High quality indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were grown without oxygen by both dc and RF magnetron sputtering techniques on glass substrates. The effects of substrate temperature, film thickness and sputtering method on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the as-grown films were investigated. The results showed that the substrate temperature had substantial effects on the film properties, in particular on the crystallization and resistivity. When the substrate temperature was increased to 150 • C, crystallization in the (2 2 2) plane started appearing for both dc and RF sputtered films. We additionally found that with further increments of substrate temperature, the preferred crystallization orientation changed differently for dc and RF sputtered films. Optical transmission in the visible region for a film thickness of 70 nm was found to be above 85%. The bandgap was calculated to be about 3.64 eV for the substrate temperature of 150 • C for a 70 nm thick film. The value of the bandgap increased with respect to the increment in film thickness as well as substrate temperature. We also measured the temperature dependence of the resistivity and Hall coefficient of the films, and calculated the carrier concentration and Hall mobility. Very low room temperature resistivities for dc and RF magnetron sputtered grown films of about 1.28 × 10 −4 cm and 1.29 × 10 −4 cm, respectively, were obtained.

Magnetron sputtered HfO2 layers formed on a heated Si substrate were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling techniques. The results show that the formation of a SiO x suboxide layer at the HfO2 /Si interface is unavoidable. The HfO2 thickness and suboxide formation are highly affected by the growth parameters such as sputtering power, O2 /Ar gas ratio during sputtering, sputtering time, and substrate temperature. XRD spectra show that the deposited film has (111) monoclinic phase of HfO2, which is also supported by FTIR spectra. The atomic concentration and chemical environment of Si, Hf, and O have been measured as a function of depth starting from the surface of the sample by XPS technique. It shows that HfO2 layers of a few nanometers are formed at the top surface. Below this thin layer, Si-Si bonds are detected just before the Si suboxide layer, and then the Si substrate is reached during the depth profiling by XPS. It is clearly understood that the highly reactive sputtered Hf atoms consume some of the oxygen atoms from the underlying SiO2 to form HfO2, leaving Si-Si bonds behind

No abstract

In this work, Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) absorber layers were fabricated using a two-stage process. Sequentially deposited Cu-Zn-Sn thin film layers on metallic foils were annealed in an Ar + S 2(g) atmosphere. We aimed to investigate the role of flexible titanium and molybdenum foil substrates in the growth mechanism of CZTS thin films. The Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of the sulfurized thin films revealed that, except for the presence of Sn-based secondary phases, nearly pure CZTS thin films were obtained. Additionally, the intense and sharp X-ray diffraction peak from the (112) plane provided evidence of good crystallinity. Electron dispersive spectroscopy analysis indicated sufficient sulfur content but poor Zn atomic weight percentage in the films. Absorption and band-gap energy analyses were carried out to confirm the suitability of CZTS thin films as the absorber layer in solar cell applications. Hall effect measurements showed the p-type semiconductor behavior of the CZTS samples. Moreover, the back contact behavior of these metallic flexible substrates was investigated and compared. We detected formation of cracks in the CZTS layer on the molybdenum foils, which indicates the incompatibility of molybdenum's thermal expansion coefficient with the CZTS structure. We demonstrated the application of the magnetron sputtering technique for the fabrication of CZTS thin films on titanium foils having lightweight, flexible properties and suitable for roll-to-roll manufacturing for high throughput fabrication. Titanium foils are also cost competitive compared to molybdenum foils.

SiO 2 thin films have been obtained by 1064 nm Nd : YAG laser oxidation of p-Si in the presence of O 2 . The thickness uniformity, dielectric and electrical properties of the layers have been studied. The effect of both the laser beam energy density and the substrate temperature on the oxide growth is also discussed. It was established that there exists an interval of laser beam energy density in which the oxidation occurs without surface melting. The oxidation process is controlled by the laser beam energy density rather than by the substrate temperature (673-748 K) and the higher laser power results in a thicker oxide. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to provide information on the oxide composition. XPS results revealed that the as-grown oxide is a mixed layer of SiO 2 and Si 2 O, which are distributed nonuniformly through the depth. MOS capacitors fabricated on the grown oxide exhibited typical capacitance-voltage, conductance-voltage characteristics. However, the density of interface states and oxide charge density were found to be higher than the typical values of thermally grown oxides. The quality of the oxide layers can be further improved by optimization of the process parameters and/or by post-processing of the grown films. It is concluded that the SiO 2 films formed by the technique of Nd : YAG laser-enhanced oxidation at low temperature are potentially useful for device applications.