Rapid Thermal Processing Technique Research Articles

Novel and economical approach of sulfurizationof Bi-facial CIGSe layers on flexible substrate

The surface sulfurization is significant method to enhance the VOC of Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGSe) solar cells. However, a large amount of sulfur (S) in the layer deteriorates the FF and JSC owing to the lower absorption of photons with low energy and increased deep-level recombination. Since sulfurization is temperature-dependent, it is difficult to control the diffusion depth of S in the CIGSe layer. Herein, we report the band gap engineering of CIGSe by the addition of sulfur using a simple and rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique without involving toxic H2S or H2Se gasses, and the bifacial growth of CIGSe was reported using a non-aqueous electrochemical technique. The films were heat treated in an RTP furnace in ambient S at 450 °C using a two-step program. Sulfurization was performed with 2 mg and 20 mg of S powder, and the effect of the amount of S on the various properties of the CIGSe layers was investigated. A significant improvement in the properties of CIGSe was observed upon sulfurization. X-ray Diffraction, Spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the sulfurization process resulted in the formation of a Copper Indium Gallium Sulfoselenide (CIGSSe) absorber layer, which was highly crystalline and did not exhibit any secondary phase formation. The development of the CIGSSe layer at the surface of CIGSe in the sulfurized sample was confirmed by the existence of distinguished S 2p doublet peaks in the CIGSe layer sulfurized with 20 mg S powder as compared to 2 mg S powder, whereas it was completely absent in the as-prepared layer in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) core level spectra. Rietveld refinement confirms the formation of CIGSSe along with CIGSe in layer upon sulfurization.

A Designed Template Removal Method for Obtaining Mesoporous Films with Highly Ordered Structure by Rapid Thermal Processing Technique

The soft-templating methodology is a highly effective approach to prepare ordered organic mesoporous structures. However, in the traditional thermal-induced template removal process, the resultant mesoporous films often suffer from severe shrinkage, which causes a reduction in pore size and order. To overcome these limitations, we developed a strategy that combines rapid thermal processing (RTP) with dynamic circulation. This approach aims to optimize the ordered mesostructures of the films after template removal. The mesoporous structure was evaluated by various analytical techniques, including XRD, NMR, TEM, and grazing incident small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Our results demonstrate that the dynamic thermal processing method leads to a high-quality mesoporous films with significantly reduced shrinkage in the mesoporous structure. Specifically, the d-spacing of mesopores decreased only from 10.4 to 9.1 nm when treated with RTP, which is smaller than the mesoporous films treated using traditional heat processing (reduced to 7.7 nm). Furthermore, dynamic cycling led to an increase in the domain size of the ordered structure from 49.1 to 199.7 nm. These findings were confirmed by cross-sectional TEM, consistent with the values obtained from the GISAXS analysis. Finally, we discuss the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed thermal treatment method, which can provide a straightforward approach to improve the ordered degree in mesoporous films.

WSe2/MoS2 van der Waals Heterostructures Decorated with Au Nanoparticles for Broadband Plasmonic Photodetectors

Surface plasmons of metal nanostructures can resonantly enhance the light absorption of two-dimensional (2D) materials and stacked van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure-based photodetectors, realizing the improvement of responsivity. So far, it has remained challenging to control and tune surface plasmons via artificially varying the geometry of arrayed metal nanostructures. Here, we demonstrate a broadband plasmonic photodetector based on an integration of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on a WSe2/MoS2 vdW heterostructure. The plasmon resonance peaks could be tuned by the artificially patterning of Au NPs with the geometry controlled by a rapid thermal processing technique and enable a great improvement of light absorption crossing broadband spectral regimes from 400 to 1100 nm. Our device operates at room temperature and exhibits the highest responsivity of up to 1948 mA W–1, detectivity of 7.2 × 1011 cm Hz1/2 W–1, and the ultrafast response of 8.3 μs under an illumination with zero-bias voltage. These merits of high-performance detection and rapidly scalable production of controlled metal nanostructures, with the development of 2D material synthesis and transfer techniques, offer great potential for large-area and smart fabrication of nanoscale optoelectronic devices with low power consumption.

Recovery of Sevoflurane Anesthetic Gas Using an Organosilica Membrane in Conjunction with a Scavenging System.

Approximately 95% of the anesthetic gas administered to a patient is exhaled and ultimately released into the atmosphere. Most anesthetic gases have high global warming potential and so this approach adds significantly to the global greenhouse gas footprint. In this work, we develop a feasible means to capture such an anesthetic gas (sevoflurane) before it is released to the hospital scavenging system so that it is retained within the anesthetic circuit. Sevoflurane is retained using a microporous 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) membrane prepared by a sol-gel method. The use of a ceramic membrane facilitates sanitization at high temperatures. A rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique is employed to reduce production time and to create a looser organosilica network, resulting in higher gas permeances, compared with the membrane synthesized from conventional thermal processing. The RTP membrane shows a slight decline in gas permeance when used with a dry mixture of CO2/N2/sevoflurane. This permeance falls again under 20% relative humidity feed conditions but the CO2/sevoflurane selectivity increases. The membrane performance shows little variation when the relative humidity is further increased. These promising results demonstrate that this microporous BTESE membrane has great potential for the recovery of sevoflurane in an anesthetic application.

Membran karbon templated silika dari karbon nipah (Nypa fruticans) untuk aplikasi desalinasi air rawa asin [Carbon templated silica membranes from nypa carbon (Nypa fruticans) applied for wetland saline water desalination

Nypa carbon templated into silica matrices is an innovation to enhance inorganic silica membrane robustness. Performance of the membrane will be more stable during application for desalination process. This research aims to investigate silica-nypa membrane performance for desalination of wetland saline water. Silica-nypa was fabricated by carbon templated which obtained from nypa fruticans leaves and mixed into silica sol by sol-gel method. Support membrane was coated into silica-nypa sol by dip-coater and calcined via rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique. Silica-nypa membrane applied for wetland saline water desalination via pervaporation. The results showed that silica membrane performed the highest water flux by adding nypa 2.5 wt% calcined at 350°C (1.008 kg m-2h-1). Carbon from nypa offered great effect to silica membrane performance. Furthermore, all membranes had high salt rejection >98%. Therefore, carbon template silica membrane from nypa was successfully fabricated and applied for wetland saline water desalination.

Coagulation as pretreatment for membrane‐based wetland saline water desalination

AbstractWetland saline water is the enormous problem faced by rural people in Kalimantan, Indonesia. During rainy season, seawater intrudes wetland aquifer and turns water to saline. Application of membrane silica–pectin is eligible to solve this issue. Sadly, this water contains high concentration of organic matter that contributes to declining of membrane performance. Therefore, coagulation pretreatment is explored to enhance membrane filtration performance. The objective of this work is to investigate the optimum condition of coagulation pretreatment to enhance silica–pectin membrane performance for wetland saline water desalination. Sol gel process was employed to fabricate silica–pectin membrane and calcined via rapid thermal processing technique. Desalination was operated by pervaporation at 25–60°C. Maximum removal of organic matter UV254 was obtained at coagulant 30 g L−1 of 83.5% (pH 7). Combination processes between coagulation pretreatment and silica–pectin membranes offered high water flux at 60°C (12.2 kg m−2 h−1). The UV254 rejection of the feed water with coagulation is 43% higher than without applying coagulation pretreatment. Overall, salt rejection for all processes was extremely good (99.9%). Application of coagulation as pretreatment is promising to enhance performance of silica–pectin membrane for wetland water desalination.

The Performance of Membranes Interlayer-Free Silica-Pectin Templated for Seawater Desalination via Pervaporation Operated at High Temperature of Feed Solution

Recently, water scarcity is the big issues around the world. Especially in coastal area where the water distribution could not entranced and able to supply clean water for the citizen. The one and only solution is processing seawater to produce fresh and potable water. The desalination process using membrane was recommended to solve this issue. Due to that, the membrane with good structure and high hydro-stability was necessary to fabricate. The aim of this work is to investigate the performance of silica-pectin membranes for treating seawater by pervaporation employing silica based membranes. In this work, the silica-pectin membranes were successfully fabricated using Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursor. Then, pectin from apple was also using in various concentrations (0; 0.1 to 0.5%). This organic material was implemented as a templating agent to produce in silica-pectin thin film. This thin films were dipcoated onto membranes support during membranes fabrication. These membranes were calcined in air at 300 and 400°C using rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique. All membranes were tested for water desalination via pervaporation set-up in various feed temperatures (25, 40 and 60°C). Results show that the membranes produced were crack-free and no pore dense. The FTIR-spectra and Fityk analysis refer to membrane of 2.5% at 300°C and 0.5% at 400°C are the optimum condition due to silanol and siloxane concentrations. An excellent performance was obtained at 0.5% at 400°C with water flux of 8.3 kg.m-2.h-1 and high salt rejection of 99.4% at 60 °C of feed temperature. It clearly demonstrates that the silica-pectin membrane has a robust structures due to the templating of carbon chains into silica matrices. The presence of carbon chains in silica matrices may form the smaller and robust pores as expected, that makes the excellent salt rejection in high feed temperature.

Deconvolution of carbon silica templated thin film using ES40 and P123 via rapid thermal processing method

This work aims to fabricate silica-P123 (Pluronic-123) xerogels and investigates the vibrational carbon groups of ES40-P123 xerogels using FTIR analysis and fityk software. In this work, ES40 (ethyl silicate 40) was used as the silica precursor, and P123 as the template agent. Meanwhile, HNO3 and NH3 take a role as acid and base catalyst. The combination of silica materials between of ES40 and P123 as an organic polymer was prepared via sol–gel process. The obtained of silica-P123 sol derived from ES40 was then dried at 33.15 K for 172,800 s which named xerogel. The molar ratio for ES40: ethanol: nitric acid: ammonia: aquadest: P123 were 1: 38: 0.0007: 0.003: 5: 0.0207, respectively. Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) technique is favorable for calcination at 723 K for 3600 s. Then, FTIR analysis was applied to analyze the xerogel samples. The wavelength results were 800; 975; and 1080 (x10-2 m−1) for Si-C; Si-OH, and Si-O-Si, respectively. In addition, the area of pure ES40 for Si-O = 9.21 × 10−5; Si-O-Si = 1.0344 × 10−3; Si-C = 8.28 × 10−5; and for ES40-P123 template were 9.51 × 10−5; 1.0264 × 10−3; 8.10 × 10−5 in m2 unit. Hence, the peak area ratios of pure ES40 and ES40-P123 template were 0.089 and 0.093, respectively. It is clearly shown that the polymerisation by templating carbon groups into silica matrices was successfull and promising potential to apply in RTP technique as well as to then fabricate organosilica membrane for water desalination.

Improved stability of ethyl silicate interlayer-free membranes by the rapid thermal processing (RTP) for desalination

This work shows, for the first time, the improved stability of silica derived membranes for desalination application. An acid-catalyzed sol–gel was used to prepare microporous silica membranes on an interlayer-free alumina support via the Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) technique for water desalination. This approach dispenses the requirement of smooth interlayers, as membranes were prepared in 3h, instead of 10 to 14days using conventional sol–gel processes. To improve the overall stability, silica membranes with narrow pore size distribution were synthesized by optimizing the sol–gel pH at 1 and high H2O concentrations as hydrolyzing agent in order to accelerate the hydrolysis process. The silica membranes prepared with H2O/Si ratio of 44/4 and 92/4 offered constant water fluxes of 2 and 2.8Lm−2h−1, respectively, with over 99% salt rejection at 3.5wt% NaCl solution and 25°C feed condition. Membranes prepared with H2O–44 demonstrated 820h of stable desalination operation surpassing by 520h over the H2O–92 membranes and the state-of-the-art silica membranes in previous reports.

Activation of giant silicalite-1 monocrystals combining rapid thermal processing and ozone calcination

A rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique combined with ozone/oxygen calcination was applied to activate and heal a 1.1 mm2section of a silicalite-1 giant monocrystal.

Development of rapid thermal processing of tubular cobalt oxide silica membranes for gas separations

This work shows for the first time that sol–gel derived cobalt oxide silica membranes can be produced on large scale, tubular supports through successful implementation of the rapid thermal processing (RTP) techniques. The combination of fast sol–gel methods and RTP techniques reduced the overall membrane fabrication time from a minimum of 7 days to approximately 12h. The successful RTP technique was developed by changing the silica precursor from tetraethyl orthosilicate to ethyl silicate 40 and adjusting the nitric acid and water ratios in the sol–gel process. The optimized sol–gel conditions for the best membranes were found to deliver average He permeances of 3×10−7molm−2s−1Pa−1 and He/N2 permselectivities of 69 at 450°C. This work has enormous potential for transforming the traditional processing pathways associated with sol–gel derived membranes for both research and commercial separation applications.

Rapid thermal processing of tubular cobalt oxide silica membranes

This work is the first demonstration of rapid thermal processing techniques as applied to metal oxide/silica membranes on tubular geometries. A procedure was developed which combined fast sol–gel synthesis, rapid calcination steps and a thermal annealing stage to reduce the membrane fabrication time by more than two-thirds, from a conventional process taking seven or more days to less than two. A significant aspect of this major development was the use of a pre-hydrolysed silica precursor ethyl silicate 40 (ES40), instead of the generally preferred tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) which eliminated the need for the researcher specific and time consuming sol–gel reaction stages prior to membrane fabrication. As a result, modified-silica membranes containing cobalt oxides could be directly calcined at 600 °C, instead of conventional thermal process which require slow ramping rates of ≤1 °C min−1 to avoid cracking. As-prepared membranes delivered H2 permeances of 5 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 at 450 °C and H2/N2 permselectivities of 54. The RTP techniques demonstrated in this work greatly reduced the production time and should both allow researchers to significantly increase their productivity and ultimately reduce the barriers for deployment of inorganic membranes into industrial applications.

High-energy density beams and plasmas for micro- and nano-texturing of surfaces by rapid melting and solidification

Several advances in materials research have been made due to the wide array of tools currently available for the processing of materials: plasmas, electron beams, ion beams and lasers. The area of material science is fortunate to have seen the development of these tools over the years, be it for new bulk materials, coatings or for surface modification. Several applications have benefited and many more will in the future as the properties of the materials are altered on a micro/nanoscale. Currently, several techniques exist to modify the physical, chemical and biological properties of the material surface; however, this review limits itself to surface modification applications using the rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique. First, a brief overview of the existing surface modification methods using the principles of RTP is reviewed, and then a novel method to create micro/nanostructures on the surface using pulsed plasma exposure of materials is presented.

Preparation of CIGSS Thin-Film Solar Cells by Rapid Thermal Processing

Rapid thermal processing (RTP) provides a way to rapidly heat substrates to an elevated temperature to perform relatively short duration processes, typically less than 2–3min long. RTP can be utilized to minimize the process cycle time without compromising process uniformity, thus eliminating a bottleneck in CuIn1−xGaxSe2−ySy (CIGSS) module fabrication. Some approaches have been able to realize solar cells with conversion efficiencies close or equal to those for conventionally processed solar cells with similar device structures. A RTP reactor for preparation of CIGSS thin films on 10cm×10cm substrates has been designed, assembled, and tested at the Florida Solar Energy Center’s PV Materials Lab. This paper describes the synthesis and characterization of CIGSS thin-film solar cells by the RTP technique. Materials characterization of these films was done by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and electrical characterization was done by current–voltage measurements on soda lime glass substrates by the RTP technique. Encouraging results were obtained during the first few experimental sets, demonstrating that reasonable solar cell efficiencies (up to 9%) can be achieved with relatively shorter cycle times, lower thermal budgets, and without using toxic gases.

Millisecond Microwave Annealing: Reaching the 32 Nm Node

ABSTRACTThe next generation of Si devices requires thermal treatments of 1200°C – 1300°C but can only withstand temperatures above 800°C for a few milliseconds. Current rapid thermal processing techniques cannot meet these requirements. We have designed, constructed, and tested a microwave reactor that heats Si to 1300°C in only a few milliseconds and cools the wafer at a rate that exceeds a million degrees per second. Applying millisecond microwave annealing to ultra-shallow junction formation in advanced Si devices shows that this technique meets or exceeds the thermal processing requirements for the next several generations of Si devices.

Electromagnetic fast firing for ultrashallow junction formation

The creation of low resistivity, ultrashallow source/drain regions in MOS device structures requires rapid thermal processing (RTP) techniques that restrict diffusion and activate a significant percentage of the implanted dopant species. While current heating techniques depend upon illumination based heating, a new technology, electromagnetic induction heating (EMIH), achieves a rapid heating of the silicon by coupling electromagnetic radiation directly into the silicon wafer. Heating rates of 125/spl deg/C/s to temperatures in excess of 1050/spl deg/C have been achieved for 75- and 100-mm-diameter wafers at input powers of 1000 and 1300 W, respectively. These ramp rates are suitable for ultrashallow junction formation, and junctions shallower than 30 nm with sheet resistances lower than 600 /spl Omega//square have been achieved. This paper details the application of electromagnetic heating using radiation in the microwave, 2450 MHz, frequency regime. Experimental results, comparing microwave annealed implants to the well documented SEMATECH requirements, and simulations, utilizing a coupled electromagnetic-thermal computer model, of the heating process are discussed.

Electromagnetic annealing for the 100 nm technology node

Electromagnetic induction heating (EMIH) is a novel rapid thermal processing technique that uses microwave and radio frequency (RF) radiation to directly heat silicon wafers. Heating rates of 125/spl deg/C/s have been achieved and 75 mm diameter wafers have been heated above 1000/spl deg/C using only 950 W of power. EMIH has been used to activate shallow implanted dopants with minimal diffusion of the junction depth. It is speculated that the exposure of the wafer to intense electric fields during the anneal may provide an additional driving force for dopant activation, allowing for higher activation at lower temperatures. Post-anneal junction depths less than 25 nm with sheet resistances between 700 and 1000 ohms/square have been achieved without the use of a controlled low oxygen ambient. The EMIH Rs-Xj curve penetrates the SEMATECH 100 nm technology box and with further optimizations may satisfy the 70 nm technology node.

Electromagnetic Induction Heating for the 70 nm Node

AbstractElectromagnetic heating provides a novel alternative to “illumination-based” rapid thermal processing techniques. Exposure to radiation, in the RF and microwave frequency regimes, rapidly heats silicon (∼125°C/sec) to temperatures in excess of 1000°C without the use of a susceptor. These ramp rates make this technology suitable for the activation of shallow implanted dopants, and satisfaction of the 100 nm technology node has been achieved. Furthermore, the presence of high frequency electric fields creates ponderomotive forces that may alter the kinetics of dopant activation and diffusion. These additional driving forces could, once fully understood, lead to an enhanced activation mechanism that activates sufficient dopants to satisfy the 70 nm technology node at temperatures less than 1000°C.

N 2O oxidation of strained-Si/relaxed-SiGe heterostructure grown by UHVCVD

Oxidation of strained-Si/relaxed-SiGe heterostructure grown by UHVCVD method using a rapid thermal processing technique in N 2O ambient is investigated. The electrical properties of the grown oxide have been characterized using a MOS structure. Hole confinement in the SiGe layer at low field is observed from the capacitance–voltage curve and this suggests that the strain in the initially strained Si epilayer is retained after oxidation. The experimental results are compared with simulation results obtained from a 1D Poisson solver. D it and Q f/ q values are estimated to be 3×10 11 cm −2 eV −1 and −1.2×10 11 cm −2, respectively. These high values of D it and negative Q f/ q could possibly be due to Ge out diffusion and pile up at the SiO 2/strained-Si interface. The oxide exhibits an excellent breakdown field of 15 MV cm −1.

Growth and Characterization of Rapid Thermal Chlorinated Oxides Grown Using In Situ Generated HCl

We present here a rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique that uses in situ generated HCl for growing chlorinated oxides. A gas mixture consisting of oxygen and benign organic precursor was made to flow over the heated wafer surface where the gases reacted to generate the HCl at the wafer site. This method is a considerable improvement over all of the existing chlorination techniques because it provides much higher safety, lower contamination potential, greater process simplicity, and is produced at a lower cost. Our data on thin oxides shows that in situ chlorination provides benefits that are similar to those of conventional chlorination methods, namely, oxides with lower interface states and higher growth rates than those of standard dry oxides. Secondary ion mass spectrometry plots show that no carbon is introduced in the chlorinated oxide even though it is grown directly in the presence of an organic precursor. Other electrical data demonstrates no degradation in leakage current and charge trapping through chlorination. © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.