Linear and nonlinear optical properties of Sb-doped GeSe_2 thin films

Sb-doped GeSe2 chalcogenide thin films are prepared by the magnetron co-sputtering method. The linear optical properties of as-deposited films are derived by analyzing transmission spectra. The refractive index rises and the optical band gap decreases from 2.08 eV to 1.41 eV with increasing the Sb content. X-ray photoelectron spectra further confirm the formation of a covalent Sb--Se bond. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of thin films are investigated under femtosecond laser excitation at 800 nm. The results show that the third-order nonlinear optical properties are enhanced with increasing the concentration of Sb. The nonlinear refraction indices of these thin films are measured to be on the order of 10-18 m2/W with a positive sign and the nonlinear absorption coefficients are obtained to be on the order of 10-10 m/W. These excellent properties indicate that Sb-doped Ge-Se films have a good prospect in the applications of nonlinear optical devices.

Thermal stability of magnetron sputtering Ge-Ga-S films

Ge-Ga-S thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering with mean coordination number(MCN)ranging from 2.46 to 2.94.The physical properties of the Ge-Ga-S films,including optical band gap,refractive index,and thickness,vary with the time of heat treatment.Based on the analysis of the topology model,it is concluded that the Ge-Ga-S thin films with components close to the stoichiometric ratio can form the most Ga-S bonds and Ga-S bonds,and the physical properties of the Ge27.3Ga6.3S66.3(MCN=2.62)film are the most stable.This is an important reference for thin film photonic devices.

Design and fabrication of GeAsSeS chalcogenide waveguides with thermal annealing

We reported a chalcogenide glass-based rib waveguide fabricated using photolithography and dry etching method. A commercial software(COMSOL Multiphysics) was used to optimize the waveguide structure and the distribution of the fundamental modes in the waveguide based on the complete vector finite component. We further employed thermal annealing to optimize the surface and sidewalls of the rib waveguides. It was found that the optimal annealing temperature for Ge As Se S films is 220℃, and the roughness of the films could be significantly reduced by annealing. The zero-dispersion wavelength(ZDW) could be shifted to a short wavelength around ~2.1 μm via waveguide structural optimization, which promotes supercontinuum generation with a short wavelength pump laser source. The insertion loss of the waveguides with cross-sectional areas of 4.0 μm×3.5 μm and 6.0 μm×3.5 μm was measured using lens fiber and the cut-back method. The propagation loss of the 220℃ annealed waveguides could be as low as 1.9 d B/cm at 1550 nm.

Second-harmonic Generation in UV-pulsed Laser Poled Amorphous 80GeS_2-15Ga_2 S_3-5CdS Chalcogenide Film

With the pulsed laser deposition （PLD） method, amorphous 80GeS2-15Ga2S3-5CdS chalcogenide film was deposited on glassy substrate. Obvious second harmonic generation （SHG） was observed in the ultraviolet （UV）-polarized film and the SHG intensity increased with the increase in single pulse energy and irradiation time. Through Raman spectra and transmission spectra, the mechanism of SHG was studied. The experimental results demonstrated that effective electron traps and hole traps were generated in the UV- polarized film. The energy of electrons and holes was using up due to the collision with other particles and crystal fields during their movement and finally they were captured by the traps and fixed, which made the electric charge distribution nonuniform in the film and destroyed the spatial isotropy. In the meantime, the center of positive and negative charges separated and a built-in electric field was formed which generated the optical second-order nonlinearity of the film.

Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and its applications in determining optical constants of chalcogenide glasses in infrared

The principle of variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry（VASE） and the data analysis models, as well as the applications of VASE in the characterization of chalcogenide bulk glasses and thin films are reviewed. By going through the literature and summarizing the application scopes of various analysis models, it is found that a combination of various models, rather than any single data analysis model, is ideal to characterize the optical constants of the chalcogenide bulk glasses and thin films over a wider wavelength range. While the reliable optical data in the mid-and far-infrared region are limited, the VASE is flexible and reliable to solve the issues, making it promising to characterize the optical properties of chalcogenide glasses.

PLD Preparation of GeS_6 Amorphous Film and Investigation on Its Photo-induced Darkening Phenomenon

GeS6 chalcogenide amorphous fi lm was deposited on glass substrate via PLD（pulsed laser deposition） technique. The performance and structure of the fi lm was characterized by XRD（X-ray diffraction）, SEM（Scanning Electron Microscopy）, EDS（Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy）, optical transmission spectra, and Raman spectra, etc. The GeS6 amorphous fi lm was irradiated by 532 nm linearly polarized light, and its photoinduced darkening was investigated. The results showed that the GeS6 chalcogenide amorphous fi lm was smooth and compact with uniform thickness and combined with the substrate fi rmly, and its chemical composition was in consistency with the bulky target. When laser energy was fi xed, the transparence of the fi lm declined with the increase of the laser irradiation time. Obvious photo-induced darkening and relaxation phenomenon of the fi lm after laser irradiation were observed in this investigation.

High-Q ring resonators directly written in As2S3 chalcogenide glass films

Planar ring resonator waveguides are fabricated in thin films of As2S3 chalcogenide glass,deposited on silicaon-silicon substrates.Waveguide cores are directly written by scanning the focused illumination of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser at a central wavelength of 810 nm,through a two-photon photo-darkening process.A large photoinduced index change of 0.3–0.4 refractive index units is obtained.The radius of the ring resonator is 1.9 mm,corresponding to a transmission free spectral range of 9.1 GHz.A high loaded（intrinsic） Q value of 110,000（180,000） is achieved.The thermal dependence of the resonator transfer function is characterized.The results provide the first report,to the best of our knowledge,of directly written high-Q ring resonators in chalcogenide glass films,and demonstrate the potential of this simple technique towards the fabrication of planar lightguide circuits in these materials.

The influence of sequence of precursor films on CZTSe thin films prepared by ion-beam sputtering deposition

The CuZnSn（CZT） precursor thin films are grown by ion-beam sputtering Cu, Zn, Sn targets with different orders and then sputtering Se target to fabricate Cu_2ZnSnSe_4（CZTSe） absorber thin films on molybdenum substrates. They are annealed in the same vacuum chamber at 400 ℃. The characterization methods of CZTSe thin films include X-ray diffraction（XRD）, energy dispersive spectroscopy（EDS）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, and X-ray photoelectron spectra（XPS） in order to study the crystallographic properties, composition, surface morphology, electrical properties and so on. The results display that the CZTSe thin films got the strongest diffraction peak intensity and were with good crystalline quality and its morphology appeared smooth and compact with a sequence of Cu/Zn/Sn/Se, which reveals that the expected states for CZTSe are Cu^（1＋）, Zn^（2＋）, Sn^（4＋）, Se^（2）.With the good crystalline quality and close to ideal stoichiometric ratio the resistivity of the CZTSe film with the sequence of Cu/Zn/Sn/Se is lower, whose optical band gap is about 1.50 eV.

Optimization of SnS active layer thickness for solar cell application

This work presents a comparative study of n-SnS and p-SnS active layers for increased solar cell efficiency. Tin sulphide thin films of various thicknesses having p-type and n-type conductivity were fabricated by thermal evaporation. Both type of films had the same（113） orientation of the crystal planes with a constant tensile strain of ~ 0.003 and ~ 0.011, respectively. The persistent photocurrent was observed in all n-SnS and p-SnS samples with the current＇s time decay constant decreasing with increasing film thickness. Hole mobility of thicker p-SnS films was found to be greater than the electron mobility in n-SnS samples, with mobility（both hole and electron） showing an increasing trend with film thickness. The optimum absorber layer thickness for both p-and n-SnS layers should have a high value of diffusion length for a given absorption coefficient and band-gap.