Yasuhiro Igasaki

Bio: Yasuhiro Igasaki is an academic researcher from Shizuoka University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sputtering & Thin film. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 38 publications receiving 1039 citations.

The effects of deposition rate on the structural and electrical properties of ZnO:Al films deposited on (112̄0) oriented sapphire substrates

Abstract: Aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films were deposited on (1120) oriented sapphire substrates heated to 200 °C with a radio‐frequency (rf) power ranging from 25 to 170 W for a deposition rate in the range 0.7–27.4 nm min−1 by rf‐magnetron sputtering from a ZnO target mixed with Al2O3 of 2 wt. %. All of the films deposited were (0001) oriented single‐crystalline films with an internal stress. The stress was increased and degraded the crystallinity of the epitaxial film as a deposition rate was increased, and thus the Hall mobility and the resistivity of the film were, respectively, decreased and increased. However, the resistivities obtained were in the range about 1.4–3.0×10−4 Ω cm, the values comparable to those for indium tin oxide film presently used as a transparent electrode.

Substrate temperature dependence of electrical properties of ZnO:Al epitaxial films on sapphire (12̄10)

Abstract: ZnO:Al films were deposited on (1210) oriented sapphire substrates heated up to 400 °C by rf magnetron sputtering from a ZnO target mixed with Al2O3 of 2 wt%. Films deposited on a substrate heated to a temperature in the range 50–350 °C were (0001) oriented single crystals but those grown at 400 °C consisted of crystallites with the (0001) and (1101) orientation. The former films had relatively smooth surfaces whereas the latter exhibited very rough surfaces. Electrical properties such as resistivity, carrier concentration, and the Hall mobility were measured as a function of substrate temperature. The carrier concentration decreased as the substrate temperature was increased up to 300 °C, although the Al content remained unchanged in this temperature range. From these measurements, it was found that the native donors were important as a source of carriers, even in ZnO:Al films. However, it was found that the Hall mobilities for films with a thickness of more than 200 nm experienced minor changes over a...

Spectroscopic ellipsometry of epitaxial ZnO layer on sapphire substrate

Abstract: Optical properties of epitaxial ZnO layers have been studied in the spectral region from 1.5 to 5.4 eV using four-zone null spectroscopic ellipsometry. An existing model dielectric function based on excitonic structure near direct band gap has been improved by including a high-energy absorption term. Surface layer, corresponding to the surface roughness, was found to be essential to fit the spectroellipsometric data obtained. Two kinds of samples have been studied: ZnO layers prepared on (0001) and (1120)-oriented sapphire substrates. The surfaces of the first ones were found to be more rough.

Mechanical properties of thin films

Abstract: The mechanical properties of thin films on substrates are described and studied. It is shown that very large stresses may be present in the thin films that comprise integrated circuits and magnetic disks and that these stresses can cause deformation and fracture to occur. It is argued that the approaches that have proven useful in the study of bulk structural materials can be used to understand the mechanical behavior of thin film materials. Understanding the mechanical properties of thin films on substrates requires an understanding of the stresses in thin film structures as well as a knowledge of the mechanisms by which thin films deform. The fundamentals of these processes are reviewed. For a crystalline film on a nondeformable substrate, a key problem involves the movement of dislocations in the film. An analysis of this problem provides insight into both the formation of misfit dislocations in epitaxial thin films and the high strengths of thin metal films on substrates. It is demonstrated that the kinetics of dislocation motion at high temperatures are expecially important to the understanding of the formation of misfit dislocations in heteroepitaxial structures. The experimental study of mechanical properties of thin films requires the development and use of nontraditional mechanical testing techniques. Some of the techniques that have been developed recently are described. The measurement of substrate curvature by laser scanning is shown to be an effective way of measuring the biaxial stresses in thin films and studying the biaxial deformation properties at elevated temperatures. Submicron indentation testing techniques, which make use of the Nanoindenter, are also reviewed. The mechanical properties that can be studied using this instrument are described, including hardness, elastic modulus, and time-dependent deformation properties. Finally, a new testing technique involving the deflection of microbeam samples of thin film materials made by integrated circuit manufacturing methods is described. It is shown that both elastic and plastic properties of thin film materials can be measured using this technique.

Prepare dispersed CIS nano-scale particles and spray coating CIS absorber layers using nano-scale precursors

Abstract: In this study, the Mo-electrode thin films were deposited by a two-stepped process, and the high-purity copper indium selenide-based powder (CuInSe2, CIS) was fabricated by hydrothermal process by Nanowin Technology Co. Ltd. From the X-ray pattern of the CIS precursor, the mainly crystalline phase was CIS, and the almost undetectable CuSe phase was observed. Because the CIS powder was aggregated into micro-scale particles and the average particle sizes were approximately 3 to 8 μm, the CIS power was ground into nano-scale particles, then the 6 wt.% CIS particles were dispersed into isopropyl alcohol to get the solution for spray coating method. Then, 0.1 ml CIS solution was sprayed on the 20 mm × 10 mm Mo/glass substrates, and the heat treatment for the nano-scale CIS solution under various parameters was carried out in a selenization furnace. The annealing temperature was set at 550°C, and the annealing time was changed from 5 to 30 min, without extra Se content was added in the furnace. The influences of annealing time on the densification, crystallization, resistivity (ρ), hall mobility (μ), and carrier concentration of the CIS absorber layers were well investigated in this study.

Resistivity of polycrystalline zinc oxide films: current status and physical limit

Abstract: Heavily doped zinc oxide films are used as transparent and conductive electrodes, especially in thin film solar cells. Despite decades of research on zinc oxide it is not yet clear what the lower limit of the resistivity of such films is. Therefore, the electrical parameters of zinc oxide films deposited by magnetron sputtering, metal organic chemical vapour deposition and pulsed laser ablation are reviewed and related to the deposition parameters. It is found that the lowest resistivities are in the range of 1.4 to 2×10-4 Ω cm, independently of the deposition method. The highest reported Hall mobilities are about 60 cm2 V-1 s-1. The thin film electrical data are compared with the corresponding values of single crystalline zinc oxide and with that of boron and phosphorous doped crystalline silicon. From this comparison it can be seen that the dependence of the Hall mobilities on the carrier concentration n are quite similar for silicon and zinc oxide. In the region n>5×1020 cm-3, which is most important for the application of zinc oxide as a transparent and conductive electrode, phosphorous doped silicon has a mobility only slightly higher than zinc oxide. The experimental data on the electron and hole mobilities in silicon as a function of the impurity concentration have been described by a fit function (Masetti et al 1983), which can also be applied with different fitting parameters to the available zinc oxide mobility data. A comparison of the experimental data with the well known ionized impurity scattering theories of Conwell-Weisskopf (1946) and Brooks-Herring-Dingle (1955) shows that these theories are not able to describe the data very well, even if the non-parabolic band structure is taken into account. As in the case of silicon, an additional reduction of the mobility also occurs for zinc oxide for concentrations n>5×1020 cm-3, which can be ascribed qualitatively to the clustering of charge carriers connected with increased scattering due to the Z-2 dependence of the scattering cross section on the charge Z of the scattering centre. The presented review of the charge carrier transport in zinc oxide indicates that a physical limit due to ionized impurity scattering is reached for homogeneously doped layers. Due to the universal nature of this limitation it is suggested that it also applies to the other important materials indium-tin (ITO) and tin oxide. Experiments are proposed to overcome this limit.