Substrate-HTcS Interaction Studies by (S)TEM

Epitaxial growth of diamond thin films on foreign substrates

The interaction of small particles and thin films of metals with gases I. A brief review of the early stages of oxide formation

Growth process of nanostructured silver films pulsed laser ablated in high-pressure inert gas

In situ phase-modulated ellipsometry was employed to monitor the nucleation and growth processes of diamond thin films fabricated by chemical vapor deposition. The effective extinction coefficient (k) at 1.96 eV was used as a basis for dividing the deposition process into intervals. The film growth was aborted at various k values yielding diamond film samples that represent snapshots of the growth process at different stages. Ex situ characterization of the films was performed using Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The results indicate that the diamond film deposition process consists of various stages in which the crystalline quality, the net compressive stress, and the relative amount of non-sp3 carbon follow different trends. A correlation between the effective k value measured in situ and the film microstructure characterized ex situ was established which enables the monitoring of the diamond film growth process in real time.

In the last few years the thin film processing technologies have improved strongly, both from the point of view of the fundamental physics and from the point of view of applications. Thin film processing technologies include (i) material growth for electronic applications, such as semiconductors, insulators, metals, superconductors etc., (ii) material growth for mechanical applications such as protective super-hard and antiabrasive coatings, (iii) material growth for optical applications, (iv) material processing for lithography, patterning and etching and (v) device fabrication in microelectronics. In order to be able to increase the performances of materials and to increase the complexity of device processing it is necessary to understand the physics and chemistry of film processing and to reach a higher control of processing parameters. In-situ real time diagnostics are the most promising methods for this purpose. This book can be included into this framework. The book gives an interesting and detailed review of many optical diagnostics applied to thin film processing science and technology. The initial chapters report the background on thin film technologies (including a review of the different types of reactor and growth-processing technologies), properties of light, structure of matter and light - matter interaction in order to help readers not familiar with film processing technologies and spectroscopies. The other chapters are devoted to a deep analysis of optical diagnostics to be applied in-situ and in real time for the study of film, substrate or process gas physical properties. A wide range of optical techniques are reported: transmittance and reflectance spectroscopies, optical emission spectroscopy, laser spectroscopies, interferometry, scattering spectroscopies (elastic and inelastic), luminescence, optical thermometry and metrology. For all the techniques the author describes (i) the underlying physical and chemical principles, (ii) the experimental set-up for in-situ characterizations of thin films under processing or of process gas in the reactors and (iii) a survey of the applications of the diagnostics in thin film processing technology with the relevant spectroscopic data. A wide bibliography is given in all the chapters to allow the readers to be introduced to the physical and technological details of all the spectroscopic techniques described. Moreover, a wide review of applications of optical spectroscopies to thin film processing and gas diagnostic is successfully reported. The scope of the book, which is completely fulfilled, is to delineate the role of optical diagnostics in controlling and developing thin film processing techniques, through an in-situ and real time monitoring of the film, substrate or process gas properties. The presentation of the subject is clear, the book is well organized and the technical content is very high, so as to be useful also to scientists and engineers not familiar with thin film technologies or spectroscopic techniques. For people already expert in the subject the book will be an useful handbook. Moreover, there is a lack in scientific literature of a book or a review completely devoted to in-situ optical diagnostics of thin film technologies. The book could be addressed to researchers and engineers working on plasma processes, thin film growth, surface material processing or microelectronics.

CdS thin films were successfully fabricated on glass substrates in different pH solutions by chemical bath deposition (CBD). The influences of pH value on the thickness, growth process, structure as well as on the optical properties of CdS film were investigated. The as-deposited films exhibited pure cubic phase structure, indicating that the pH had no significant effect on the crystal structure of CdS film. The optical transmittance spectra demonstrated that the films deposited at 11.7 and 11.8 pH exhibited relatively high transmittance in the long wavelength. And the optical band gaps decreased from 2.42 to 2.31 eV with increasing pH values. Subsequently, the growth process of CdS films was studied by analyzing the morphologies and particles sizes at different growing stages of the deposition. It was found that the particle clusters produced by homogeneous reaction acted as nucleation sites during the deposition process, and CdS preferred to grow on their surface. As a result, the sizes of clusters expanded with deposition time until a continuous film was formed, and the duration to obtain a continuous film reduced with decreasing pH values. Hence, a growth mode of CdS film on the glass substrate was proposed, i.e. the film was formed by the connection of expanded particle clusters produced by homogeneous reaction.

Effect of annealing atmosphere on the epitaxial growth process of La2Zr2O7 films on different substrates

Dynamic scaling of the growth process of GaN thin films deposited on sapphire substrates by HVPE

Domain growth dynamics in (K, Na)NbO 3 ferroelectric thin films

In order to develop the noble molecular arrangement techniques, we investigated the effects of the electric field on the epitaxial growth process of organic thin films. We deposited interdigitated gold electrodes on KC1 substrates, and then grew copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) thin films, with applying the electric voltages during the evaporation process. Using an energy dispersive grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (ED-GIXD) system, we evaluated the in-plane structures of the film samples by detecting the 200 reflection from CuPc crystallites. The CuPc molecules subjected to the electric field were found to orient to the different direction from those of the ordinally epitaxially grown films. These facts suggest that the combination of applying voltage and epitaxial growth provide us a new method to control the molecular orientation in the organic thin films.

A three-scale analysis of crystal growth process is newly proposed based on the first-principles calculation and on the finite element analysis in order to generate a new biocompatible piezoelectric thin film. Crystal growth process of lead-free BaTiO3 thin films was designed and experimentally generated on SrTiO3(100), (110), (111), and MgO(100) substrates using the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering method. Crystal structures of BaTiO3 were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) θ/2θ scan. We used Pt for the electrode and measured piezoelectric strain constants d 33 using the ferroelectric measurement system. As a result, analytical crystal orientation fractions on SrTiO3(110) and (111) substrates had good quantitative agreement with experimental ones, and ones on SrTiO3(100) and MgO(100) substrates corresponded with these experimental crystal structures. Furthermore, analytically determined piezoelectric strain constants d 33 qualitatively showed a good agreement with experimental ones. Especially, for SrTiO3(100) and MgO(100) substrates, the differences of d 33 depending on orientation fractions were analyzed by the three-scale simulation accurately. Consequently, it is confirmed that the three-scale analysis is a useful simulation tool to design new biocompatible piezoelectric thin films.

The status of thin films for SAW (surface acoustic wave) devices is reviewed through the framework of a process-structure-property network commonly considered in the thin-film area. Different branches of this network are considered and practical examples from SAW thin films illustrate the nature of these relationships. Such considerations lead to a better understanding of thin-film nucleation and growth processes and the deposition parameters that result in the best microstructures for SAW devices. The discussion is limited to the physical vacuum-deposition processes of thermal evaporation and sputtering, which traditionally have been the most commonly used SAW thin-film processes. Such depositions can be made at relatively low substrate temperatures. The present directions of thin-film research and how they may affect future SAW device developments are considered. >

Functional nanostructured surfaces comprised of spatially ordered features, like clusters, wires or thin films, are important in various applications, including nonlinear photonics, magnetic data storage and gas sensing. The primary challenge to realizing the potential of this area is to develop cost-effective fabrication techniques and reliable characterization of such nanostructures. In this chapter we discuss the potential towards controlling the spatial arrangement of surface structures by modification to thin film nucleation and growth processes during physical vapor deposition. We also review structures resulting from surface instabilities generated by energetic ion beam irradiation—another active research area that promises simple and reliable self-assembly of nanostructures. Careful characterization of spatial order and thin film morphological properties like size, shape and connectedness are very important towards understanding the role of processing parameters, as well as in structure-property correlations. In this regard, image analysis can be a simple but vital step. We review the techniques of Fourier analysis and Minkowski functional analysis to understand the length scales and morphologies of surface nanostructures. Finally, examples of applications from the areas of nonlinear optics, magnetism and gas sensing are provided which highlight the need for control of size and spatial order in nanostructures.

Black arsenic phosphorus single crystals were grown using a short-way transport technique resulting in crystals up to 12 × 110 μm and ranging from 200 nm to 2 μm thick. The reaction conditions require tin, tin (IV) iodide, gray arsenic, and red phosphorus placed in an evacuated quartz ampule and ramped up to a maximum temperature of 630 °C. The crystal structure and elemental composition were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cross-sectional transmission microscopy, and electron backscatter diffraction. The data provides valuable insight into the growth mechanism. A previously developed b-P thin film growth technique can be adapted to b-AsP film growth with slight modifications to the reaction duration and reactant mass ratios. Devices fabricated from exfoliated bulk-b-AsP grown in the same reaction condition as the thin film growth process are characterized, showing an on-off current ratio of 102, a threshold voltage of −60 V, and a peak field-effect hole mobility of 23 cm2 V−1 s−1 at V d = −0.9 V and V g = −60 V.

Impact of ink synthesis on processing of inkjet-printed silicon nanoparticle thin films: A comparison of Rapid Thermal Annealing and photonic sintering