Point-defect engineering of nanoporous CuBi_(2)O_(4) photocathode via rapid thermal processing for enhanced photoelectrochemical activity

Engineering point defects such as metal and oxygen vacancies play a crucial role in manipulating the electrical,optical,and catalytic properties of oxide semiconductors for solar water splitting.Herein,we synthesized nanoporous CuBi_(2)O_(4)(np-CBO)photocathodes and engineered their surface point defects via rapid thermal processing(RTP)in controlled atmospheres(O_(2),N_(2),and vacuum).We found that the O_(2)-RTP treatment of np-CBO increased the charge carrier density effectively without hampering the nanoporous morphology,which was attributed to the formation of copper vacancies(VCu).Further analyses revealed that the amounts of oxygen vacancies(Vo)and Cu^(1+)were reduced simultaneously,and the relative electrochemical active surface area increased after the O_(2)-RTP treatment.Notably,the point defects(VC_(u),Cu^(1+),and Vo)regulated np-CBO achieved a superb water-splitting photocurrent density of-1.81 m A cm^(-2) under simulated sunlight illumination,which is attributed to the enhanced charge transport and transfer properties resulting from the regulated surface point defects.Finally,the reversibility of the formation of the point defects was checked by sequential RTP treatments(O_(2)-N_(2)-O_(2)-N_(2)),demonstrating the strong dependence of photocurrent response on the RTP cycles.Conclusively,the surface point defect engineering via RTP treatment in a controlled atmosphere is a rapid and facile strategy to promote charge transport and transfer properties of photoelectrodes for efficient solar water-splitting.

Design of Rapid Thermal Processing for Large Diameter Wafer

The relationship between the arrangement of tungsten-halogen lamps and the uniformity of irradiance received by the wafer is discussed, and a sort of axial-symmetrical lamps-array is designed to guarantee that the irradiation on the edge is approximately the same as the one on the center of the wafer. The magnitude of temperature on the wafer vs. the power of tungsten-halogen lamps is calculated numerically.

Emitter of hetero-junction solar cells created using pulsed rapid thermal annealing

In this paper, we use a pulsed rapid thermal processing （RTP） approach to create an emitter layer of heterojunction solar cell. The process parameters and crystallization behaviour are studied. The structural, optical and electric properties of the crystallized films are also investigated. Both the depth of PN junction and the conductivity of the emitter layer increase with the number of RTP pulses increasing. Simulation results show that efficiencies of such solar cells can exceed 15% with a lower interface recombination rate, but the highest efficiency is 11.65% in our experiments.

Preparation and modification of VO_2 thin film on R-sapphire substrate by rapid thermal process

The VO2 thin film with high performance of metal-insulator transition （MIT） is prepared on R-sapphire substrate for the first time by magnetron sputtering with rapid thermal process （RTP）. The electrical characteristic and THz transmittance of MIT in VO2 film are studied by four-point probe method and THz time domain spectrum （THz-TDS）. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, atomic force microscopy （AFM）, and search engine marketing （SEM） are employed to analyze the crystalline structure, valence state, surface morphology of the film. Results indicate that the properties of VO2 film which is oxidized from the metal vanadium film in oxygen atmosphere are improved with a follow- up RTP modification in nitrogen atmosphere. The crystallization and components of VO2 film are improved and the film becomes compact and uniform. A better phase transition performance is shown that the resistance changes nearly 3 orders of magnitude with a 2-~C hysteresis width and the THz transmittances are reduced by 64% and 60% in thermal and optical excitation respectively.

Study of NiSi/Si Interface by Cross-Section Transmission Electron Microscopy

Different silicidation processes are employed to form NiSi,and the NiSi/Si interface corresponding to each process is studied by cross-section transmission electron microscopy （XTEM）. With the sputter deposition of a nickel thin film,nickel silicidation is realized on undoped and doped （As and B） Si（001） substrates by rapid ther mal processing （RTP）. The formation of NiSi is demonstrated by X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering spectros- copy. The influence of the substrate doping and annealing process （one-step RTP and two-step RTP） on the NiSi! Si interface is investigated. The results show that for one-step RTP the silicidation on As-doped and undoped Si substrates causes a rougher NiSi/Si interface,while the two-step RTP results in a much smoother NiSi/Si interface. High resolution XTEM study shows that axiotaxy along the Si（111） direction forms in all samples, in which specific NiSi planes align with Si（111） planes in the substrate. Axiotaxy with spacing mismatch is also discussed.

Magnetic Properties of NiCuZn Ferrite Thin Films Prepared by the Sol-gel Method

Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4 thin films were fabricated on Si substrates by using the sol-gel method and rapid thermal annealing （RTA）, and their magnetic properties and crystalline structures were investigated. The samples calcined at and above 600 ℃ have a single-phase spinel structure and the average grain size of the sample calcined at 600 ℃ is about 20 nm. The initial permeability μi, saturation magnetization M and coercivity H of the samples increase with the increasing calcination temperature. The sample calcined at 600 ℃ exhibits an excellent soft magnetic performance, which has μi=33.97 （10 MHz）, Hc=15.62 Oe and Ms=228.877 emu/cm^3. Low-temperature annealing can enhance the magnetic properties of the samples. The work shows that using the sol-gel method in conjunction with RTA is a promising way to fabricate integrated thin-film devices.

Nano-sized Thin Films Fabricated by Ion Beam Sputtering and Its Properties

Nanoscale thick amorphous Ni-Cr alloy thin films were fabricated by low-energy ion beam sputtering technology; then the as-deposited samples experienced rapid thermal process to realize the transformation from amorphous to crystalline state. The film thickness was measured with a-stylus surface profiler, the structure and the compositions of the films were confirmed by low angle X-ray diffraction and scanning auger electron microprobe respectively, and the surface topography was characterized by scanning electron microscope and scanning probe microscope. Electrical property of the films was measured by fourpoint probe. The experimental results illustrate that the combined processes of ion beam sputtering and rajid thermal process are effective for fabrication nanoscale Ni-Cr alloy thin film with good properties.