Effect Of Sputtering Pressure Research Articles

Effects of sputtering pressure on microstructure and secondary electron emission properties of AlN film prepared by magnetron sputtering

In this paper, aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films were prepared by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering at different sputtering pressures and the crystalline structure, surface morphology and secondary electron emission (SEE) properties of the AlN films were studied in detail. The experimental results reveal that AlN films present the preferred orientation of a-axis (100), and the grain size and surface roughness of the film decrease with the increase of sputtering pressure. Additionally, the SEE coefficient of the film reaches a maximum of 4.3 at 200 eV when the sputtering pressure is 0.55 Pa and is relatively stable under the continuous bombardment of an incident electron with the energy of 200 eV. Thus, the AlN thin film prepared under the optimized sputtering pressure has a relatively high and stable coefficient at a low incident electron energy, which promotes its potential application in the high-gain and long-life electron multipliers.

Effect of sputtering pressure on the properties of large area IWO thin films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering

Tungsten doped indium oxide (In2O3: W, IWO) thin films have been attracting increasing attention due to their excellent optoelectronic properties. Here, a series of IWO thin films were prepared using direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering method, by varying the sputtering pressure. Analysis revealed that the IWO films prepared under sputtering pressure of 0.4 Pa exhibited excellent optoelectronic performance, with low square resistance, resistivity, high carrier concentration and mobility. The resulting semi-transparent perovskite solar cells (ST-PSCs), with IWO fabricated under 0.4 Pa, yield a PCE of 15.71 % for the large area modules of 100 cm2 (active area 64.8 cm2).

Effect of sputtering pressure and oxygen content on the electrochromic properties of NiO films by DC magnetron sputtering

In this study, NiO films were fabricated using DC magnetron sputtering under various conditions of sputtering pressures and oxygen contents. The effects of the sputtering pressure and oxygen content on the structure, morphology, optical properties, and electrochromic performance of the NiO films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV spectrophotometry, and electrochemical workstation. The grain size, thickness, and roughness of the NiO films showed decreasing trends with increasing sputtering pressure; however, these factors showed significant variations with increasing oxygen content. The results demonstrated that when the sputtering pressure was 0.8 Pa, the prepared films were characterized by loose and porous surfaces, high roughness, crystallinity, and excellent electrochromic properties. The optical contrast was 75.34 % (at 550 nm), coloration efficiency was 14.86 cm2/C, coloring time was 2.09 s, and bleaching time was 2.05 s. Furthermore, good cycling stability was achieved.

Effects of sputtering pressure on the growth of AlGaN thin films using Co-sputtering technique

Aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN) thin films provide promise for a variety of electronic devices due to their wide energy bandgap, which ranges from 3.11 – 6.40 eV. Here, a co-sputtering approach utilising the RF and HiPIMS power supply of magnetron sputtering is used to deposit the AlGaN thin films. To examine their impact on the structural characteristics and morphology of the thin films, the AlGaN thin films were deposited under various sputtering pressures using the co-sputtering technique. Following that, the films were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and surface profiling to determine their characteristics. XRD shows the polycrystalline AlGaN with (100), (101), (102), and (110) plane for the AlGaN deposited at a sputtering pressure of 3 mTorr and 5 mTorr with FWHM 0.622° and 0.732°, respectively. The increasing the sputtering pressure to 5 mTorr is found to improve the crystallinity as well as the thickness of the AlGaN thin films from 234.27 – 1479.37 nm. AFM examination of the AlGaN film revealed a trend of increasing roughness and grain size together up to 3.25 nm and 47.22 nm respectively, with rising sputtering pressure from 1 – 7 mTorr. The co-sputtering of AlGaN can be successfully demonstrated in this study, and it is also shown that the sputtering pressure has a substantial impact on the development of AlGaN thin films produced using this technology.

Study on the effect of sputtering pressure on the physical properties of InN films on ITO substrate and the dependence of carrier transport characteristics of Li-doped p-NiO/n-InN heterojunction on the environmental temperature

The exceptional performance of ITO substrate has made it possible to use indium nitride (InN) material in a variety of applications. The combination of lithium-doped NiO and n-type InN in a heterojunction shows great potential as a material for optoelectronic devices. This study investigates the influence of sputtering pressure on the crystal structure, surface morphology, optical properties, and electrical characteristics of InN thin films prepared on ITO substrates through magnetron sputtering. The research findings indicate that the InN films grow preferentially along the (002) crystal plane, with the best crystalline quality observed under a sputtering pressure of 1.5 Pa. Subsequently, the changes in the optical bandgap, transmittance, and reflectance of the InN films with varying sputtering pressure were discussed. The study also discusses a comprehensive analysis of the trends in the electrical characteristics of the InN films with sputtering pressure and environmental temperature, demonstrating their excellent thermal stability at high temperatures. Additionally, Li-doped p-NiO/n-InN heterojunction devices were fabricated and analyzed to determine the influence of environmental temperature on the carrier transport characteristics of the devices, revealing their favorable electrical properties at different temperatures. This research enriches the field of InN material studies and opens up new prospects for the performance and practical applications of InN optoelectronic devices.

Effects of sputtering pressure and annealing temperature on the characteristics of indium selenide thin films

Indium selenide is a significant two-dimensional lamellar semiconductor with excellent physical properties whose enormous potential utilization in optoelectronic devices has been practically hindered by the lack of suitable thin film deposition techniques. Herein, γ-In2Se3 thin films were successfully fabricated from an InSe-target via magnetron sputtering combined with subsequent annealing process. The effects of sputtering pressure and annealing temperature on the characteristics of as-deposited thin films were investigated. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns reveal that the pristine thin films are amorphous in nature, whereas transform into polycrystalline and are identified as γ-In2Se3 phase after annealing treatment. The growth mechanism of as-deposited layers combines a two-dimensional lateral growth and a three-dimensional island growth. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images indicate that all the samples show uniform and compact structures with no evident holes and crevices. The UV–vis-NIR spectrophotometer was employed to measure the optical transmittance and band gap of the synthesized thin films. The results show an obvious decrease in the band gap from 2.56 eV to 1.88 eV with annealing temperature increased from 400 °C to 600 °C, respectively. In addition, the difficult reasons for preparing monophase InSe thin films by magnetron sputtering method were discussed. These intriguing findings in this study may shed light on the growth of indium selenide thin films with well-crystallized and high quality.

Effect of sputtering pressure on the electrochromic properties of flexible NiO films prepared by magnetron sputtering

This study investigates the relationship between the microscopic structure and electrochromic properties of nickel oxide (NiO) thin films and the change in sputtering pressure by depositing NiO films on Polyimide–Indium tin oxide flexible substrates using DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The results demonstrate that the prepared NiO thin films have the best surface morphology and excellent electrochromic properties when the sputtering pressure is 1.0 Pa, sputtering time is 25 min, sputtering power is 125 W, and Ar:O2 ratio is 50:12, with the highest light modulation amplitude of 39.31 %, bleaching and coloring response times of 1.17 and 1.34 s, respectively, and coloring efficiency of 20.05 cm2/C. The findings offer a new method for researching flexible NiO-based electrochromic devices.

Influence of Sputtering Pressure on the Micro-Topography of Sputtered Cu/Si Films: Integrated Multiscale Simulation

In this work, an integrated multiscale simulation of magnetron sputtering epitaxy was conducted to study the effect of sputtering pressure on the surface micro-topography of sputtered Cu/Si films. Simulation results indicated that, as the sputtering pressure increased from 0.15 to 2 Pa, the peak energy of the incident energy distribution gradually decreased from 2 to 0.2 eV, which might be mainly due to the gradual decrease in the proportion of deposited Cu atoms whose energy ranged from 2 to 30 eV; the peak angle of the incident polar angle distribution increased from 25° to 35°, which might be attributed to the gradual thermalization of deposited Cu atoms; the growth mode of Cu film transformed from the two-dimensional layered mode to the Volmer-Weber mode. The transformation mechanism of growth mode was analyzed in detail. A comprehensive analysis of the simulation results indicated that incident energy ranging from 2 to 30 eV and incident angle between 10° and 35° might be conducive to the two-dimensional layered growth of sputtered Cu films. This work proposes an application-oriented modeling approach for magnetron sputtering epitaxy.

Process optimization and effect of sputtering pressure on electrochromic properties of flexible WO3 films prepared by DC magnetron sputtering

In this study, WO3 films were prepared on flexible indium tin oxide/polyethylene terephthalate substrates through DC magnetron sputtering at approximately 40 °C, and the process parameters were optimized. The effects of the sputtering pressure on the microstructure, morphology, and electrochromic properties of the films were investigated using Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and electrochemical techniques. The results showed that the thickness, surface roughness, and grain size of the WO3 films changed with increasing pressure, and the optimal values of these parameters for excellent electrochromic properties of the WO3 films were 731, 53.5, and 1.79 nm, respectively, at 2.0 Pa. The optical modulation amplitude reached 84.66% at 455 nm, and the coloring and bleaching response times were 7.64 s and 6.76 s, respectively. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results showed that the films prepared at 2.0 Pa had the smallest Rct (41.63 Ω).

Effect of sputtering pressure on the superconducting properties of Fe(Te,Se) films

Effect of sputtering pressure on the superconducting properties of Fe(Te,Se) films

Effects of Sputtering Pressure on Electrochromic Properties of NiO films Prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering

In this paper, nickel oxide films were deposited on ITO-coated glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering at different pressures(1.2 Pa ∼ 3.0 Pa). The effects of sputtering pressure on microstructure and electrochromic properties of nickel oxide films were investigated. The film thickness was measured by a surface profilometer. The crystal structure and surface morphology of the films were observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrochromic properties of the films were studied by combining UV-visible spectrophotometer with electrochemical workstation. The results showed that the nickel oxide film obtained the best surface morphology (uniform grain size and the fewer surface cracks) and outstanding electrochromic performances, including large transmittance modulation (ΔT = 57.19%), high coloration efficiency (CE = 33.59 cm2·C−1) and fast switching speed (tc = 4.63 s, tb = 4.87 s) at a wavelength of 550 nm when the sputtering pressure was 2.4 Pa. And after 500 electrochemical cycles, the transmittance modulation could continue to increase to 61.49% and the coloration efficiency can still be maintained at about 28.21 cm2·C−1, which showed excellent cycling durability.

Effects of sputtering pressure and oxygen partial pressure on amorphous Ga2O3 film-based solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors

The coupling of Ga2O3 film with Si substrate is in favor of the development of high integration of Ga2O3-based UV photodetector. However, it is difficult in growing the high-quality crystalline Ga2O3 due to the high temperature and uncontrol growth process. In this work, the amorphous Ga2O3 (a-Ga2O3) films are deposited on Si substrates through tailoring the sputtering pressure and oxygen partial pressure to fabricate solar blind UV detectors. The results reveal that the high sputtering pressure and non-oxygen condition increase the oxygen vacancy concentration of a-Ga2O3 films. The existence of oxygen vacancy is beneficial to enhancing the internal gain of as-grown a-Ga2O3 films under UV light illumination. The UV photodetector based on the a-Ga2O3 film grown under 100 %Ar atmosphere at 20 mTorr exhibits high photodetection performances of responsivity, external quantum efficiency, and detectivity up to 2470 mA/W, 1204.7 %, and 2.55 × 1012 cm HZ1/2 W−1 under 254 nm @30 V, respectively. Alternatively, this UV photodetector hosts a rapid photo-response speed of rise time, τr and fall time, τd of 0.08 s and 0.157 s, respectively. This work offers a promising strategy to fabricate the a-Ga2O3-based solar blind UV detector with high photodetection performance, facile batch production and high integration with other electronics.

Effect of Sputtering Pressure on the Nanostructure and Residual Stress of Thin-Film YSZ Electrolyte

Solid oxide fuel cells are energy conversion devices that contribute to carbon neutrality, with the advantages of high efficiency, clean emissions production, and distributed power generation. However, the high operating temperature of the solid oxide fuel cells causes system stability and material selection problems. In this study, we aimed to lower the operating temperature of a solid oxide fuel cell by reducing the thickness of the electrolyte via sputtering. The deposition process was conducted under various pressure conditions to find the optimal sputtering process for a gas-tight YSZ thin-film electrolyte. The gas-tightness of the YSZ electrolytes was evaluated by observing the nanostructure and cell performance. As a result, the YSZ thin-film deposited at 3 mTorr showed the best gas-tightness and cell performance. At 500 °C, 1.043 V of OCV and a maximum power density of 1593 mW/cm2 were observed. Then, X-ray diffraction was used to calculate the residual stress of the YSZ films. As a result, it was confirmed that the gas-tight film showed compressive residual stress. Through this study, we were successful in developing a room-temperature YSZ electrolyte fabrication process with excellent gas-tightness and performance. It was also proven that there is a strong relationship between the gas-tightness and residual stress. This study is expected to contribute to cost reductions and the mass production of solid oxide fuel cells.

Study on Deuterium Permeation Behavior of Palladium Films Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering Method

Pre-depositing a Pd film is crucial for accurately acquiring the hydrogen permeability of metal materials, as it permits the production of ultra-pure hydrogen. However, the microstructure of Pd film and its effect on the hydrogen isotope permeation behavior of substrate materials have been neglected. In this study, Pd films were deposited on China Low-activation Ferritic (CLF−1) steel by magnetron sputtering. The effect of sputtering pressure on the microstructure and deuterium permeation behavior of Pd films at temperatures of 550−650 °C is presented. SEM results demonstrated that the films had a columnar crystal structure with a thickness of 0.6 ± 0.2 μm. The gas-driven permeation results revealed that the deuterium ion current intensity of the coated CLF−1 sample was at least three times lower than that of uncoated CLF−1 steel, which was influenced by the combined effect of oxygen and surface cracks. Oxygen could not be excluded from the films at a sputtering pressure of 10−3 Pa order of magnitude. It was also found that the films cracked during deuterium permeation experiments, which affected the deuterium permeation behavior. Films with large surface coverage and small grain sizes exhibited better cracking resistance. Our study provides promising insights into the hydrogen permeability of Pd films.

Magnetron-sputtered gallium–magnesium–zinc oxide transparent semiconductor thin films: Structural, optical and electrical investigation

Thin transparent semiconductor films of gallium–magnesium–zinc oxide (GaMgZnO) have been prepared with magnetron-sputtering technique on quartz glass substrates. We have investigated the effects of sputtering pressure on the crystallization, micro-structure, electrical and optical features of the deposited films. The results indicated that all the deposited films were polycrystalline in nature having a hexagonal wurtzite-type crystal structure with a preferred grain orientation in the (002) direction. The sputtering pressure has a significant impact on the structure and electro-optical characteristics of the deposited films. The sample prepared under sputtering pressure of 3.6 Pa possesses the best crystalline quality and electro-optical performance, with the minimum dislocation density (3.69×1014linesm−2), tensile stress (8.26×107 Pa), resistivity (1.53×10−3Ωcm), the maximum mean visible transmittance (87.71%) and the highest figure of merit (4.73×103Ω−1cm−1). Additionally, the external extrapolation method is employed to evaluate the optical band gap. The gap value is between 3.41 and 3.44 eV, which is larger than the optical band gap of pure ZnO.

Effect of sputtering pressure on the optical and electrical properties of ITO film on fluorphlogopite substrate

The van der Waals forces between the layers of fluorphlogopite make it flexible, and its stability under strong acid, strong alkali, and high temperature conditions has potential applications as a new base material for flexible electronics. In this article, using magnetron sputtering technology, the focus is on the influence of the change of sputtering pressure on the photoelectric properties of the prepared ITO thin film. In this study, indium tin oxide (ITO) film samples were prepared on a fluorphlogopite substrate using the magnetron sputtering technique and adjusting the sputtering pressure from 0.6 Pa to 11 Pa at room temperature. The film was characterized using SEM, XRD, four-probe tester, and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer to understand its microstructure and photoelectric properties. The number of bending times of the sample's square resistance around the steel cylinder characterized its flexibility. The results showed that the sample crystal grains decreased significantly with the increase in pressure. Further, it can be seen from SEM images that all samples contained extremely uniform particles. The light transmittance and resistivity of the sample synthesized below 3 Pa increased sharply with the increase of sputtering pressure, and the change above 3 Pa tended to be stable. The average transmittance of visible light in the wavelength range of 400–800 nm ​​is higher than 86%, the highest being 92.7%; the sputtering pressure of 0.6 Pa yielded a sample with the lowest resistivity of 1.51 × 10−3 Ωcm. All the samples were bent 1200 times around a steel cylinder with a radius of 3.65 mm, and the change in sheet resistance did not exceed 5%.

Effect of sputtering pressure on the structure and properties of SiO 2 films prepared by magnetron sputtering

The effects of sputtering pressure on the O/Si ratio, microstructure, surface morphology and optical properties within 300–1100 nm of SiO2 film via radio frequency magnetron sputtering were investigated. The results showed that the molar ratio of O/Si in the film increased from 1.96 to 2.03, from silicon rich to oxygen rich, with the sputtering pressure increase from 0.3 to 1.3 Pa. The SiO2 films deposited at different pressure were all amorphous. There were many ditches with a length of about 50 nm on the surface of the film deposited at lower pressure. The increase of sputtering pressure could reduce the number of ditches, and make the surface denser and more uniform. The refractive index increased first, then decreased and finally increased with the increase of sputtering pressure, and the maximum and minimum values were obtained at 0.7 and 1.1 Pa, respectively. The change of absorptivity was approximately the same as that of the refractive index, while the change of the average transmittance of coated quartz glass was exactly the opposite of refractive index. The minimum value of the average transmittance 92.6% and the maximum value 93.1% were obtained at 0.7 and 1.1 Pa, respectively.

BixTey thermoelectric thin films sputtered at room temperature onto moving polymer web: Effect of gas pressure on materials properties

Bismuth telluride was deposited onto a dynamic (25 m min−1) polyethylene terephthalate substrate at room temperature using direct current magnetron sputtering in preparation for roll-to-roll manufacture of flexible, low dimensional thermoelectric generators. This study explored the effect of sputtering pressure ranging from 0.03 to 0.6 Pa by adjusting argon flow rate from 50 to 500 sccm. Decreasing argon pressure from 0.6 to 0.03 Pa led to a more stoichiometric target-to-substrate atomic transfer. The coatings, deposited from a Te:Bi = 1.5 atomic ratio target, varied in composition ratio from 1.9 to 3.2, attributed to an obstructive phenomenon of sputtered Bi atoms during transport through the plasma region, under a higher working pressure. In addition, films grown under a lower pressure had wider and flatter grains (the aspect ratio of island width/height decreased from 40 (±1) at 50 sccm to 10 (±1) at 500 sccm for a ~80-nm coating), as indicated by images in atomic force microscopy. Electrical resistivity increased with pressure (0.9 ± 0.01 to 8.1 ± 0.2 mΩ•cm in a ~80-nm coating) due to a stronger carrier scattering mechanism and variations in the film composition and band gap. Seebeck coefficient increased with pressure (49.7 ± 0.9 to 84.0 ± 0.5 µV/K) attributable to an increased band gap and a possible energy barrier mechanism at grain boundaries leading to a carrier filtering effect. Power factor of the thermoelectric film was enhanced by decreasing pressure until the argon flow rate was below 250 sccm. The maximum power factor of the Bi-Te thin film achieved was 4.1 (±0.1) × 10−4 W/mK2 under 0.055 (±0.004) Pa of argon for a ~55 nm coating, which was achieved here by a real industrial-scale manufacturing process.

Effects of sputtering pressure and temperature of ITO electrodes on the performance of p-BaSi2/n-Si heterojunction solar cells

Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) layers were deposited on n-Si(111) (resistivity ρ > 1000 Ω cm) by RF magnetron sputtering, and the effects of sputtering pressure (P) and temperature (TS) on their electrical properties and transmittance spectra were investigated. The electrical conductivity σ of ITO layers reached a maximal of 1.6 × 104 S cm–1 at TS = 370 °C and P = 1.0 Pa. The transmittance spectra of the ITO layers changed significantly depending on P and TS. We next employed ITO layers as the front contact for p-BaSi2(20 nm)/n-Si(111) (ρ = 1–4 Ω cm) heterojunction solar cells, and investigated the influence of the P and TS on their performance. The energy conversion efficiency reached a maximum (η = 6.6%) at P = 1.0 Pa and TS = RT and 90 °C, differently from the TS suitable for ITO films directly on a Si(111) substrate. Deep level transient spectroscopy revealed the presence of defects in the p-BaSi2 side close to the p-BaSi2/n-Si interface, located at 0.16 eV from the conduction band minimum, when sputtered at 230 °C.

Synthesis, growth mechanism and effect of sputtering pressure on 3D ZnO nanostructures with trunk-branch nanorods

Three-dimensional (3D) ZnO nanostructures, hierarchical nanorods with trunks and branches, were synthesized via a multi-step growth method. The ZnO trunk-branch nanorods are immobilized on glass substrates and their fabrication technologies include the deposition of ZnO seed crystals by magnetron sputtering and the hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods without any directing agents. The sputtering pressure for the deposition of ZnO seed crystals was varied and the corresponding effect on the morphology and microstructure of 3D ZnO nanostructures was characterized by various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The growth mechanism of ZnO trunk-branch nanorods was discussed and their optical property was also explored. The multi-level constructions of ZnO nanorods would benefit their photo-related functional applications.