Optimized growth and dielectric properties of barium titanate thin films on polycrystalline Ni foils

Barium titanate（BTO） thin films were deposited on polycrystalline Ni foils by using the polymer assisted deposition（PAD） technique.The growth conditions including ambient and annealing temperatures were carefully optimized based on thermal dynamic analysis to control the oxidation processing and interdiffusion.Crystal structures,surface morphologies,and dielectric performance were examined and compared for BTO thin films annealed under different temperatures.Correlations between the fabrication conditions,microstructures,and dielectric properties were discussed.BTO thin films fabricated under the optimized conditions show good crystalline structure and promising dielectric properties with εr～ 400 and tan δ 〈 0.025 at 100 kHz.The data demonstrate that BTO films grown on polycrystalline Ni substrates by PAD are promising in device applications.

Study of nanocrystalline VO_2 thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering and post-oxidation

Nanocrystalline VO2 thin films were deposited onto glass slides by direct current magnetron sputtering and postoxidation. These films undergo semiconductor-metal transition at 70 ℃, accompanied by a resistance drop of two magnitude orders. The crystal structures and surface morphologies of the VO2 films were characterized by x-ray diffraction （XRD） and atomic force microscope （AFM）, respectively. Results reveal that the average grain size of VO2 nanograins measured by XRD is smaller than those measured by AFM. In addition, Raman characterization indicates that stoichiometric VO2 and oxygen-rich VO2 phases coexist in the films, which is supported by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） results. Finally, the optical properties of the VO2 films in UV-visible range were also evaluated. The optical band gap corresponding to 2p-3d inter-band transition was deduced according to the transmission and reflection spectra. And the deduced value, Eopt2p-3d ： 1.81 eV, is in good agreement with that previously obtained by theoretical calculation.

Microstructure and electrical properties of La_2 O_3-doped ZnO-based varistor thin films by sol-gel process

Microstructure and electrical properties of La2 O3-doped ZnO-Bi2 O3 thin films prepared by sol–gel process have been investigated.X-ray diffraction shows that most diffraction peaks of ZnO are equal,and the crystals of ZnO grow well.Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy results indicate that the samples have a good structure and lower surface roughness.The nonlinear V–I characteristics of the films show that La2 O3 develops the electrical properties largely and the best doped content is 0.3% lanthanum ion,with the leakage current of 0.25 mA,the threshold field of 150 V/mm and the nonlinear coefficient of 4.0 in detail.

Device design principles and bioelectronic applications for flexible organic electrochemical transistors

Organic electrochemical transistors(OECTs) exhibit significant potential for applications in healthcare and human-machine interfaces, due to their tunable synthesis, facile deposition, and excellent biocompatibility. Expanding OECTs to the fexible devices will significantly facilitate stable contact with the skin and enable more possible bioelectronic applications. In this work,we summarize the device physics of fexible OECTs, aiming to offer a foundational understanding and guidelines for material selection and device architecture. Particular attention is paid to the advanced manufacturing approaches, including photolithography and printing techniques, which establish a robust foundation for the commercialization and large-scale fabrication. And abundantly demonstrated examples ranging from biosensors, artificial synapses/neurons, to bioinspired nervous systems are summarized to highlight the considerable prospects of smart healthcare. In the end, the challenges and opportunities are proposed for fexible OECTs. The purpose of this review is not only to elaborate on the basic design principles of fexible OECTs, but also to act as a roadmap for further exploration of wearable OECTs in advanced bio-applications.

Study of leakage current degradation based on stacking faults expansion in irradiated SiC junction barrier Schottky diodes

A comprehensive investigation was conducted to explore the degradation mechanism of leakage current in SiC junction barrier Schottky(JBS)diodes under heavy ion irradiation.We propose and verify that the generation of stacking faults(SFs)induced by the recombination of massive electron-hole pairs during irradiation is the cause of reverse leakage current degradation based on experiments results.The irradiation experiment was carried out based on Ta ions with high linear energy transfer(LET)of 90.5 MeV/(mg/cm^(2)).It is observed that the leakage current of the diode undergoes the permanent increase during irradiation when biased at 20%of the rated reverse voltage.Micro-PL spectroscopy and PL micro-imaging were utilized to detect the presence of SFs in the irradiated SiC JBS diodes.We combined the degraded performance of irradiated samples with SFs introduced by heavy ion irradiation.Finally,three-dimensional(3D)TCAD simulation was employed to evaluate the excessive electron-hole pairs(EHPs)concentration excited by heavy ion irradiation.It was observed that the excessive hole concentration under irradiation exceeded significantly the threshold hole concentration necessary for the expansion of SFs in the substrate.The proposed mechanism suggests that the process and material characteristics of the silicon carbide should be considered in order to reinforcing against the single event effect of SiC power devices.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in GeSn thin film based on time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy

We measure the time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy of GeSn thin film and studied the ultrafast dynamics of its photo-generated carriers.The experimental results show that there are photo-generated carriers in GeSn under femtosecond laser excitation at 2500 nm,and its pump-induced photoconductivity can be explained by the Drude–Smith model.The carrier recombination process is mainly dominated by defect-assisted Auger processes and defect capture.The firstand second-order recombination rates are obtained by the rate equation fitting,which are(2.6±1.1)×10^(-2)ps^(-1)and(6.6±1.8)×10^(-19)cm^(3)·ps^(-1),respectively.Meanwhile,we also obtain the diffusion length of photo-generated carriers in GeSn,which is about 0.4μm,and it changes with the pump delay time.These results are important for the GeSn-based infrared optoelectronic devices,and demonstrate that Ge Sn materials can be applied to high-speed optoelectronic detectors and other applications.

Reasonable design a high-entropy garnet-type solid electrolyte for all-solid-state lithium batteries

Traditional garnet solid electrolyte(Li_(7)La_(3)Zr_(2)O_(12))suffers from low room temperature ionic conductivity,poor air stability,high sintering temperature and energy consumption.Considering the development prospects of high-entropy materials with high structural disorder and strong component controllability in the field of electrochemical energy storage,herein,a novel high-entropy garnet-type oxide solid electrolyte,Li_(5.75)Ga_(0.25)La_(3)Zr_(0.5)Ti_(0.5)Sn_(0.5)Nb_(0.5)O_(12)(LGLZTSNO)was constructed by partially replacing the Li and Zr sites in Li_(7)La_(3)Zr_(2)O_(12)with Ga and Ti/Sn/Nb elements,respectively.The experimental and density functional theory(DFT)calculation results show that the high-entropy LGLZTSNO electrolyte has preferable room temperature ion conductivity,air stability,interface contact performance with lithium anode,and the ability to suppress lithium dendrites.Thanks to the improvement of electrolyte performance,the critical current density of Li/Ag@LGLZTSNO/Li symmetric cell was increased from 0.42 to 1.57 mA cm^(−2),and the interface area specific impedance(IASR)was reduced from 765.2 to 42.3Ωcm^(2).Meanwhile,the Li/Ag@LGLZTSNO/LFP full cell also exhibits excellent rate performance and cycling performance(148 mA h g^(−1)at 0.1 C and 124 mA h g^(−1)at 0.5 C,capacity retention up to 84.8%after 100 cycles at 0.1 C),showing the application prospects of high-entropy LGLZTSNO solid electrolyte in high-performance all solid state lithium batteries.

Numerical design of an efficient Ho^(3+)-doped InF3 fiber laser at~3.2μm

In this work,we theoretically unlock the potential of Ho^(3+)-doped InF3 fiber for efficient~3.2μm laser generation(from the 5F4,5S2→5F5 transition),by employing a novel dual-wavelength pumping scheme at 1150 nm and 980 nm,for the first time.Under clad-coupled 1150 nm pumping of 5 W,~3.2μm power of 3.6 W has been predicted with the optical-to-optical efficiency of 14.4%.Further efficient power scaling,however,is blocked by the output saturation with 980 nm pumping.To alleviate this behavior,the cascaded 5I5→5I6 transition,targeting~3.9μm,has been activated simultaneously,therefore accelerating the population circulation between the laser upper level 5F4,5S2 and long-lived 5I6 level under 980 nm pumping.As a result,enhanced~3.2μm power of 4.68 W has been obtained with optical-to-optical efficiency of 15.6%.Meanwhile the~3.9μm laser,yielding power of 2.76 W with optical-to-optical efficiency of 9.2%,is theoretically achievable as well with a moderate heat load,of which the performance is even better than the prior experimentally and theoretically reported Ho^(3+)-doped InF3 fiber lasers emitting at~3.9μm alone.This work demonstrates a versatile platform for laser generation at~3.2μm and~3.9μm,thus providing the new opportunities for many potential applications,e.g.,polymer processing,infrared countermeasures,and free-space communications.

Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism of Co-Doped CeO2 Thin Films on Si（111） substrates

Using Co2O3 as the Co source, doped cerium oxide thin films with the composition of Ce0.97C00.03O2-δ （CCO） are deposited on Si（111） and glass substrates by pulse laser deposition technique. X-ray diffraction reveals that CCO films with （111） preferential orientation are grown on Si, while the fihn on glass is polycrystalline with nanocrystal. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that the （Jo displaces the （;e atom and exists in high spin state rather than low spin state, which contributes to the room-temperature ferromagnetism confirmed by vibration sample magnetometer. I^ilms on Si and glass are different in ferromagnetism, which is believed to be induced by different film microstructures. Based on these results, the possible ferromagnetism in this insulating film is discussed. Anyway, successful fabrication of CCO films with room-temperature ferromagnetism on Si substrates is of great importance in both technological and theoretical aspects.

Soft Magnetic Thin Films FeCoHfO for High-Frequency Noise Suppression Applications

A series of FeCoHfO films were fabricated by dc magnetron reactive sputtering at varying partial pressure of oxygen （Po2） from 0 to 11.7%, and the electrical and magnetic properties of films have been studied. It is shown that optimal Fe43.29 Co19.51Hf7.49 O29.71 films with desired properties can be obtained when the films were prepared under Po2= 5.1%. The films show superior properties of low coereivity, Hc ∽5.5 Oe, relatively high saturation magnetization, 47rMs · 18.3 kG, high anisotropy field Hk ∽ 65 Oe, and high electrical resistivity ρ∽ 2675 μΩ·cm. Permeability spectra shows that the natural ferromagnetic resonant frequency is as high as 3.1 GHz. The combined merits of the film make the films taken as an ideal candidate material for high-frequency applications such as noise suppressor. In addition, the effects of the film thickness and annealing treatment on the magnetic properties are also reported.

Effects of TbFeCo Underlayers on Magnetic Properties of CoFe_2O_4 Thin Films

Cobalt ferrite thin films were deposited on TbFeCo(10 nm)/Si(100) and Si(100) substrates at a substrate temperature of 350 ℃ by RF magnetron sputtering. The heat treated films were analyzed by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Results showed that all films had high coercivity and perpendicular anisotropy especially for the films deposited on TbFeCo underlayer. TbFeCo underlayers increase the coercivity, magnetization and remanence ratio of CoFe2O4 films, films on TbFeCo underlayer had coercivity and magnetization as high as 832×103 A·m-1 and 450×103 A·m-1, and its romance ratio reaches 0.9, which was related to the Tb3+ diffusion from the underlayer into the film.

Electrical transport and optical properties of Cd3As2 thin films

Cd3As2, as a three-dimensional(3D) topological Dirac semimetal, has attracted wide attention due to its unique physical properties originating from the 3D massless Dirac fermions. While many efforts have been devoted to the exploration of novel physical phenomena such as chiral anomaly and phase transitions by using bulk crystals, the development of high-quality and large-scale thin films becomes necessary for practical electronic and optical applications. Here, we report our recent progress in developing single-crystalline thin films with improved quality and their optical devices including Cd3As2-based heterojunctions and ultrafast optical switches. We find that a post-annealing process can significantly enhance the crystallinity of Cd3As2 in both intrinsic and Zn-doped thin films. With excellent characteristics of high mobility and linear band dispersion, Cd3As2 exhibits a good optical response in the visible-to-mid-infrared range due to an advantageous optical absorption, which is reminiscent of 3D graphene. It also behaves as an excellent saturable absorber in the mid-infrared regime. Through the delicate doping process in this material system, it may further open up the long-sought parameter space crucial for the development of compact and high-performance mid-infrared ultrafast sources.

Effect of external electric field on crystalline structure and dielectric properties of Bi_(1.5)MgNb_(1.5)O_(7) thin films

Bismuth-based cubic pyrochlore materials have attractive dielectric properties,especially dielectric tunability.The Bi_(1.5)MgNb_(1.5)O_(7) ceramic samples were prepared by solid state reaction.The XRD results and SEM pictures prove the raw material are well mixed and co-fired and the BMN cubic pyrochlore is well crystallized,no second phase was found in the result.BMN thin film were fabricated by depositing BMN ceramic nanoparticles on the sapphire.The BMN thin film has a high dielectric tunability of 43%at a bias voltage of 1.5 MV/cm,with loss tangent lower than 0.009.A Raman study of BMN cubic pyrochlore reveals O′-A-O′and O-A-O bending modes contribute to 80%of dielectric permittivity,obstructing these modes such as applying external electric field can have apparent influence on dielectric constant.Berry Phase calculation results shows that A2O′tetrahedrons are more easy to distort under an external field.The A-site Mg have the highest displacement(0.765028 A),followed by A-site Bi cations(0.346317˚A).Compared to zero-bias thin film,˚the biased one with A-O and A-O′bonds being stretched and external coulomb force applied on cations and anions,the dielectric constant under bias field dramatically decreased.

Effects of Growth Conditions on the Microstructure Characteristics of CdS Thin Films by AP-MOCVD

Growth of cadmium sulfide （CdS） thin films on glass substrates was carried out by atmospheric pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition （AP-MOCVD） using Cd（S2CNEt2）2 as the single precursor. Changes in the surface morphology of the deposited CdS thin films were investigated by atomic force microscope （AFM） as the function of substrate temperature （Ts）, vaporizing temperature （Tv）, and Ar flow rate. With the increase of Tv, CdS thin films evolved from pyramidal structure with fine grains to columnar structure with large grains. X-ray diffraction （XRD） patterns indicated that the CdS films had random orientation at the lower Tv and preferred orientation at the higher Tv. In addition, Ts had a great effect on the surface roughness of the CdS films, and a quantum dot-like structural CdS films were obtained in a narrow range of Ts with high Ar flow rate. Furthermore, the optical properties of the CdS films were measured using ultraviolet-visible （UV/VIS） spectrometer.

Resistive Switching Characteristics of Al2O3/ZnO Bilayer Thin Films for Flexible Memory Applications

Unipolar resistive switching behaviors of the ZnO and ALO/ZnO films fabricated on flexible substrates by pulse laser deposition were studied in this paper. The films were deposited at room temperature without post-annealing treatment during the process. Xray diffraction results indicated that ZnO film has a dominant peak at(002). Scanning electron microscopy observation showed a columnar grain structure of the ZnO film to the substrate. The bilayer device of ALO/ZnO films had stable resistive switching behaviors with a good endurance performance of more than 200 cycles, high resistive switching ratio of over 103 at a read voltage of 0.1V, which is better than that of the single oxide layer device of ZnO film. A possible resistive switching filamentary mode was demonstrated in this paper. The conduction mechanisms of high and low resistance states can be explained by space charge limited conduction and Ohmic’s behaviors. The endurance of the bilayer(BL) device was not degraded upon bending cycles, which indicates the potential of the flexible resistive switching random access memory applications.

Microstructure and magnetic properties of NiZn ferrite thin films prepared by sol-gel method

Ti4+ substitution for Fe3+ in Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4(NZF) ferrite thin films were realized by sol-gel method and annealing at 600 ℃ for 30 min in the air. Crystal structure and lattice constant determination was performed by X-ray diffractometer(XRD). Surface microstructure was observed by scanning electron microscope(SEM) and atomic force microscope(AFM),and the magnetic properties were measured by vibrating sample magnetometer(VSM). XRD analyses of the samples show that Ni0.5+xZn0.5TixFe2-2xO4(NZTF) films with x varying from 0 to 0.15 in steps of 0.05 are composed of single phase with spinel structure. And the lattice parameter,particle size and the diffraction intensity of the films increase with substitution of Ti as the result of the larger radius ions entering the lattice. SEM and AFM show homogeneous grain size of each sample,but there is a few differences in grain size with different Ti-substitution contents. As the nonmagnetic Ti4+ substitutes Fe3+,both the saturation magnetization and coercivity decrease.

Microwave Magnetic Properties of Laminates with Thin FeCoBSi Films

The microwave permeability of laminated composites based on thin FeCoBSi films was under study.The level of permeability increased with increasing of the ferromagnetic inclusions in the laminates.The intrinsic permeability spectra of ferromagnetic inclusion are parametrically reconstructed.The obtained parameters of magnetic resonance were specially analyzed.To avoid the effect of eddy current and to obtain large-volume fractions of ferromagnetic constituent,laminates consisting of alternating FeCoBSi/SiO2 multi-layers and mylar substrates were also investigated.For the same volume fractions of ferromagnetic constituent （8.7%）,laminates based on multi-layered films are found to possess higher values of permeability than those based on one-layered films.

Probing thermal properties of vanadium dioxide thin films by time-domain thermoreflectance without metal film

Vanadium dioxide(VO_(2))is a strongly correlated material,and it has become known due to its sharp metal-insulator transition(MIT)near room temperature.Understanding the thermal properties and their change across MIT of VO_(2)thin film is important for the applications of this material in various devices.Here,the changes in thermal conductivity of epitaxial and polycrystalline VO_(2)thin film across MIT are probed by the time-domain thermoreflectance(TDTR)method.The measurements are performed in a direct way devoid of deposition of any metal thermoreflectance layer on the VO_(2)film to attenuate the impact from extra thermal interfaces.It is demonstrated that the method is feasible for the VO_(2)films with thickness values larger than 100 nm and beyond the phase transition region.The observed reasonable thermal conductivity change rates across MIT of VO_(2)thin films with different crystal qualities are found to be correlated with the electrical conductivity change rate,which is different from the reported behavior of single crystal VO_(2)nanowires.The recovery of the relationship between thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity in VO_(2)film may be attributed to the increasing elastic electron scattering weight,caused by the defects in the film.This work demonstrates the possibility and limitation of investigating the thermal properties of VO_(2)thin films by the TDTR method without depositing any metal thermoreflectance layer.

Dielectric Characteristics of Ba_(0.65)Sr_(0.35)TiO_3 Thin Films by Sol-Gel Method

Ferroelectric Ba0.65Sr0.35TiO3 （BST） thin films on the Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate have been successfully prepared by sol-gel. Such films have approximately 300 nm thicknesses with a remnant polarization of about 2.95 μ℃/cm^2 and a coercive field of about 21.5 kV/cm. The investigations of X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy show that the BST films annealed at 650 ℃ exhibit a tetragonal structure and that the films dominantly consist of large column or grains of about 89 nm in diameter. The curves of the temperature dependence of dielectric coefficient in different frequencies display the curie transition at the temperature around 23 ℃. The dielectric loss tangent of BST thin fdms at 100 kHz is less than 0.04. As a result, the BST thin films are more applicable for fabrication of infrared detector compared with the BST thin films reported previously.

Co-occurrence of Dominant Direct and Indirect Transitions in Low Temperature Sputtered Indium Tin Oxide Thin Films on Polymers

Indium tin oxide （ITO） layers are prepared on polymethylmethacrylate and polyethylene terephthalate by rf- magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Their 3D-AFM images and visible transmittance spectra are contrastively characterized and studied. An interesting morphological effect of the polymer substrates on their top ITO layers is observed. Dominant direct and indirect transition types deduced from optical spectra are surprisingly found in ITO films on different polymers. Furthermore, qualitative band structures are figured, and some theoretical discussions about the correlation of optical band structure, interface/surface morphology and carrier density are also presented.