Si-based Multielement Thin Film Prepared by r.f. Reactive Sputtering at Room Temperature

a-Si.C.N:H thin films have been deposited at room temperature by r.f. reactive-sputtering of a Si target in an Ar+H2+N2+CH4 gas mixture. Fourier transform infrared-absorption spectroscopy and optical absorption spectra have been investigated for the films. The study shows that the film structure and optical- electrical properties are obviously modified readily by controlling the process parameters of deposition. The nitrogen-rich a-Si:C:N: H films are thermally stable within the temperature ranging from 200 to 800℃. They are of interest for the potential applications in electronic devices.

Properties of boron doped ZnO films prepared by reactive sputtering method: Application to amorphous silicon thin film solar cells

Reactive sputtered boron-doped zinc oxide(BZO) film was deposited from argon,hydrogen and boron gas mixture.The reactive sputtering technique provides us the flexibility of changing the boron concentration in the produced films by using the same intrinsic zinc oxide target.Textured surface was obtained in the as-deposited films.The surface morphology and the opto-electronic properties of the films can be controlled by simply varying the gas concentration ratio.By varying the gas concentration ratio,the best obtained resistivity ~6.51×10^-4Ω-cm,mobility ~19.05 cm^2 V^-1 s^-1 and sheet resistance ~7.23Ω/□ were obtained.At lower wavelength of light,the response of the deposited films improves with the increase of boron in the gas mixture and the overall transmission in the wavelength region 350-1100 nm of all the films are>85 %.We also fabricated amorphous silicon(a-Si) thin film solar cell on the best obtained BZO layers.The overall efficiency of the a-Si solar cell is 8.14 %,found on optimized BZO layer.

Preparation and characterization of single(200)-oriented TiN thin films deposited by DC magnetron reactive sputtering

Single(200)-oriented TiN thin films were deposited on quartz substrate by direct current(DC) magnetron reactive sputtering process at a wide range of substrate temperature from 200 to 600 ℃.The effects of sputtering pressure and substrate temperature on the crystalline nature,morphology,electrical and optical properties of the deposited thin films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction(XRD),atomic force microscopy(AFM),four-point resistivity test system and ultraviolet visible near-infrared(UV-Vis-NIR) spectroscopy,respectively.The results show that single(200)-oriented TiN thin films can be obtained at a wide range of substrate temperature from 200 to 600 ℃ with the grain size increasing from 35.9 to 64.5 nm.The resistivity of the product is as low as95 μΩ·cm,and the value of the optical reflectance is above68 % in the near-infrared(NIR) range of 760-1500 nm.

Influence of Experimental Parameters on Reactive Magnetron Sputtering CN_x Thin Films

Carbon nitride thin films were deposited on Si(001) using unbalanced magnetron sputtering at different experimental parameters. The effects of nitrogen partial pressure, substrate temperature and substrate bias on the deposition rate and nitrogen content are discussed.

Reactive magnetron sputtering of germanium carbide films at different substrate temperature

To explore the relationship between the chemical bonding and mechanical properties for germanium carbide (Ge1-xCx) films,the Ge1-xCx films are prepared via reactive magnetron sputtering in a mixture of CH4/Ar discharge,and their composition,chemical bonding and hardness were investigated as a function of substrate temperature (Ts). The results show that Ts remarkably influences the chemical bonding of Ge1-xCx film,which results in a pronounced change in the film hardness. As Ts increases from ambient (60 ℃) to 500 ℃,the Ge content in the film gradually increases,which promotes forming sp3 C-Ge bonds in the film at the expense of sp2C-C bonds. Furthermore,it is found that with increasing Ts the fraction of C-H bonds in Ge1-xCx film gradually decreases,which is attributed to an enhancement in the desorption rate of C-Hn(n=1,2,3) species decomposed from methane. The transition from graphite-like sp2 C-C to diamond-like sp3C-Ge bonds as well as the reduction in C-H bonds in the film with increasing Ts promotes forming the compact three-dimensional network structure,which significantly enhances the hardness of the film from 5.8 to 10.1 GPa.

The application of a helicon plasma source in reactive sputter deposition of tungsten nitride thin films

A reactive helicon wave plasma(HWP)sputtering method is used for the deposition of tungsten nitride(WNx)thin films.N_(2)is introduced downstream in the diffusion chamber.The impacts of N_(2)on the Ar-HWP parameters,such as ion energy distribution functions(IEDFs),electron energy probability functions(EEPFs),electron temperature(Te)and density(ne),are investigated.With the addition of N_(2),a decrease in electron density is observed due to the dissociative recombination of electrons with N_(2)^(+).The similar IEDF curves of Ar+and N_(2)^(+) indicate that the majority ofN_(2)^(+) stems from the charge transfer in the collision between Ar+and N_(2).Moreover,due to the collisions between electrons and N_(2)ions,EEPFs show a relatively lower Tewith a depletion in the high-energy tail.With increasing negative bias from 50 to 200 V,a phase transition from hexagonal WN to fcc-WN0.5is observed,together with an increase in the deposition rate and roughness.

Properties of Reactive Magnetron Sputtered ITO Films without in-situ Substrate Heating and Post-deposition Annealing

Indium tin oxide （ITO） films were prepared on polyester, Si and glass substrate with relatively high deposition rate of above 0.9 nm/s by DC reactive magnetron sputtering technique at the sputtering pressure of 0.06 Pa system, respectively. The dependence of resistivity on deposition parameters, such as deposition rate, target-to-substrate distance （TSD）, oxygen flow rate and sputtering time （thickness）, has been investigated, together with the structural and the optical properties. It was revealed that all ITO films exhibited lattice expansion. The resistivity of ITO thin films shows significant substrate effect: much lower resistivity and broader process window have been reproducibly achieved for the deposition of ITO films onto polyester rather than those prepared on both Si and glass substrates. The films with resistivity of as low as 4.23 ?10-4 Ω.cm and average transmittance of -78% at wavelength of 400-700 nm have been achieved for the films on polyester at room temperature.

Tribological performance under different environments of Ti-C-N composite films for marine wear-resistant parts

The need for reducing the wear in mechanical parts used in the industry makes self-lubricant films one of the sustainable solutions to achieve long-term protection under different environmental conditions.The purpose of this work is to study the influence of C additions on the tribological behavior of a magnetron-sputtered TiN film in air,water,and seawater.The results show that the addition of C into the TiN binary film induced a new amorphous phase,and the films exhibited a dual phase of fcc(face-centered cubic)-TiN and amorphous carbon.The antifriction and wear-resistance properties were enhanced in air and water by adding 19.1at%C.However,a further increase in the C concentration improved anti-frictional properties but also led to higher wear rates.Although the amorphous phase induced microbatteries and accelerated the corrosion of TiN phases in seawater,the negative abrasion state was detected for all Ti-C-N films due to the adhesion of the tribocorrosion debris on the wear track.

Effect of Oxygen Content on Structural and Optical Properties of Single Cu_2O Film by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering Method

Cuprous oxide(Cu_2O) thin films have been deposited on glass substrate by reactive magnetron sputtering method using Cu target and argon oxygen gas atmosphere.Effect of oxygen flow rate on structural and optical properties of thin films has been discussed.The results of X-ray diffraction,ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry and atomic force micrograph indicated that the condition window for single Cu_2O phase was about 3.8 to 4.4 cm^3/min,and the optimum oxygen flow rate was 4.2 cm^3/min.The optical band gap E_g of Cu_2O film was determined by using the data of transmittance versus wavelength,and slightly decreased from 2.46 to 2.40 eV with the increase of oxygen flow rate from 3.8 to 4.4 cm^3/min.The Cu_2O film formed at the oxygen flow rate of 4.2 cm^3/min had an optical band gap of 2.43 eV.

Electrochemical performances of NiO/Ni2N nanocomposite thin film as anode material for lithium ion batteries

Despite the high specific capacities,the practical application of transition metal oxides as the lithium ion battery(LIB)anode is hindered by their low cycling stability,severe polarization,low initial coulombic efficiency,etc.Here,we report the synthesis of the NiO/Ni2N nanocomposite thin film by reactive magnetron sputtering with a Ni metal target in an atmosphere of 1 vol.% O2 and 99 vol.%N2.The existence of homogeneously dispersed nano Ni2N phase not only improves charge transfer kinetics,but also contributes to the one-off formation of a stable solid electrolyte interphase(SEI).In comparison with the NiO electrode,the NiO/Ni2N electrode exhibits significantly enhanced cycling stability with retention rate of 98.8%(85.6%for the NiO electrode)after 50 cycles,initial coulombic efficiency of 76.6%(65.0%for the NiO electrode)and rate capability with 515.3 mA·h·g^−1(340.1 mA·h·g^−1 for the NiO electrode)at 1.6 A·g^−1.