Effect of substrate curvature on thickness distribution of polydimethylsiloxane thin film in spin coating process

The polymer spin coating is critical in flexible electronic manufaction and micro-electro-mechanical system（MEMS）devices due to its simple operation, and uniformly coated layers. Some researchers focus on the effects of spin coating parameters such as wafer rotating speed, the viscosity of the coating liquid and solvent evaporation on final film thickness.In this work, the influence of substrate curvature on film thickness distribution is considered. A new parameter which represents the edge bead effect ratio（re） is proposed to investigate the influence factor of edge bead effect. Several operation parameters including the curvature of the substrate and the wafer-spin speed are taken into account to study the effects on the film thickness uniformity and edge-bead ratio. The morphologies and film thickness values of the spin-coated PDMS films under various substrate curvatures and coating speeds are measured with laser confocal microscopy. According to the results, both the convex and concave substrate will help to reduce the edge-bead effect significantly and thin film with better surface morphology can be obtained at high spin speed. Additionally, the relationship between the edge-bead ratio and the thin film thickness is like parabolic curve instead of linear dependence. This work may contribute to the mass production of flexible electronic devices.

Effect of Spin Coating Speed on Some Optical Properties of ZnO Thin Films

This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of ZnO thin films prepared by sol-gel spin coating technique. The sol-gel was prepared from zinc acetate dehydrate as a precursor, 2-me- thoxyethanol as a solvent and di-ethanolamine as a stabilizer, and then deposited on glass substrate using spin coater at the coating speed of 1000 rpm, 2000 rpm, 3000 rpm, 4000 rpm, 5000 rpm and 6000 rpm. After pre-heated at 150℃, the samples were post-heated at 250oC and also annealed at 400℃. X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the films showed polycrystalline hexagonal structure, with (002) orientation as most intense peak having a grain size of 28.1 nm. The absorbance of the film decreases with increasing wavelength and the transmittance was generally high between visible regions from 280 nm - 1200 nm. The ZnO films deposited at a spinning speed of 2000 rpm had highest transmittance of 88% in the visible region from 280 nm - 1200 nm. The energy band gap was found to be in the range of 3.23 - 3.40 eV. The thicknesses of the films decreased with increase in coating speed. Based on these results, ZnO thin films obtained could have useful application in transparent conducting oxide electrode in solar cells.

MgO and ZnO Composite Thin Films Using the Spin Coating Method on Microscope Glasses

In this study, a new route to produce pure and composite ZnO-MgO thin films has been presented. In the process the pure ZnO thin films were the starting point, ending up with MgO by doping various percentages (from 0% to 100%) of Mg with the help of sol-gel spin coating technique. The crystal phases in all doping levels have been obtained when the samples annealed at 600℃ for a duration of 6 hours. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs and UV-Vis absorption spectra have been performed to elucidate the composed film structures.

Fabrication of LSGM thin films on porous anode supports by slurry spin coating for IT-SOFC

La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3-δ（LSGM） and La0.7Sr0.3Cr0.5Mn0.5O3-δ（LSCM） powders were synthesized by glycine-nitrate process, and LSGM electrolyte thin film was successfully fabricated on porous anode substrate of LSCM by slurry spin coating technology. Some technical parameters for the preparation of LSGM thin films were systematically investigated, including ink composition,sintering temperature, and spin coating times. The electrolyte films with the best compactness and somewhat rough are obtained when the operating parameters are fixed as follows: the content of ethyl cellulose as binder is 5 wt%, the content of terpineol as modifier is 5 wt%, the optimum coating cycle number is 9 times, and the best post-deposition sintering temperature is 1,400 °C for 4 h.

Synthesis and Characterization of Indium Niobium Oxide Thin Films via Sol—Gel Spin Coating Method

In the present study, niobium-doped indium oxide thin films were prepared by sol-gel spin coating technique. The effects of different Nb-doping contents on structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of the films were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction （XRD）, field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM）, atomic force microscopy （AFM）, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and four point probe methods. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of cubic bixbyite structure of In203 with a small shift in major peak position toward lower angles with addition of Nb. FESEM micrographs show that grain size decreased with increasing the Nb-doping content. Optical and electrical studies revealed that optimum opto-electronic properties, including minimum electrical resistivity of 119.4 × 10^-3 Ω cm and an average optical transmittance of 85% in the visible region with a band gap of 3.37 eV were achieved for the films doped with Nb-doping content of 3 at.%. AFM studies show that addition of Nb at optimum content leads to the formation of compact films with smooth surface and less average roughness compared with the prepared ln2O3 films.

Effect of iron doping on structural and optical properties of TiO_(2) thin film by sol-gel routed spin coating technique

Thin films of iron(Fe)-doped titanium dioxide(Fe:TiO_(2))T were prepared by sol–gel spin coating technique and further calcined at 450℃.The structural and optical properties of Fe-doped TiO_(2) thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy(UV–vis)and atomic force microscopic(AFM)techniques.The XRD results confirm the nanostructured TiO_(2) thin films having crystalline nature with anatase phase.The characterization results show that the calcined thin films having high crystallinity and the effect of iron substitution lead to decreased crystallinity.The SEM investigations of Fe-doped TiO_(2) films also gave evidence that the films were continuous spherical shaped particles with a nanometric range of grain size and film was porous in nature.AFM analysis establishes that the uniformity of the TiO_(2) thin film with average roughness values.The optical measurements show that the films having high transparency in the visible region and the optical band gap energy of Fe-doped TiO_(2) film with iron(Fe)decrease with increase in iron content.These important requirements for the Fe:TiO_(2) films are to be used as window layers in solar cells.

The Effect of Fabrication Conditions for GDC Buffer Layer on Electrochemical Performance of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

A Gd-doped ceria（GDC） buffer layer is required between a conventional yttria-stabilized zirconia（YSZ） electrolyte and a La-Sr-Co-Fe-O3（LSCF） cathode to prevent their chemical reaction. In this study,the effect of varying the conditions for fabricating the GDC buffer layer, such as sintering temperature and amount of sintering aid, on the solid oxide fuel cell（SOFC） performance was investigated. A finer GDC powder（i.e., ultra-high surface area）, a higher sintering temperature（1290℃）, and a larger amount of sintering aid（12%） resulted in improved densification of the buffer layer; however, the electrochemical performance of an anode-supported cell containing this GDC buffer layer was poor. These conflicting results are attributed to the formation of（Zr, Ce）O2 and/or excess cobalt grain boundaries（GBs） at higher sintering temperatures with a large amount of sintering aid（i.e., cobalt oxide）. A cell comprising of a cobalt-free GDC buffer layer, which was fabricated using a low-temperature process, had lower cell resistance and higher stability. The results indicate that electrochemical performance and stability of SOFCs strongly depend on fabrication conditions for the GDC buffer layer.

Tetranuclear yttrium and gadolinium 2-acetylcyclopentanoate clusters：Synthesis and their use as spin-coating precursors for metal oxide film formation for field-effect transistor fabrication

Lanthanide clusters [Ln4（μ3-OH）2（η2-accp）4（（μ-O）-η2-accp）6]（Ln = Y（4）,Gd（5）; accp = 2-acetylcyclopentanoate） are accessible by treatment of [M（NO33·6 H2 O]（M = Y（1）,Gd（2）） with 3 equiv. of Haccp（3） in presence of NaOH. The molecular structures of 4 and 5） in the solid-state are discussed. The thermal behavior of 4 and 5 was studied by TG under Ar and O2, showing multistep decomposition processes. Additionally, DSC studies were carried out under an atmosphere of O2. PXRD measurements of the TG residues confirm the formation of Ln2 O3.Spin-coating experiments were carried out with 4 and 5 for Ln2 O3 film deposition on silicon substrates. The layers are smooth, close and are of thicknesses of 18.87±1.13 nm and 25.59 ± 4.55 nm for Ln = Y and Gd, which was evidenced by SEM and EDX studies. Field-effect transistors were successfully fabricated by deposition of carbon nanotubes on top of the Y2 O3 films and formation of palladium contacts by a lift-off procedure. An on/off ratio of more than 4 orders of magnitude is achieved without considerable leakage currents. These results demonstrate the potential use of spin-coated Y2 O3 as a gate dielectric in electronic devices.

Charge transport in monolayer poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin-film transistors

It is found that ultrathin poly（3-hexylthiophene） （P3HT） film with a 2.5 nm-thick layer exhibits a higher mobility of 5.0× 10-2 cm2/V-s than its bulk counterpart. The crystalline structure of the as-fabricated ultrathin P3HT layer is verified by atomic force microscopy as well as grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. Transient measurements of the as-fabricated transistors reveal the influence of the interface traps on charge transport. These results are explained by the trap energy level distribution at the interface manipulated by layers of polymer film.

Modelling of Photovoltaic Modules Optical Losses Due to Saharan Dust Deposition in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa

This study aims to evaluate the optical losses of photovoltaic modules due to Saharan dust deposition in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. For this purpose, an air-dust-glass system is modeled to simulate optical losses in transmittance and reflectance. To do this, we have collected dust samples from Photo-Voltaic (PV) surface in Dakar area (14°42'N latitude, 17°28'W longitude), Senegal. X-ray fluorescence reveals that silicon (Si), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) mainly composed these dust samples. Then, dust refractive indices obtained from an ellipsometer were used as an input to be used in the model. Simulations show that for radiation (at normal incidence) arriving on a dust layer of 30 μm-thick (corresponding to a dust deposit of 1.63 g/m2), 79% of the visible spectrum is transmitted; 19% is reflected and 2% is absorbed. Overall, the transmittance decreases by more than 50% as of dust layer of 70 μm-thick corresponding to a dust deposit of 3.3 g/m2.

Kinetics of Photocatalytic Degradation of Formic Acid over Silica Composite Films Based on Polyoxometalates

The composite films, XW11O39n-/SiO2, (X refers to Si, Ge or P, respectively) were prepared by tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) hydrolysis sol-gel method via spin-coating technique. Formation of the composite films is due to strong chemical reaction of organic silanol group with the surface oxygen atoms of XW11O39n-, resulted in the saturation of the surface of the lacunary polyoxometalates (POMs). Therefore, the coordination structural model of the films was proposed. As for the films, retention of the primary Keggin structure was confirmed by UV-vis, FT-IR spectra and MAS NMR. The surface morphology of the films was characterized by SEM, indicating that the film surface is relatively uniform, and the layer thickness is in the range of 250~350 nm. Aqueous formic acid (FA) (0-20 mmol/L) was degraded into CO2 and H2O by irradiating the films in the near-UV area. The results show that all the films have photocatalytic activities and the degradation reaction follows Langmuir-Hinshelwood first order kinetics.

Model eyes with curved multilayer structure for the axial resolution evaluation of an ophthalmic optical coherence tomography device

Optical coherence tomography(OCT)has been widely applied to the diagnosis of eye diseasesduring the past two decades.However,valid evaluation methods are stil not available for theclinical OCT devices.In order to assess the axial resolution of the OCT system,standard modeleyes with micro-scale multilayer structure have been designed and manufactured in this study.Mimicking a natural human eye,proper Titanium dioxide(TiO_(2))materials of particles withdifferent concentrations were selected by testing the scattering coefficient of PDMS phantoms.The artificial retinas with multilayer films were fabricated with the thicknesses from 9.5 to 30 micrometers using spin coating technology,Subsequently,standard OCT model eyes were ac-complished by embedding the retina phantoms into the artificial frames of eyes.For ease ofmeasurement processing,a series of model eyes were prepared,and each contained flms withthree kinds of thicknesses.Considering the traceability and accuracy of the key parameters of the standard model eyes,the thicknesses of multilayer structures were verfed using ThicknessMonitoring System.Through the experiment with three different OCT devices,it demonstratedthe model eyes fabricated in this study can provide an effective evaluation method for the axialresolution of an ophthalmic OCT device.

Fluorine,chlorine,and gallium co-doped zinc oxide transparent conductive films fabricated using the sol-gel spin method

Transparent conductive films(TCFs)are crucial components of solar cells.In this study,F,Cl,and Ga codoped ZnO(FCGZO)TCFs were deposited onto a glass substrate using the sol-gel spin-coating method and rapid thermal annealing.The effects of F-doping content on the structural,morphological,electrical,and optical properties of FCGZO films were examined by XRD,TEM,FE-SEM,PL spectroscopy,XPS,Hall effects testing,and UVeviseNIR spectroscopy.All prepared ZnO films exhibited a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially grew along the c axis perpendicular to the substrate.Changes in the doping concentration of F changed the interplanar crystal spacing and O vacancies in the film.At a doping ratio of 2%(in mole),the F,Cl,and Ga co-doped ZnO film exhibited the best photoelectric performance,with a carrier concentration of 2.62×10^(20)cm^(-3),mobility of 14.56 cm^(2)/(V·s),and resistivity of 1.64×10^(-3)Ucm.The average transmittance(AT)in the 380-1600 nm region nearly 90%with air as the reference,and the optical band gap was 3.52 eV.

Optical Properties of Ca_(0.25)Ba_(0.75)Nb_2O_6 Thin Films Prepared by Spinning Coating

Ca0.25Ba0.75Nb2O6 （CBN25） thin film was prepared on quartz substrate by spinning coating and the optical properties were investigated by a Hitachi U-3410 spectrophotometer and a Metricon 2010 prism coupler. The optical band gap, thickness and refractive index at 632.8 nm of the CBN25 thin film were determined to be 3.65 eV, 529 nm and 2.2258, respectively. The dispersion of the refractive index fitted to Sellmeier relation well and optical waves could be guided into the thin film, which implied that CBN25 thin films were promising for integrated optics and optically active devices.

Zincophilic Ti_(3)C_(2)Cl_(2)MXene and anti-corrosive Cu NPs for synergistically regulated deposition of dendrite-free Zn metal anode

Dendrites growth,chemical corrosion,and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)on zinc anodes are the main barriers for the development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries(AZIBs).Constructing interfacial protec-tive layer is an effective way to alleviate the side reactions on the anodes.Herein,Cu/Ti_(3)C_(2)Cl_(2)MXene(CMX)with high zincophilic and hydrophobic property is prepared by the lewis molten salts etching method,and the CMX interface protection layer is constructed by a simple spin coating.The CMX coat-ing layer can provide abundant nucleation sites and uniformize the charge distribution through the zin-cophilic Ti_(3)C_(2)Cl_(2)MXene matrix,leading to homogenous Zn deposition.In addition,the hydrophobic coat-ing contained anti-corrosive Cu nanoparticles can prevent the Zn anode from the electrolyte,beneficial for suppressing the chemical corrosion and HER.Therefore,the stable and reversible Zn plating/stripping is achieved for the Zn anode coated by the CMX,which exhibits the lifespan of over 1400 h at 0.5 mA cm^(−2),and even can steadily run for 700 h with 65 mV at 10 mA cm^(−2).Furthermore,CMX@Zn shows a high coulombic efficiency of over 100%for 3800 cycles,which indicates that the CMX@Zn electrode has excellent stability and reversibility of Zn stripping/plating.The full batteries assembled with ZnCoMnO/C(ZCM)cathodes also exhibits higher capacity(450.6 mAh g^(−1)at 0.1 A g^(−1))and cycle stability(capacity retention of 70%after 1500 cycles).This work enhanced the lifespan of AZIBs and broaden the research of multifunctional coating layer to other secondary batteries based on metal anodes.

Two-dimensional perovskite SrNbO_(2) N with Zr doping for accelerating photoelectrochemical water splitting

The superior ability of perovskite-type SrNbO_(2) N to absorb intensive visible light makes it a potential semiconductor to produce hydrogen and oxygen by photoelectrochemical(PEC)water splitting under sunlight.The surface morphologies,such as shape and structure,of the oxynitride strongly affect its photoactivity,although the mechanism has been hardly studied.Herein,we report a two-dimensional(2D)porous SrNbO_(2) N plate with Zr doping,nitrided from layered perovskite Sr_(5)Nb_(4)O_(15) and also its largely enhanced PEC water splitting activity.Zr^(4+)was doped in Sr_(5)Nb_(4)O_(15) during flux-assisted calcination using KCl,producing 2D-type truncated-octahedral Sr_(5)Nb_(4)O_(15):Zr plates approximately 50 nm in thickness.The nitridation completely transformed Sr_(5)Nb_(4)O_(15):Zr to 2D single-crystalline SrNbO_(2) N:Zr with a large surface area,which was subsequently used to fabricate a thin and uniform photoanode by the spin coating method.As a result,the Co(OH)_(x)/SrNbO_(2) N:Zr/FTO photoanode capable of absorbing visible light of up to 680 nm exhibited an activity of 2.0 mA cm^(-2) at 1.23 V vs the reversible hydrogen electrode for water splitting under AM 1.5G simulated sunlight.This improvement in photoactivity mainly originated from the 2D surface morphology of SrNbO_(2) N:Zr,which is clearly distinguishable from 3D-type oxynitrides.According to electrochemical analyses,the 2D structure of SrNbO_(2) N:Zr boosted the separation and accelerated the transfer of charges photogenerated during the water splitting,thus driving the reaction further.Therefore,the result empirically demonstrates that controlling the surface morphology of SrNbO_(2) N is an effective strategy to suppress the recombination of charges and minimize their diffusion pathway,eventually enhancing the PEC activity.

Transparent conductive SnO_(2)thin films via resonant Ta doping

Transparent conductive oxide(TCO)thin films are highly desired as electrodes for modern flat-panel displays and solar cells.Alternative indium-free TCO materials are highly needed,because of the scarcity and the high price of indium.Based on the mechanism of resonant doping,Ta has been identified as an effective dopant for SnO_(2)to achieve highly conductive and transparent TCO.In this work,we fabricated a series of Ta-doped SnO_(2)thin films(Sn_(1-x)Ta_(x)O_(2),x=0.001,0.01,0.02,0.03)with high conductivity and high optical transparency via a low-cost sol-gel spin coating method.The Sn_(0.98)Ta_(0.02)O_(2)film achieves the highest electrical conductivity of 855 S cm-1with a carrier concentration of2.3×10^(20)cm^(-3)and high mobility of 23 cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1).The films exhibit a very high optical transparency of 89.5%in the visible light region.High-resolution X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and optical spectroscopy were combined to gain insights into the electronic structure of the Sn_(1-x)Ta_(x)O_(2)films.The optical bandgaps of the films are increased from 3.96 eV for the undoped SnO_(2)to 4.24 eV for the Sn_(0.98)Ta_(0.02)O_(2)film due to the occupation of the bottom of conduction band by free electrons,i.e.,the Burstein-Moss effect.Interestingly,a bandgap shrinkage is also directly observed due to the bandgap renormalization arising from many-body interactions.The double guarantee of transparency and conductivity in Sn_(1-x)Ta_(x)O_(2)films and the low-cost growth method provide a new platform for optoelectronic and solar cell applications.

Nonlinear optical properties of a self-organized dye thin film

A self-organized thin film of a cyanine dye is fabricated by the spin-coating technique and is characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, infrared （IR） spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, eUipsometer, and atomic force microscopy （AFM）. The nonlinear optical properties of the thin films are investigated by degenerate four wave mixing （DFWM） technique. The cyanine dye thin film sample exhibits high optical nonlinearities （χ^（3） = 2.55 × 10^-12 esu）, and the mechanism is analyzed by the exciton coupling theory.

Zirconia quantum dots for a nonvolatile resistive random access memory device

We propose a nonvolatile resistive random access memory device by employing nanodispersion of zirconia(ZrO2) quantum dots(QDs) for the formation of an active layer. The memory devices comprising a typical sandwich structure of Ag(top)/ZrO2(active layer)/Ti(bottom) are fabricated using a facile spin-coating method. The optimized device exhibits a high resistance state/low resistance state resistance difference(about 10 Ω), a good cycle performance(the number of cycles larger than 100), and a relatively low conversion current(about 1 μA). Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscope are used to observe the surface morphology and stacking state of the ZrO2 active layer. Experimental results show that the ZrO2 active layer is stacked compactly and has a low roughness(Ra=4.49 nm) due to the uniform distribution of the ZrO2 QDs. The conductive mechanism of the Ag/ZrO2/Ti device is analyzed and studied, and the conductive filaments of Ag ions and oxygen vacancies are focused on to clarify the resistive switching memory behavior. This study offers a facile approach of memristors for future electronic applications.

Solution-processable precursor route for fabricating ultrathin silica film for high performance and low voltage organic transistors

Silica is one of the most commonly used materials for dielectric layer in organic thin-film transistors due to its excellent stability, excellent electrical properties, mature preparation process, and good compatibility with organic semiconductors. However, most of conventional preparation methods for silica film are generally performed at high temperature and/or high vacuum. In this paper, we introduce a simple solution spin-coating method to fabricate silica thin film from precursor route, which possesses a low leakage current, high capacitance, and low surface roughness. The silica thin film can be produced in the condition of low temperature and atmospheric environment. To meet various demands, the thickness of film can be adjusted by means of preparation conditions such as the speed of spin-coating and the concentration of solution. The p-type and n-type organic field effect transistors fabricated by using this film as gate electrodes exhibit excellent electrical performance including low voltage and high performance. This method shows great potential for industrialization owing to its characteristic of low consumption and energy saving, time-saving and easy to operate.