulting in the carrier mobility reducing. In addition, both the thickness and the electron density of the nanocomposite film interface increase with the addition of the doped Al2O3 contents. Through the study on the trap level distribution in the interface, it is possible to further analyze the insulation mechanism and to improve the performance of nano-dielectric materials.

Improvement of Lithium Interface Stability with 1,4-dioxane Pretreatment

1,4-dioxane （DOA） was originally used to pretreat the lithium metal electrode in order to improve its interface stability. Electrochemical impedance spectra （EIS） measurements reveal that with DOA pretreatment, lithium electrode has a low and stable interfacial resistance during the storage in electrolyte for a long time. And it is also found that the pretreated lithium electrode has an improved interfacial performance in repeated charge/discharge cycles. Furthermore, it is proved by SEM that the pretreated one has smooth morphology after long-time storage or repeated charge/discharge cycles. Consequentially, because of more stable interface characteristics of lithium electrode, the rechargeable lithium cell with DOA pretreated lithium anode has an obviously enhanced discharging performance and a better cycleability, compared with that of the cell using the untreated lithium anode.

Theoretical Development of Nonlinear Spring Models for the Second Harmonics on an Interface between Two Solids

Based on the exact solutions for the second-harmonic generations of the fundamental longitudinal and transverse waves propagating normally through a thin elastic layer between two solids, the approximate representations termed as ＇nonlinear spring models＇ relating the stresses and displacements on both sides of the interface are rigorously developed by asymptotic expansions of the wave fields for an elastic layer in the limit of small thickness to wavelength ratio. The applicability for the so-called nonlinear spring models is numerically analyzed by comparison with exact solutions for the second harmonic wave reflections. The present nonlinear spring models lay a theoretical foundation to evaluate the interracial properties by nonlinear acoustic waves.

Thin-Thick Film Transitions on a Planar Solid Surface： A Density Functional Study

A weighted density functional theory is proposed to predict the surface tension and thin-thick film transition of a Lennard-Jones fluid on a planar solid surface. The underlying density functional theory for the Lennard-Jones fluid at low temperature is based on a modified fundamental measure theory for the hard-core repulsion, a Taylor expansion around zero-bulk-density for attraction, and a correlation term evaluated by the weighted density approximation with a weight function of the Heaviside step function. The predicted surface tension and thin-thick film transition agree well with the results from the Monte Carlo simulations, better than those from alternative approaches. For the Ar/CO2 system, the prewetting line has been calculated. The predicted reduced surface critical temperature is about 0.97, and the calculated wetting temperature is below the triple-point temperature. This is in agreement with the experimental observation.

Optical and Electrical Properties of ZnO/CdO Composite Thin Films Prepared by Pulse Laser Deposition

ZnO/CdO composite films with different CdO contents are obtained by pulse laser deposition technique. The structural, optical and electrical properties of the composite [liras are investigated by x-ray diffraction, photolu- minescence and electrical resistivity measurements, respectively. The results show that the UV emission is at a constant peak position in the photoluminescence spectra. Meanwhile, their electrical resistivity decreases to very low level approaching to the value of the CdO film, which can be explained by the Matthiessen composite rule for resistivity. The peculiarity of low resistivity and high transnlittance in the visible region enables these Rims suitable for optoelectronic device fabrication.

Liquid Film on Unsteady Stretching Sheet with General Surface Temperature and Viscous Dissipation

We study the effects of viscous dissipation on flow and heat transfer in a thin liquid film on an unsteady stretching sheet. A general surface temperature is taken into consideration. The velocity and temperature fields are solved using the homotopy analysis method. The results show that the increasing values of the Eckert number can increase temperature distribution and the heat transfer rate.

Growth and Characterization of CIS Thin Films Prepared by Ion Beam Sputtering Deposition

Copper indium diselenide （CuInSe2） thin films were prepared by ion beam sputtering Cu, In and Se targets continuously on BK7 glass substrates and the three-layer film was then annealed in the same vacuum chamber. X-ray diffraction shows that the CuInSe2 thin films have a single chalcopyrite structure with preferential （112） orientation. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that the CIS thin films consist of uniform and densely packed grain clusters. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy demonstrates that the elemental composition of CIS films approaches the stochiometric composition ratios of 1：1：2. Raman measurement shows that the main peak is at about 174cm^-1 and this peak is identified as the A1 vibrational mode from chaicopyrite ordered CulnSe2. Optical transmission and absorption spectroscopy measurement reveal an energy band gap of about 1.05 eV and an absorption coefficient of 10^5 cm^-1. The film resistivity is about 0.01 Ωcm.

Fabrication and Properties of Double-Side Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 Thin Film on CeO2 Buffered Sapphire Substrate

The double-side Tl2Ba2 CaCu2O8 （Tl-2212） superconducting thin films were fabricated on CeO2 buffered sapphire substrates. The reactive magnetron sputtering technique was used to grow CeO2 buffer thin films on sapphire substrates. Making use of the metal cerium as a sputtering source, the depositing rate is much higher compared with the CeO2 target. The Ti-2212 thin films on CeO2 buffered sapphire substrates were fabricated by adc magnetron sputtering and post-annealing process. The x-ray diffraction indicates that the thin film is pure Tl-2212 phase with the e-axis perpendicular to the substrate surfaces, and epitaxially grown on the CeO2 buffered sapphire. The critical transition temperature Tc is around 106K, the critical current density Jc is around 3.5 MA/cm^2 at 77K, and the microwave surface resistance R8 at 77K and 10 CHz of the film is as low as 390μ Ω.

Preparation and Thermal Characterization of Diamond-Like Carbon Films

Diamond-like carbon （DLC） films are prepared on silicon substrates by microwave electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Raman spectroscopy indicates that the films have an amorphous structure and typical characteristics. The topographies of the films are presented by AFM images. Effective thermal conductivities of the films are measured using a nanosecond pulsed photothermal reflectance method. The results show that thermal conductivity is dominated by the microstructure of the films.

Effects of Annealing Temperature on Structural and Optical Properties of ZnO Thin Films

The effects of annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO films grown on Si （100） substrates by sol-gel spin-coating are investigated. The structural and optical properties are characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectra. X-ray diffraction analysis shows the crystal quality of ZnO films becomes better after annealing at high temperature. The grain size increases with the temperature increasing. It is found that the tensile stress in the plane of ZnO films first increases and then decreases with the annealing temperature increasing, reaching the maximum value of 1.8 GPa at 700℃. PL spectra of ZnO films annealed at various temperatures consists of a near band edge emission around 380 nm and visible emissions due to the electronic defects, which are related to deep level emissions, such as oxide antisite （OZn）, interstitial oxygen （Oi）, interstitial zinc （Zni） and zinc vacancy （VZn^-）, which are generated during annealing process. The evolution of defects is analyzed by PL spectra based on the energy of the electronic transitions.

Enhanced Optical Absorption of Amorphous Silicon Films by Ag Nanostructures

The optical absorption of amorphous silicon （α-Si） films is enhanced by silver （Ag） nanostructures deposited on the films. The reflection at the long wavelength side of localized plasmon polaritons （LPPs） resonance originated from Ag nanostructures is significantly decreased, i.e. the optical absorption is enhanced. The results show that the average reflection value of the amorphous silicon films in the wavelength range of 900-1200 nm could be decreased by 11.4%. Moreover, the reduction of the reflection is found to be mainly dependent on the size of the Ag nanostructures, which is related to the island sizes, i.e. the LPP＇s resonance peak position.

Influence of Radio-Frequecy Power on Structural and Electrical Properties of Sputtered Hafnium Dioxide Thin Films

Hafnium dioxide （HfO2） thin films are prepared by rf magnetron sputtering. The influences of rf power on the structure, chemical states and electrical properties of the thin films were investigated through x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, capacitance-voltage and leakage current density-voltage measurement and UV-VIS spectrophotometry. The results show that the HfO2 thin films have a mixed structure of amorphous and polycrystalline phases. With increasing rf power, the crystallinity is enhanced and the crystallite size of the thin films is increased. The oxidation of Hf atoms is improved with increasing rf power for the HfO2 thin films. The flat band shift, oxide charge density and leakage current density of the thin films all decrease as the rf power increases from 50 to 110 W, and then increase as the rf power is increased to 140 W. The band gap energy is smaller for the thin film deposited at 110 W.

Room-Temperature Anisotropic Ferromagnetism in Fe-Doped In2O3 Heteroepitaxial Films

Fe-doped In2O3 films are grown epitaxially on YSZ （100） substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, the atomic force microscopy, and the x-ray diffraction patterns show that the films have a well defined cubic structure epitaxially oriented in the （100） direction. Room temperature ferromagnetism is observed by an alternating gradient magnetometer. Strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy with a remnant magnetization ratio of 0.83 and a coercivity of 2,5 kOe is revealed. Both the structural and the magnetic measurements suggest that this ferromagnetism is an intrinsic property deriving from the spin-orbit coupling between the diluted Fe atoms.

Structural and Electrical Properties of Single Crystalline Ga-Doped ZnO Thin Films Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

High-quality Ga-doped ZnO （ZnO：Ga） single crystalline films with various Ga concentrations are grown on a- plane sapphire substrates using molecular-beam epitaxy. The site configuration of doped Ga atoms is studied by means of x-ray absorption spectroscopy. It is found that nearly all Ga can substitute into ZnO lattice as electrically active donors, a generating high density of free carriers with about one electron per Ga dopant when the Ga concentration is no more than 2%. However, further increasing the Ga doping concentration leads to a decrease of the conductivity due to partial segregation of Ga atoms to the minor phase of the spinel ZnGa2O4 or other intermediate phase. It seems that the maximum solubility of Ga in the ZnO single crystalline film is about 2at.% and the lowest resistivity can reach 1.92 ×10-4Ω·cm at room temperature, close to the best value reported. In contrast to ZnO：Ga thin film with 1% or 2% Ga doping, the film with 4% Ga doping exhibits a metal semiconductor transition at 80 K. The scattering mechanism of conducting electrons in single crystalline ZnO：Ga thin film is discussed.

Photoluminescence of a ZnO/GaN Heterostructure Interface

Growth of a ZnO/GaN heterostructure is carried out using pulsed laser deposition. By etching the ZnO layer from the ZnO/GaN structure, the photoluminescence （PL） of the associated GaN layer shows that the donor- acceptor luminescence of CaN shifts to about 3.27eV, which is consistent with the electroluminescence （EL） of n-ZnO/p-GaN already reported. XPS shows that oxygen diffuses into the CaN crystal lattice from the surface to 20nm depth. The PL spectra at different temperatures and excitation densities show that oxygen plays the role of potential fluctuation. The associated PL results of the interface in these LEDs could be helpful to understand the mechanism of EL spectra for ZnO/CaN p-n junctions.

Ion-implanted Mechanism of the Deposition Process for Diamond-Like Carbon Films

Due to the local densification, high-energy C and doped ions can greatly affect the bonding configurations of diamond-like carbon films. We investigate the corresponding affection of different incident ions with energy from 10eV to 600eV by Monte Carlo methods. The ion-implanted mechanism called the subplantation （for C, N, O, W, Y, etc.） is confirmed. Obvious thermal effect could be induced by the subplantation of the incident ions. Further, the subplantation of C ions is proved by in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction （RHEED）. The observation from an atomic force microscope （AFM） indicates that the initial implantation of C ions might result in the final primitive-cell-like morphology of the smooth film （in an area of 1.2 mm× 0.9 mm, rms roughness smaller than 20 nm by Wyko）.

Effects of Rapid Thermal Processing on Microstructure and Optical Properties of As-Deposited Ag2O Films by Direct-Current Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

（111） preferentially oriented Ag2O film deposited by direct current reactive magnetron sputtering is annealed by rapid thermal processing at different annealing temperatures for 5 min. The film microstructure and optical properties are then characterized by x-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and spectrophotometry, respectively. The results indicate that no clear Ag diffraction peak is discernable in the Ag2O film annealed below 200°C. In comparison, the Ag2O film annealed at 200°C begins to exhibit characteristic Ag diffraction peaks, and in particular the Ag2O film annealed at 250°C can demonstrate enhanced Ag diffraction peaks. This implies that the threshold of the thermal decomposition reaction to produce Ag particles is approximately 200°C for the Ag2O film. In addition, an evolution of the film surface morphology from compact and pyramid-like to a rough and porous structure clearly occurred with increasing annealing temperature. The porous structure might be attributable to the escape of the oxygen produced during annealing, while the rough surface might originate from the reconstruction of the surface. The dispersion of interference peak intensity in the reflectance and transmission spectra could be attributed to the Ag particles produced. The lowered crystallinity and Ag particles produced induce a lattice defect, which results in an enhanced transmissivity in the violet region and a weakened transmissivity in the infrared region.

Curvature Correction of FWHM in the X-Ray Rocking Curve of Bent Heteroepitaxial Films

A method for accurate determination of the curvature radius of semiconductor thin films is proposed. The curvature-induced broadening of the x-ray rocking curve （XRC） of a heteroepitaxially grown layer can be determined if the dependence of the full width at half maximum （FWHM） of XRC is measured as a function of the width of incident x-ray beam. It is found that the curvature radii of two GaN films grown on a sapphire wafer are different when they are grown under similar MOCVD conditions but have different values of layer thickness. At the same time, the dislocation-induced broadening of XRC and thus the dislocation density of the epitaxial film can be well calculated after the curvature correction.

Numerical Studies of s-Polarized Surface Plasmon Polaritons at the Interface Associated with Metamaterial

The s-polarized surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） at the interface between dielectric and metamaterial are studied, and the dispersion relations of SPPs are also presented. Using the prism coupling mechanism, we obtain the attenuated total reflection （ATR） spectra in the frequency regime based on the Otto configuration. It is found that the thickness of the dielectric in the configuration and the small damping of the metamaterial affect the coupling strength significantly without changing the coupling frequency. Furthermore, the optimized thickness of the dielectric decreases with a larger damping, and the coefficient F of the metamaterial also determines the coupling frequency and strength.