The aerosol-assisted (AA) CVD method involves the atomization of a precursor solution into fine, sub-micrometer-sized aerosol droplets which are delivered to a heated reaction zone and undergo evaporation, decomposition, and homogeneous and/or heterogeneous chemical reactions to form the desired products. As a variant of conventional CVD processes, AACVD addresses the availability and delivery problems of the chemical precursors. A wide range of precursors can be used since volatility is no longer crucial, offering more possibilities to produce high-quality CVD products at low cost. Some variants of AACVD have also been developed, such as AA combustion (C) CVD, electrostatic spray-assisted vapor deposition (ESAVD), and electrostatic-assisted aerosol jet deposition (EAAJD). These variants provide additional flexibility and capability to the AACVD-based processes. AACVD-based processes have attracted increasing interest in most of the CVD-related areas, and have been widely used to synthesize various films, coatings, powders, composites, nanotubes and nanowires, etc. This review highlights the principles, applications, and recent progress of AACVD-based processes.

Processing and Applications of Aerosol‐Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

Optical properties of iron oxide (α-Fe2O3) thin films deposited by the reactive evaporation of iron

Comparison of ITO/metal/ITO and ZnO/metal/ZnO characteristics as transparent electrodes for third generation solar cells

Microstructure optimization and optical and interfacial properties modulation of sputtering-derived HfO2 thin films by TiO2 incorporation

Study on the doping effect of Sn-doped ZnO thin films

Polycrystalline In2O3 thin films have been synthesized by a modified chemical vapor deposition process using the pyrolysis of an aerosol generated by ultrahigh frequency spraying of a volatile precursor solution. The deposition has been carried out on glass substrates (350–550 °C). X-Ray diffraction has shown that deposited films are polycrystalline without second phases. The morphology of the surface as function of the substrate temperature has been studied using scanning electron microscopy (LEO Stereoscan 440). Transmission and reflection spectra of the sprayed films were examined in the 260–2600 nm spectral range and, for investigated films, the transmission coefficient in the visible and infrared regions exceed 85% and is weakly affected by deposition temperature. The optical band gap values, Eg, ranged between 3.57 and 3.68 eV. The Urbach tail parameter E0, was calculated for films deposited at different temperatures.

G. Folcher

Papers

Structural and optical properties of indium oxide thin films prepared by an ultrasonic spray CVD process