Fabrication of ZnO films by radio frequency magnetron sputtering and annealing

ZnO thin films were deposited on Si（111） substrates through a radio frequency （rf） magnetron sputtering system. Then the samples were annealed at different temperatures in air ambience and ammonia ambience respectively. The structure and composition of the ZnO films were studied by X-ray diffraction （XRD） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. The morphology of the samples was studied by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Measured results show that ZnO films with hexagonal wurtzite structure were grown on Si（111） substrates when annealed in the two ambiences. The volatilization process of ZnO in the ammonia ambience at high temperature was discussed and the mechanism of the reaction was analyzed.

Structure and Mechanical Properties of CrN Thick Films Deposited by High-Rate Medium-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

A home-made electron source assisted medium-frequency （MF） magnetron sputter- ing system was used to deposit thick CrN films on silicon and tungsten carbide substrates at various nitrogen flow rates with a fixed total pressure （0.3 Pa） and MF power （11.2 kW）. Result from scanning electron microscopy showed that the deposited CrN films have clear columnar struc- ture, and X-ray diffraction revealed a preferred orientation of CrN （200） for samples prepared at a rate of N2/（N2＋Ar） below 60%, whereas those prepared at higher N2/（N2＋Ar） rate are dom- inated by Cr2N. Deposition rates up to 12.5 μm/h were achieved and the hardness of the CrN coatings were in a range of 11 GPa to 18 GPa.

Germanium nanoislands grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering: Annealing time dependent surface morphology and photoluminescence

Structural and optical properties of ～ 20 nm Ge nanoislands grown on Si（100） by radio frequency （rI） magnetron sputtering under varying annealing conditions are reported. Rapid thermal annealing at a temperature of 600 ℃ for 30 s, 90 s, and 120 s are performed to examine the influence of annealing time on the surface morphology and photoluminescence properties. X-ray diffraction spectra reveal prominent Ge and GeO2 peaks highly sensitive to the annealing time. Atomic force microscope micrographs of the as-grown sample show pyramidal nanoislands with relatively high-density （～ 10^11 cm^-2）. The nanoislands become dome-shaped upon annealing through a coarsening process mediated by Oswald ripening. The room temperature photoluminescence peaks for both as-grown （～ 3.29 eV） and annealed （～ 3.19 eV） samples consist of high intensity and broad emission, attributed to the effect of quantum confinement. The red shift （～ 0.10 eV） of the emission peak is attributed to the change in the size of the Ge nanoislands caused by annealing. Our easy fabrication method may contribute to the development of Ge nanostructure-based optoelectronics.

Tungsten Doped Indium Oxide Thin Films Deposited at Room Temperature by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Tungsten doped indium oxide （IWO） thin films were deposited on glass substrate at room temperature by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering. Chemical states analysis was carried out, indicating that valence states of element W in the films were W4＋ and W6＋. The effects of sputtering power and film thickness on the surface morphology, optical and electrical properties of IWO thin films were investigated. The IWO thin films had high transmittance in near infrared （NIR） spectral range. The resistivity, carrier mobility and carrier concentration owned their respective optimum values as sputtering power and thickness changed. The asdeposited IWO film with the minimum resistivity of 3.23 × 10^-4 Ω cm was obtained at a sputtering power of 50 W, with carrier mobility of 27.1 cm2 V-1 s-1, carrier concentration of 7.15 × 10^20 cm-3, average transmittance about 80% in visible region and above 75% in NIR region. It may meet the application requirement of high conductivity and transparency in NIR wavelength region.

Fabrication of Diamond-like Carbon Films by Ion Assisted Middle Frequency Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering

Diamond-like carbon （DLC） films are deposited by the Hall ion source assisted by the mid-frequency unbalanced magnetron sputtering technique. The effects of the substrate voltage bias, the substrate temperature, the Hall discharging current and the argon/nitrogen ratio on the DLC film＇s performance were studied. The experimental results show that the film＇s surface roughness, the hardness and the Young＇s modulus increase firstly and then decrease with the bias voltage incrementally increases. Also when the substrate temperature rises, the surface roughness of the film varies slightly, but its hardness and Young＇s modulus firstly increase followed by a sharp decrease when the temperature surpassing 120 ℃. With the Hall discharging current incrementally rising, the hardness and Young＇s modulus of the film decrease and the surface roughness of the film on 316L stainless steel firstly decreased and then remains constant.

Effect of Heat-treatment on Crystalline Phase and UV Absorption of 60CeO_2-40TiO_2 Thin Films by Magnetron Sputtering

60CeO2-40TiO2 thin films were deposited on soda-lime silicate glass substrates by R.F. magnetron sputtering. The effects of heat-treatment on the UV-absorption of the thin films were studied on the 60CeO2-40TiO2 thin film with the largest UV cut-off wavelength. The sample films with CeO2：TiO2=60：40 were heated at 773 K, 873 K, 973 K for 30 min. These films are characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and spectrometer （XPS）. XRD analysis proves that the addition of TiO2 to CeO2 changed the crystalline state of CeO2. But the UV absorption effect of CeO2-TiO2 films with CeO2 crystallite phase is inferior to that of the amorphous phase CeO2-TiO2 films. XPS analysis also indicates that the amorphous phase CeO2-TiO2 films have the most Ce3＋ content in these films. Amorphous phase and crystalline phase of the CeO2-TiO2 films have different effects on UV absorption of the thin films.

Study of magnetic and magneto-optical properties of heavily doped bismuth substitute yttrium iron garnet (Bi∶YIG) film

The magnetic and magneto-optical properties of heavily doped Bi∶YIG film were studied. The film was deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method and crystallized by rapid recurrent thermal annealing (RRTA). The results show that the RRTA treated film has good properties both in microwave and optical wave band. The saturation magnetization of the film on different substrates varies from 135.7 to 138.6 kA·m-1. The coercive field of the film on GGG substrate is about 0.32 kA·m-1, while about 0.8-1.43 kA·m-1 on YAG substrate and 1.75 kA·m-1 on Al2O3 substrate. The Faraday angle is about 3-5 (°)·μm-1 when optical wavelength ranges at 450-600 nm. The transmission spectra of the Bi∶YIG films on three substrates has similar change as annealing temperature below 800 ℃. Specially, when annealing temperature is above 800 ℃ a step is observed between 550 and 650 nm wavelength for the film deposited on Al2O3 substrate.Three results are very useful in magneto-optical recording application and integrated microwave devices.

Effects of doping concentration on properties of Mn-doped ZnO thin films

This paper reports that the radio frequency magnetron sputtering is used to fabricate ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO thin films on glass substrates at 500 ℃. The Mn-doped ZnO thin films present wurtzite structure of ZnO and have a smoother surface, better conductivity but no ferromagnetism. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show that the binding energy of Mn2p3/2 increases with increasing Mn content slightly, and the state of Mn in the Mn-doped ZnO thin films is divalent. The chemisorbed oxygen in the Mn-doped ZnO thin films increases with increasing Mn doping concentration. The photoluminescence spectra of ZnO and Mmdoped ZnO thin films have a similar ultraviolet emission. The yellow green emissions of 4 wt.% and 10 wt.% Mn-doped thin films are quenched, whereas the yellow green emission occurs because of abundant oxygen vacancies in the Mn-doped ZnO thin films after 20 wt.% Mn doping. Compared with pure ZnO thin film, the bandgap of the Mn-doped ZnO thin films increases with increasing Mn content.

Fabrication and photoluminescence characteristics of nonuniform Yb-Er codoped films

The nonuniform Yb-Er Codoped Al2O3 films were prepared on SiO2/Si substrates using a medium frequency magnetron sputtering system. Two asymmetry targets in the system were introduced to realize the nonuniform dopant. Some curves of Photoluminescence （PL） peak intensity were obtained by adjusting the deposition parameters, such as, the pillar number of erbium and ytterbium in the mixed target and the distance between a sample table and targets. Typically, the curve of PL peak intensity against the offset distance was approximately linear. The ratio of the PL intensity at the two ends of the same sample was 12.6 and the slope was 71.83/mm when the pillar numbers of the erbium and ytterbium in the mixed target are 5 and 60, respectively, and the distance between targets and the sample table is 2.9 cm.

ITO Films Prepared by Long-throw Magnetron Sputtering without Oxygen Partial Pressure

This study has investigated the influence of the radio frequency （rf） power and working pressure on the properties of indium tin oxide （ITO） thin films, which were prepared by long-throw rf magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature. For 200 nm thick ITO films grown at room temperature in pure argon pressure of 0.27 Pa and sputtering power of 40 W, sheet resistance was 26.6 Ω/sq. and transmittance was higher than 88% （at wavelength 500 nm）. An X-ray diffraction analysis of the samples deposited at room temperature revealed a structural change from amorphous to mixed amorphous/polycrystalline structure at （222） and （400） texture with increasing rf power. The surface composition of ITO films was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）. Oxygen atoms in both amorphous and crystalline ITO structures were observed from O Is XPS spectra.

Preparation and characterization of GaN films grown on Ga-diffused Si (111) substrates

Hexagonal GaN films were prepared by nitriding Ga_2O_3 films with flowingammonia. Ga_2O_3 films were deposited on Ga-diffused Si (111) substrates by radio frequency (r.f.)magnetron sputtering. This paper have investigated the change of structural properties of GaN filmsnitrided in NH_3 atmosphere at the temperatures of 850, 900, and 950 deg C for 15 min and nitridedat the temperature of 900 deg C for 10, 15, and 20 min, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD),scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy (XPS) were used to analyze the structure, surface morphology and composition ofsynthesized samples. The results reveal that the as-grown films are polycrystalline GaN withhexagonal wurtzite structure and GaN films with the highest crystal quality can be obtained whennitrided at 900 deg C for 15 min.

The influence of RF power on the electrical properties of sputtered amorphous InGa-Zn-O thin films and devices

The influence of radio frequency（RF） power on the properties of magnetron sputtered amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide（a-IGZO） thin films and the related thin-film transistor（TFT） devices is investigated comprehensively.A series of a-IGZO thin films prepared with magnetron sputtering at various RF powers are examined.The results prove that the deposition rate sensitively depends on RF power.In addition,the carrier concentration increases from 0.91 x 1019 to 2.15 x 1019 cm-3 with the RF power rising from 40 to 80 W,which may account for the corresponding decrease in the resistivity of the a-IGZO thin films.No evident impacts of RF power are observed on the surface roughness,crystalline nature and stoichiometry of the a-IGZO samples.On the other hand,optical transmittance is apparently influenced by RF power where the extracted optical band-gap value increases from 3.48 to 3.56 eV with RF power varying from 40 to 80 W,as is supposed to result from the carrierinduced band-filling effect.The rise in RF power can also affect the performance of a-IGZO TFTs,in particular by increasing the field-effect mobility clearly,which is assumed to be due to the alteration of the extended states in a-IGZO thin films.