Increasing ZnO Thickness Research Articles

Linear, third order nonlinear optical and photoluminescence properties of Cd0.99Zn0.09S/ZnO nanocomposite thin films for optoelectronics applications

Cd0.99Zn0.01S/ZnO nanostructured films were developed by solution processing method on ITO/glass substrates with different ZnO thicknesses. Structural, linear, nonlinear optical and photoluminescence properties of the as grown films were analyzed. In x-ray diffraction patterns, Cd0.99Zn0.01S and ZnO peaks were observed clearly. The grain size of the films was estimated to be in the range of 23-25 nm. 2D atomic force microscopy images of the films confirmed the growth of nano size grains. Tauc's plot of the films reveals that the band gap energies are in the range of 2.49 -2.54 eV. Photoluminescence spectra of films showed interesting reduction in the visible emission along with an enhancement in the UV emission with increasing ZnO thickness. The nanocomposite Cd1-xZnxS/ZnO thin film with 20 nm thickness shows high transmittance of about 70 %. Nonlinear optical parameters such as third order nonlinear optical susceptibility, χ(3) and nonlinear refractive index n2 were also roughly estimated. The values of χ(3) and n2 parameters were found to be in the range of 1.73 × 10−13-1.09 × 10−11 esu and 2.6 × 10−12-1.78 × 10−10 esu, respectively.

Comprehensive characterization of ZnO thin films for surface acoustic wave applications

This paper presents a comprehensive characterization of a very smooth, c-axis oriented, highly piezoelectric and electrically resistive 2.5 µm-thick ZnO thin film deposited by a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system on SiO2/Si substrate. Thin film properties such as surface roughness, crystallography, stoichiometry, and electrical resistivity are measured. Two-port surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with bidirectional interdigital transducer (IDT) periods of 16 µm, 20 µm and 24 µm are fabricated on top of the ZnO thin film. A detailed finite element analysis (FEA) of the thin film is elaborated by varying ZnO thickness and IDT configuration. FEA results shows that acoustic wave velocities and resonance frequencies of the SAW devices are decreasing together with increasing ZnO thickness. Frequency response of the fabricated SAW devices are measured with a vector network analyzer (VNA) and compared to FEA results. First two wave modes, namely the Rayleigh and Sezawa waves, of the fabricated SAW devices on the ZnO thin films are interrogated. Resonance frequencies of the SAW devices with wavelengths of 16 µm, 20 µm, and 24 µm are measured as 204.8 MHz, 176.3 MHz, and 155.3 MHz for the Rayleigh mode, 335.9 MHz, 275.3 MHz, and 235.1 MHz for the Sezawa mode, respectively. In addition, omnidirectional wave propagation of ZnO thin film is shown with 45° rotated IDTs. Overall, experimental results are in good agreement with simulation results, demonstrating ZnO thin film fabrication is successfully carried out, and FEA is an appropriate method for modeling SAW devices on thin films.

Effect of ZnO layer thickness upon optoelectrical properties of NiO/ ZnO heterojunction prepared at room temperature

In this work, p-NiO/n-ZnO heterostructures were successfully prepared at room temperature using RF sputtering technique. The influence of ZnO layer thickness on the performance of the heterojunction was investigated. The deposited ZnO layers have a hexagonal Wurtzite structure with preferable growth orientations along (002) and (103) for thinner films. Increasing the thickness results in more crystallographic orientation randomness. The current–voltage measurements of the realized heterojunctions showed a clear rectifying behavior. The measured ideality factor varies from 2.5 to 1.6 according to the thickness of ZnO layer. The series resistance of the device is enlarged with increasing ZnO thickness. The deduced parameters from the I–V characteristics suggest that 200 nm is the optimal thickness of the ZnO layer according to our experimental conditions. We attribute the relatively better performance of this thickness to achieving reasonable compensation between serial resistance and ideality factor. The best heterojunction was tested and successfully used as a UV detector.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Efficiency of Self-Organized TiO2 Nanotube Layers Due to Secondary Materials

The self-organized TiO2 nanotube layers have attracted considerable scientific and technological interest over the past 10 years motivated for their possible range of applications including photo-catalysis, solar cells, hydrogen generation and biomedical uses [1,2]. The synthesis of 1D TiO2 nanotube structure is carried out by a conventional electrochemical anodization of valve Ti metal sheet. The main drawback of TiO2 is its applicability in the UV light (wavelengths < 390 nm). One of the major issues to extend the functional range of nanotubes is to coat homogenously tube interiors by a secondary material. It has been shown that additional ultrathin surface coating of TiO2 by secondary materials such as Al2O3 [3], ZnO [4] or MgO [5] annihilates electron traps at the TiO2 surface and thus increases the photogenerated concentration of charge carriers. Recently, it has been demonstrated that just a single cycle of Al2O3 [6] or ZnO [4] deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) efficiently improves charge transport properties of the heterostructure while gradual passivation appears with increasing ZnO thickness due to stronger band-bending [4]. The presentation will focus in on the coating of the nanotube arrays by various secondary materials using ALD. The deposited materials influence strongly photo-electrochemical properties of nanotube layers. Experimental details and some recent photocatalytic [7, 8] results will be presented and discussed.

Highly Efficient Photoelectrochemical and Photocatalytic Anodic TiO2 Nanotube Layers with Additional TiO2 coating

The self-organized TiO2 nanotube layers have attracted considerable scientific and technological interest over the past 10 years motivated for their possible range of applications including photo-catalysis, solar cells, hydrogen generation and biomedical uses [1]. The synthesis of 1D TiO2 nanotube structure is carried out by a conventional electrochemical anodization of valve Ti metal sheet. The main drawback of TiO2 is its applicability in the UV light (wavelengths < 390 nm). In order to enhance the efficiency, TiO2 has been doped by N [2] or C [3] o to shift its absorption into the visible light. Except of doping, one of the major issues to extend the functional range of nanotubes is to coat homogenously tube interiors by a secondary material. It has been shown that additional ultrathin surface coating of TiO2 by secondary materials such as Al2O3 [4], ZnO [5] or MgO [6] annihilates electron traps at the TiO2 surface and thus increases the photogenerated concentration of charge carriers. Recently, it has been demonstrated that just a single cycle of Al2O3 [7] or ZnO [5] deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) efficiently improve charge transport properties of the heterostructure while gradual passivation appears with increasing ZnO thickness due to stronger band-bending [5]. The presentation will focus in detail on the coating of the nanotube arrays by secondary materials using ALD. The deposited materials influence strongly photo-electrochemical properties of nanotube films. Experimental details and some very recent photocatalytic [8] results will be presented and discussed.

Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Efficiency of Self-Organized TiO2 Nanotube Layers Due to Secondary Materials

The self-organized TiO2 nanotube layers have attracted considerable scientific and technological interest over the past 10 years motivated for their possible range of applications including photo-catalysis, solar cells, hydrogen generation and biomedical uses [1]. The synthesis of 1D TiO2 nanotube structure is carried out by a conventional electrochemical anodization of valve Ti metal sheet. The main drawback of TiO2 is its applicability in the UV light (wavelengths < 390 nm). In order to enhance the efficiency, TiO2 has been doped by N [2] or C [3] o to shift its absorption into the visible light. Except of doping, one of the major issues to extend the functional range of nanotubes is to coat homogenously tube interiors by a secondary material. It has been shown that additional ultrathin surface coating of TiO2 by secondary materials such as Al2O3 [4], ZnO [5] or MgO [6] annihilates electron traps at the TiO2 surface and thus increases the photogenerated concentration of charge carriers. Recently, it has been demonstrated that just a single cycle of Al2O3 [7] or ZnO [5] deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) efficiently improve charge transport properties of the heterostructure while gradual passivation appears with increasing ZnO thickness due to stronger band-bending [5]. The presentation will focus in detail on the coating of the nanotube arrays by secondary materials using ALD. The deposited materials influence strongly photo-electrochemical properties of nanotube films. Experimental details and some very recent photocatalytic [8] and sensing [9] results will be presented and discussed.

Flexible surface acoustic wave broadband strain sensors based on ultra-thin flexible glass substrate

ABSTRACTFlexible SAW devices based on ZnO piezoelectric thin film deposited on ultra-thin flexible glass were fabricated and their performances as a strain sensor have been investigated. The XRD and AFM characterizations showed that the ZnO layers have good crystal quality and smooth surface. The flexible SAW devices show excellent strain sensitivity which increases from ∼87 to ∼137 Hz/με with the increasing ZnO thickness, and the sensors can withstand strains up to ∼3000 με, 4∼6 times larger than those of SAW strain sensors on rigid substrates. The sensors exhibited remarkable stability up to hundreds of times bending under large strains. The effects of environmental variables (temperature, humidity, UV light) on the sensor performance have been investigated. The temperature has a significant effect on the performance of the SAW strain sensor, while humidity and light have limited effect.

Highly Transparent and Low-Resistance Indium-Free ZnO/Ag/ZnO Multilayer Electrodes for Organic Photovoltaic Devices

We investigated the effect of ZnO layer thickness on the optical and electrical properties of ZnO/Ag/ZnO multilayer films deposited on glass substrates. The transmission window became wider and shifted toward the lower energy side with increasing ZnO thickness. The ZnO/Ag/ZnO (40 nm/18.8 nm/40 nm) multilayer sample showed transmittance of ~96% at 550nm. As the ZnO thickness was increased from 8 nm to 80 nm, the carrier concentration gradually decreased from 1.74 × 1022 cm−3 to 4.33 × 1021 cm−3, while the charge mobility varied from 23.8 cm2/V-s to 24.8 cm2/V-s. With increasing ZnO thickness, the samples exhibited similar sheet resistances of 3.6 Ω/sq to 3.9 Ω/sq, but the resistivity increased by a factor of 4.58. The samples showed smooth surfaces with root-mean-square roughness in the range of 0.47 nm to 0.94 nm. Haacke’s figure of merit (FOM) was calculated for all the samples; the ZnO (40 nm)/Ag (18.8 nm)/ZnO (40 nm) multilayer produced the highest FOM of 148.9 × 10−3 Ω−1.

Size-tuned ZnO nanocrucible arrays for magnetic nanodot synthesis via atomic layer deposition-assisted block polymer lithography.

Low-temperature atomic layer deposition of conformal ZnO on a self-assembled block polymer lithographic template comprising well-ordered, vertically aligned cylindrical pores within a poly(styrene) (PS) matrix was used to produce nanocrucible templates with pore diameters tunable via ZnO thickness. Starting from a PS template with a hexagonal array of 30 nm diameter pores on a 45 nm pitch, the ZnO thickness was progressively increased to narrow the pore diameter to as low as 14 nm. Upon removal of the PS by heat treatment in air at 500 °C to form an array of size-tunable ZnO nanocrucibles, permalloy (Ni80Fe20) was evaporated at normal incidence, filling the pores and creating an overlayer. Argon ion beam milling was then used to etch back the overlayer (a Damascene-type process), leaving a well-ordered array of isolated ZnO nanocrucibles filled with permalloy nanodots. Microscopy and temperature-dependent magnetometry verified the diameter reduction with increasing ZnO thickness. The largest diameter (30 nm) dots exhibit a ferromagnetic multidomain/vortex state at 300 K, with relatively weakly temperature-dependent coercivity. Reducing the diameter leads to a crossover to a single-domain state and eventually superparamagnetism at sufficiently high temperature, in quantitative agreement with expectations. We argue that this approach could render this form of block polymer lithography compatible with high-temperature processing (as required for technologically important high perpendicular anisotropy ordered alloys, for instance), in addition to enabling separation-dependent studies to probe interdot magnetostatic interactions.

Influence of cathode roughness on the performance of F8BT based organic–inorganic light emitting diodes

Hybrid light emitting diodes (HyLED) with a structure of FTO/ZnO/F8BT/MoO3/Au/Ag is fabricated and the influence of surface roughness of cathode (FTO/ZnO) is investigated. The roughness of FTO could be decreased from 9.2nm to 2.2nm using a mild polishing process. The ZnO film, deposited by spray pyrolysis, functions as an electron injection layer. The roughness of the FTO/ZnO surface is found also highly dependent on the ZnO thickness. For thin ZnO films (20nm), polishing results in better efficacy and power efficiency of LED devices, with nearly a two times improvement. For thick ZnO films (210nm), the overall FTO/ZnO roughness is almost independent of the FTO roughness, hence both polished and unpolished substrates exhibit identical performance. Increasing ZnO thickness generally improves the electron injection condition, leading to lower turn on voltage and higher current and power efficiencies. However, for too large ZnO thickness (210nm) the ohmic loss across the film dominates and deteriorates the performance. While the polished substrates show less device sensitivity to ZnO thickness and better performance at thin ZnO layer, best performance is obtained for unpolished substrates with 110nm ZnO thickness. Larger interface area of ZnO/F8BT and enhanced electric filed at sharp peaks/valleys could be the reason for better performance of devices with unpolished substrates.

Characterization and humidity sensing of ZnO/42° YX LiTaO3 Love wave devices with ZnO nanorods

Love mode surface acoustic wave devices based on ZnO/42° YX LiTaO3 were characterized with the thickness of the sputtered ZnO guiding layer varied from 250nm to 1.18μm. Phase velocity, temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, sensitivity, electromechanical coupling coefficient and humidity sensing of the Love mode SAW devices were studied as a function of the ZnO layer thickness. With increasing ZnO thickness over the range of thickness values we have examined, the sensitivity of 42° YX LiTaO3 to liquid loading increased and the values of electromechanical coupling coefficient decreased. The device with a thickness of 250nm showed the best humidity response. ZnO nanorods were grown on this device and its humidity sensing performance has been further improved due to their large surface-to-volume ratio of the ZnO nanorods.

Defects in semipolar ZnO grown on (112) LaAlO3/(La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3 substrate by pulsed laser deposition

The microstructure of semipolar ZnO deposited on (112) LaAlO3/(La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3 was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The ZnO shows an in-plane epitaxial relationship of with oxygen-face sense polarity. The misfit strain along and is relieved through the formation of misfit dislocations with the Burgers vectors and , respectively. The line defects in the semipolar ZnO are predominantly perfect dislocations, and the dislocation density decreases with increasing ZnO thickness as a result of dislocation reactions. Planar defects were observed to lie in the M-plane and extend along 〈0001〉, whereas basal stacking faults were rarely found.

Trapped hybrid modes in solidly mounted resonators based on c-axis oriented hexagonal crystals

Assuming an idealized piezoelectric bulk acoustic wave resonator, one typically calculates the velocity of the fundamental bulk acoustic mode as the measured frequency times twice the thickness of the piezoelectric film. In c-axis 6mm hexagonal crystals of (e.g., ZnO or AlN), both the longitudinal and thickness shear modes are peizoelectrically active using thickness excitation and lateral-field excitation, respectively. Without a loss of generality, we concentrate our study on ZnO films. The theoretical velocity of the pure thickness shear mode in sputtered ZnO, based strictly on reported material properties, is calculated to be approximately 2580 m/s. However, a variety of acoustic velocities for the thickness shear mode in ZnO have been reported in the literature ranging from about 3100–3500 m/s. These reported values represent a 20%–36% increase in acoustic velocity relative to the theoretical values. In the literature, this deviation is typically attributed to ZnO film inconsistencies and other phenomena which can be difficult to quantify. We propose that the reported inconsistencies may be attributed to a hybrid acoustic mode comprised of a coupling of shear and longitudinal particle displacements. In this paper, we present a theoretical description of a hybrid mode in ZnO solidly mounted resonator (SMR) devices. We begin first with an experimental verification of a mode with a changing velocity in a ZnO SMR with the only variable being the ZnO thickness. Using the acoustic velocity through the thickness as an effective velocity with which to reference the mode, we find the effective acoustic velocity to range from 3100–3900 m/s, with increasing ZnO thickness. We then start from the first principles of piezoelectric acoustic wave propagation and derive three coupled partial differential equations describing a hybrid mode comprised of the coupling between longitudinal and shear particle displacement and the corresponding piezoelectrically generated potential in the ZnO film. The qualitative findings described by the derived equations are then further investigated with finite element simulation (COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS®). We simulate the performance of our experimental devices using the COMSOL platform, examine the eigenfrequencies of the structure, and find a hybrid mode which is trapped both vertically and laterally in the ZnO film. Calculating the effective velocity of the simulated modes, we find the simulated effective velocities to be within 1.5% of our measured results. Finally, we compare simulation results to experimentally measured results of a previously observed hybrid mode and achieve a 0.2% agreement.

Transition from granular to dilute magnetic semiconducting multilayers in ion-beam-deposited ZnO/Co

Multilayers of Co/ZnO, with varying nominal thickness of metal (2–10 Å) and semiconductor (2–20 Å), were prepared by ion-beam sputtering. Magnetic, transport, and magnetotransport measurements were carried out over a temperature range of 2.5 to 300 K. Upon decreasing Co thickness and increasing ZnO thickness in the multilayer stack, the properties of the samples undergo a crossover from those of granular metallic Co/semiconductor multilayers to a dilute magnetic semiconductor superlattice. We interpret ferromagnetism in the latter case as due to ordering in the Co-rich layers, mediated by carriers from lightly doped, high carrier concentration layers.