Influence of Deposition Temperature and Pressure on Microstructure and Tribological Properties of Arc Ion Plated Ag Films

The films deposited at low temperature（LT-films） have increasingly attracted theoretical and technical interests since such films exhibit obvious difference in structure and performances compared to those deposited at room temperature.Studies on the tribological properties of LT-films are rarely reported in available literatures.In this paper,the structure,morphology and tribological properties of Ag films,deposited at LT（166 K） under various Ar pressures on AISI 440C steel substrates by arc ion plating（AIP）,are studied by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,atomic force microscopy（AFM） and a vacuum ball-on-disk tribometer,and compared with the Ag films deposited at RT（300 K）.XRD results show that（200） preferred orientation of the films is promoted at LT and low Ar pressure.The Crystallite sizes are 70 nm-80 nm for LT-Ag films deposited at 0.2 Pa and 0.8 Pa and larger than 100 nm for LT-Ag films deposited at 0.4 Pa and 0.6 Pa,while they are 55 nm-60 nm for RT-Ag films deposited at 0.2 Pa-0.6 Pa and 37 nm for RT-Ag films deposited at 0.8 Pa.The surfaces of LT-Ag films are fibre-like at 0.6 Pa and 0.8 Pa,terrace-like at 0.4 Pa,and sphere-like at 0.2 Pa,while the surfaces of RT-Ag films are composed of sphere-like grains separated by voids.Wear tests reveal that,due to the compact microstructure LT-Ag films have better wear resistances than RT-Ag film.These results indicate that the microstructure and wear resistance of Ag films deposited by AIP can be improved by low temperature deposition.

Annealing Temperature dependence of Photoluminescence from Silicon-rich silica Films

The silicon-rich silica films were prepared by a dual-ion-beam co-sputtering method from a composite Target in an argon atmosphere. The structure of the films studied by the aid of TEM and XRD is amorphous. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra were found to have a 4- luminescent band peak at 320 nm, 410 nm, 560 nm, and 630 nm, respectively, at room temperature. The intensity and the wavelength position of PL are dependent on annealing temperature (Ta), and the luminescent mechanism is analyzed.

Temperature Dependence of Raman Scattering in 4H-SiC Films under Different Growth Conditions

The microRaman scattering of 4H-SiC films, fabricated by low pressure chemical vapor deposition under different growth conditions, is investigated at temperatures ranging from 80 K to 550K. The effects of growth conditions on E2 （TO）, E1 （TO） and A1 （LO） phonon mode frequencies are negligible. The temperature dependences of phonon linewidth and lifetime of E2 （TO） modes are analyzed in terms of an anharmonic damping effect induced by thermal and growth conditions. The results show that the lifetime of E2 （TO） mode increases when the quality of the sample improves. Unlike other phone modes, Raman shift of A1 （longitudinal optical plasma coupling （LOPC）） mode does not decrease monotonously when the temperature increases, but tends to blueshift at low temperatures and to redshift at relatively high temperatures. Theoretical analyses are given for the abnormal phenomena of A1 （LOPC） mode in 4H-SiC.

Protective Properties of High Temperature Oxide Films on Ni-based Superalloys in 3.5% NaCl Solution

The electrochemical behaviors of high temperature oxide film formed on the sputtered microcrystalline coating of M38 alloy （mc-M38） were investigated by potentiodynamic and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy （EIS） techniques in 3.5% NaCl solution. Mott-Schottky analysis was used to study the semi-conductive properties of the surface oxide. The results of the capacitance measurements showed that the oxide films on both the coating and the cast alloy were p-type semiconducting characteristics. Both the carrier density （Na）and the flat band potential （Efb） were obviously frequency-dependent, and the optimal frequency range was from 1000 to 1500 Hz. The oxidized coating exhibited higher protectivity than the oxidized cast alloy due to the lower carrier density compared with that of the oxidized cast alloy. The EIS data of the long-term immersing tests suggested that the oxide film served as an inner-barrier layer against chloride ions. The penetration of the aggressive ions into the surface oxide resulted in the decreased polarization resistance as a function of the immersion time.

Porosity Evaluation and the Power Spectral Densities Analyses of Carbon-Nickel Composite Films Annealed at Different Temperatures

The densification and the fractal dimensions of carbon-nickel films annealed at different temperatures 300, 500, 800, and 1000℃ with emphasis on porosity evaluation are investigated. For this purpose, the refractive index of films is determined from transmittance spectra. Three different regimes are identified, T 〈 500℃, 500℃ 〈 T 〈 800℃ and T 〉 800℃. The Rutherford baekscattering spectra show that with increasing the annealing temperature, the concentration of nickel atoms into films decreases. It is shown that the effect of annealing temperatures for increasing films densification at T 〈 500℃ and T 〉 800℃ is greater than the effect of nickel concentrations. It is observed that the effect of decreasing nickel atoms into films at 500℃ 〈 T 〈 800℃ strongly causes improving porosity and decreasing densification. The fractal dimensions of carbon-nickel films annealed from 300 to 500℃ are increased, while from 500 to 1000℃ these characteristics are decreased. It can be seen that at 800℃, films have maximum values of porosity and roughness.

Influence of Heat Treatment Temperature on Microstructure and Bonding of TiO2 Film Coated on Diamond Particles Surface

TiO_2 films were coated on the surface of diamond particles using a sol-gel method. The effects of heat treatment temperature on the morphology, phase composition and chemical bond of diamond particles coated with TiO2 films were investigated through SEM, TEM, X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, and XPS. The results showed that when being heat-treated at 600 ℃, the amorphous TiO_2 film transfered to the anatase film which bonded well with diamond substrate. Meanwhile, the Ti-O-C bond formed between TiO2 film and diamond substrate. When being heat-treated at 800 ℃, TiO2 film was still anatase, and partial diamond began to graphitize. The graphitizated carbon could also form the Ti-O-C bond with TiO_2 film, although TiO_2 film would tend to crack in this case.

Simulation of M-H Loops in FeCo Polycrystalline Thin Films at Finite Temperatures

We apply the hybrid Monte Carlo （HMC） micromagnetie method to FeCo soft magnetic polycrystalline films and test the new method by comparing with the result worked out by micromagnetics using Landau Lifshitz-Gilbert equations, and the magnetic properties of FeCo films are understood better by carefully considering the effects of polycrystalline microstructures. The hysteresis loops of the FeCo film from low temperature up to 1100K are simulated by the new HMC micromagnetic method.

EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURE ON Y-Ba-Cu-O THIN FILMS IN SITU GROWTH BY MOCVD

Superconducting thin films of YBa2Cu3O7-x（Y-Ba-Cu-O） with Tc more than 85K have been deposited in situ by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD） on yttria stabilized zirconia（YSZ） substrates. The relationship of film orientation on substrate temperature and the lowest formation temperature region of superconducting phase have been obtained after changing the substrate temperature. The epitaxial relation between Y-Ba-Cu-O films and the YSZ su bstrates were discussed.

Deposition of Amorphous Carbon Films using ECR Plasma byVarying the Substrate Temperature

Amorphous hydrogenated carbon thin films have been deposited with benzene plasma in an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. The characteristic of Benzene discharge plasma has been monitored by Mast spectrometry. It shows that the majority of the plasma species in the downstream ECR Plasma with benzene as gas source are acetylene, ethylene and higher mass species. In the experiments, the effects of the substrate temperature on the deposition rates have been emphatically studied. The structures of the films were analyzed by FTIR and Ramam spectrum.The results show that when the substrate temperature rises, the deposition rate drops down, the hydrogen Foment decreases, with the higher SP3 content being presented in the film.

Degradation Mechanism of the Superconducting Transition Temperature in Nb Thin Films

Systemic measurements show that there is no 3D to 2D crossover in the reduction of the superconducting transition temperature Tc in Nb thin films. This result is consistent with all previous measurements while it is contrary to the prevailing understanding based on the interplay between proximity, localization, and lifetime broadening. Our study indicates that the decrease of Tc can be interpreted by the combined effects of electron-phonon coupling parameter λ and the defect scattering rate pw, being uniquely determined by their ratio λ/ρw. Other factors such as film thickness and irradiation do not produce additional effects beyond these two parameters.

Effect of Pre-heating Temperature on Structural and Optical Properties of Sol-gel Derived Zn_(0.8)Cd_(0.2)O Thin Films

Zn_（0.8）Cd_（0.2）O thin films prepared using the spin-coating method were investigated. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-Vis spectrophotometry were employed to illustrate the effects of the pre-heating temperature on the crystalline structure, surface morphology and transmission spectra of Zn_（0.8）Cd_（0.2）O thin films. When the thin films were pre-heated at 150 ℃, polycrystalline Zn O thin films were obtained. When the thin films were pre-heated at temperatures of 200 ℃ or higher, preferential growth of Zn O nanocrystals along the c-axis was observed. Transmission spectra showed that thin films with high transmission in the visible light range were prepared and effective bandgap energies of these thin films decreased from 3.19 e V to 3.08 e V when the pre-heating temperature increased from 150 ℃ to 300 ℃.

Temperature Dependence of Electrical Characteristics in Indium-Zinc-Oxide Thin Film Transistors from 10 K to 400 K

The transfer characteristics of amorphous indium-zinc-oxide thin film transistors are measured in the temperature range of 10-400K. The variation of electrical parameters （threshold voltage, field effect mobility, sub-threshold swing, and leafage current） with decreasing temperature are then extracted and analyzed. Moreover, the dom- inated carrier transport mechanisms at different temperature regions are investigated. The experimental data show that the carrier transport mechanism may change from trap-limited conduction to variable range hopping conduction at lower temperature. Moreover, the field effect mobilities are also extracted and simulated at various temperatures.

High Ferroelectricities and High Curie Temperature of BiInO3PbTiO3Thin Films Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering Method

Properties of ferroelectric xBiInO3-（1-x）PbTiO3（xBI-（1-x）PT） thin films deposited on（101） SrRuO3/（200）Pt/（200） MgO substrates by rf magnetron sputtering method and effects of deposition conditions are investigated.The structures of the xBI-（1-x）PT films are characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.The results indicate that the thin films are grown with mainly（001） orientation. The chemical compositions of the films are analyzed by scanning electron probe and the results indicate that the loss phenomena of Pb and Bi elements depend on the pressure and temperature during the sputtering process.The sputtering parameters including target composition, substrate temperature, and gas pressure are adjusted to obtain optimum sputtering conditions. To decrease leakage currents,2 mol% La2 O3 is doped in the targets. The P-E hysteresis loops show that the optimized xBI-（1-x）PT（x = 0.24） film has high ferroelectricities with remnant polarization2 Pr = 80μC/cm2 and coercive electric field 2 EC = 300 kV/cm. The Curie temperature is about 640℃. The results show that the films have optimum performance and will have wide applications.

Effects of Substrate Temperature on Properties of Transparent Conductive Ta-Doped TiO_2 Films Deposited by Radio-Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Ta-doped titanium dioxide films are deposited on fused quartz substrates using the rf magnetron sputtering technique at different substrate temperatures. After post-annealing at 550℃ in a vacuum, all the films are crystallized into the polycrystalline anatase TiO2 structure. The effects of substrate temperature from room temperature up to 350℃ on the structure, morphology, and photoelectric properties of Ta-doped titanium dioxide films are analyzed. The average transmittance in the visible region（400-800 nm） of all films is more than 73%.The resistivity decreases firstly and then increases moderately with the increasing substrate temperature. The polycrystalline film deposited at 150℃ exhibits a lowest resistivity of 7.7 × 10^-4Ω·cm with the highest carrier density of 1.1×10^21 cm^-3 and the Hall mobility of 7.4 cm^2·V^-1s^-1.

Influence of Curing Accelerators on the Imidization of Polyamic Acids and Properties of Polyimide Films

In order to lower the imidization temperature of polyamic acids（PAA）, the catalytic activities of the curing agents p-hydroxybenzoic acid（PHA）, quinoline（QL）, benzimidazole（BI）, benzotriazole（BTA）, triethylamine（Et_3N） and 1, 8-diazabicyclo [5.4.0]undec-7-ene（DBU） were investigated in the process of thermal imidization of PAA. In addition, the effect of these various curing agents on the thermal stabilities and mechanical properties of the resultant polyimide（PI） films was determined. Quinoline was found to be an effective curing accelerator in the use of two-step method for synthesizing PI. Due to its moderate base strength, low steric crowding effect and moderate boiling point, quinoline could not only accelerate PAA to achieve imidization completely at 180 ℃, but also maintain the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the ordinary PI film. Any residual quinoline could be removed from PI films by heating at 250 ℃ for 4 h.

Preparation and Characterization of Transparent Conductive Zinc Doped Tin Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Radio-frequency Magnetron Sputtering

High transparent and conductive thin films of zinc doped tin oxide （ZTO） were deposited on quartz substrates by the radio-frequency （RF） magnetron sputtering using a 12 wt% ZnO doped with 88 wt% SnO2 ceramic target.The effect of substrate temperature on the structural,electrical and optical performances of ZTO films has been studied.X-ray diffraction （XRD） results show that ZTO films possess tetragonal rutile structure with the preferred orientation of （101）.The surface morphology and roughness of the films was investigated by the atomic force microscope （AFM）.The electrical characteristic （including carrier concentration,Hall mobility and resistivity） and optical transmittance were studied by the Hall tester and UV- VIS,respectively.The highest carrier concentration of -1.144×1020 cm-3 and the Hall mobility of 7.018 cm2（V ·sec）-1 for the film with an average transmittance of about 80.0% in the visible region and the lowest resistivity of 1.116×10-2 Ω·cm were obtained when the ZTO films deposited at 250 oC.

Influence of microstructure on the corrosion resistance of Fe–44Ni thin films

An Fe–44Ni nanocrystalline（NC） alloy thin film was prepared through electrodeposition. The relation between the microstructure and corrosion behavior of the NC film was investigated using electrochemical methods and chemical analysis approaches. The results show that the NC film is composed of a face-centered cubic phase（γ-（Fe,Ni）） and a body-centered cubic phase（α-（Fe,Ni）） when it is annealed at temperatures less than 400℃. The corrosion resistance increases with the increase in grain size, and the corresponding corrosion process is controlled by oxygen reduction. The NC films annealed at 500℃ and 600℃ do not exhibit the same pattern, although their grain sizes are considerably large. This result is attributed to the existence of an anodic phase, Fe0.947Ni0.054, in these films. Under this condition, the related corrosion process is synthetically controlled by anodic dissolution and depolarization.

Robust ultrathin and transparent AZO/Ag-SnOx/AZO on polyimide substrate for flexible thin film heater with temperature over 400℃

We developed flexible and transparent thin film heaters(TFHs)with a structure of AZO/AgSnOx/AZO/polyimide(PI)which exhibited superior stability under operational conditions.Ultrathin and robust doped silver(Ag)films were produced by introducing a small amount of SnOx during the sputtering process.The AZO/Ag-SnOx/AZO stacks showed the best figure of merit value of 139.9,which was higher than that of ITO counterpart(25.5)with the same thickness.In addition,it exhibited excellent durability,which showed unaffected optical and electrical properties under the heat treatment of 500℃for 30 min in air,highly-accelerated tempe ratu re and humidity stress test(HAST)at 121℃and 97%RH for 36 h,10,000 times of scratching and 1500 times of inner and outer bending test.Furthermore,the TFHs based on AZO/Ag-SnOx/AZO/PI achieved a high temperature of 438.8℃with response time in several seconds,which outperformed most previous studies.The robust high-temperature TFHs in this research hold promising commercial applications in flexible and high temperature occasions.

Low substrate temperature deposition of transparent and conducting ZnO:Al thin films by RF magnetron sputtering

Transparent and conducting Al-doped ZnO（ZnO：Al） films were prepared on glass substrate using the RF sputtering method at different substrate temperatures from room temperature（RT） to 200 ℃. The structural,morphological, electrical and optical properties of these films were investigated using a variety of characterization techniques such as low angle XRD, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）, field-emission scanning electron microscopy（FE-SEM）, Hall measurement and UV–visible spectroscopy. The electrical properties showed that films deposited at RT have the lowest resistivity and it increases with an increase in the substrate temperature whereas carrier mobility and concentration decrease with an increase in substrate temperature. Low angle XRD and Raman spectroscopy analysis reavealed that films are highly crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and a preferred orientation along the c-axis. The FE-SEM analysis showed that the surface morphology of films is strongly dependent on the substrate temperature. The band gap decreases from 3.36 to 3.29 e V as the substrate temperature is increased from RT to 200 ℃. The fundamental absorption edge in the UV region shifts towards a longer wavelength with an increase in substrate temperature and be attributed to the Burstein-Moss shift. The synthesized films showed an average transmission（〉 85%） in the visible region, which signifies that synthesized ZnO：Al films can be suitable for display devices and solar cells as transparent electrodes.