Chang Chuan You

Engineering of the band gap and optical properties of thin films of yttrium hydride

Thin films of oxygen-containing yttrium hydride show photochromic effect at room temperature. In this work, we have studied structural and optical properties of the films deposited at different deposition pressures, discovering the possibility of engineering the optical band gap by variation of the oxygen content. In sum, the transparency of the films and the wavelength range of photons triggering the photochromic effect can be controlled by variation of the deposition pressure.

Thermal stability of photovoltaic a-Si:H determined by neutron reflectometry

Neutron and X-ray reflectometry were used to determine the layer structure and hydrogen content of thin films of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited onto crystalline silicon (Si) wafers for surface passivation in solar cells. The combination of these two reflectometry techniques is well suited for non-destructive probing of the structure of a-Si:H due to being able to probe buried interfaces and having sub-nanometer resolution. Neutron reflectometry is also unique in its ability to allow determination of density gradients of light elements such as hydrogen (H). The neutron scattering contrast between Si and H is strong, making it possible to determine the H concentration in the deposited a-Si:H. In order to correlate the surface passivation properties supplied by the a-Si:H thin films, as quantified by obtainable effective minority carrier lifetime, photoconductance measurements were also performed. It is shown that the minority carrier lifetime falls sharply when H has been desorbed from a-Si:H by annealing.

MgyNi1−y(Hx) thin films deposited by magnetron co-sputtering

In this work we have synthesized thin films of MgyNi1-y(H-x) metal and metal hydride with y between 0 and 1. The films are deposited by magnetron co-sputtering of metallic targets of Mg and Ni. Met ...

Silicon surface passivation by PEDOT: PSS functionalized by SnO2 and TiO2 nanoparticles

In this paper, we present a study of silicon surface passivation based on the use of spin-coated hybrid composite layers. We investigate both undoped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly-(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), as well as PEDOT:PSS functionalized with semiconducting oxide nanomaterials (TiO2 and SnO2). The hybrid compound was deposited at room temperature by spin coating-a potentially lower cost, lower processing time and higher throughput alternative compared with the commonly used vacuum-based techniques. Photoluminescence imaging was used to characterize the electronic properties of the Si/PEDOT:PSS interface. Good surface passivation was achieved by PEDOT:PSS functionalized by semiconducting oxides. We show that control of the concentration of semiconducting oxide nanoparticles in the polymer is crucial in determining the passivation performance. A charge carrier lifetime of about 275 μs has been achieved when using SnO2 nanoparticles at a concentration of 0.5 wt.% as a filler in the composite film. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive x-ray in an SEM, and μ-Raman spectroscopy have been used for the morphological, chemical and structural characterization. Finally, a simple model of a photovoltaic device based on PEDOT:PSS functionalized with semiconducting oxide nanoparticles has been fabricated and electrically characterized.

Annealing-induced structural rearrangement and optical band gap change in Mg-Ni-H thin films

It is well known that optical properties of Mg-Ni-H films can be tuned by hydrogen uptake from Mg-Ni-H and upload into Mg-Ni systems. In this work weshow that modulation of optical properties of Mg-Ni-H can take place as a result of thermal processing in air as well. When reactively sputter deposited semiconducting Mg-Ni-H films are annealed at temperatures of 200 °C-300 °C inair, gradual band gap change from 1.6to 2.04 eV occurs followed by change in optical appearance, from brown, toorange and, subsequently, to yellow. We investigate this phenomenon using optical and structural characterization tools, and link the changes to an atomic rearrangement and a structure reordering of the NiH44-complex. The films are x-ray amorphous up to 280 °C, where above this temperature an increase in crystallite size and establishing of long-range order lead to a formation of the cubic crystalline phase of Mg2NiH4. Also, the results suggest that even though annealing was conducted in air, no oxidation orother changes in chemical composition of the bulk of the film occurred. Therefore, the band gap of this semiconductor can be tuned permanently by heat treatment, in the range from 1.6 to2 eV.