Topic
Sputter deposition
About: Sputter deposition is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 49264 publications have been published within this topic receiving 746832 citations. The topic is also known as: sputter coating.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a review of the charge carrier transport in zinc oxide and show that a physical limit due to ionized impurity scattering is reached for homogeneously doped layers, which can be attributed 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.
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.
735 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the sputter deposition of superconducting Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films was studied with particular reference to the relation between the deposition conditions and the superconding properties of the obtained.
Abstract: The sputter deposition of superconducting Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films was studied with particular reference to the relation between the deposition conditions and the superconducting properties of the films obtained. After annealing, the films sputtered from a sintered Bi1.3Sr1Ca1Cu1.5Ox target exhibited superconductivity with zero-resistance at 83 K. The possibility of obtaining high-Tc superconducting film without post-deposition annealing was also demonstrated.
731 citations
TL;DR: The investigation shows how sensitive the refractive index functions are to the O2 and N2 flow rates, and for which growth conditions the materials deposit homogeneously, and allows conclusions to be drawn on the degree of amorphousness and roughness.
Abstract: The complex refractive index components, n and k, have been studied for thin films of several common dielectric materials with a low to medium refractive index as functions of wavelength and stoichiometry for mid-infrared (MIR) wavelengths within the range 1.54–14.29 μm (700–6500 cm−1). The materials silicon oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, and titanium oxide are prepared using room temperature reactive sputter deposition and are characterized using MIR variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. The investigation shows how sensitive the refractive index functions are to the O2 and N2 flow rates, and for which growth conditions the materials deposit homogeneously. It also allows conclusions to be drawn on the degree of amorphousness and roughness. To facilitate comparison of the materials deposited in this work with others, the index of refraction was also determined and provided for the near-IR and visible ranges of the spectrum. The results presented here should serve as a useful information base for designing optical coatings for the MIR part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The results are parameterized to allow them to be easily used for coating design.
724 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the present status and prospects for further development of transparent conducting oxide materials for use as Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) substitutes in the thin-film transparent electrodes of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), currently the largest use of ITO, and thus, of indium.
663 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the preferred orientation of ZnOx films was controlled by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering, and the growth mechanisms were made clear with respect to the density of surface energy.
661 citations