Chu-Shou Yang

The Influences of H2Plasma Pretreatment on the Growth of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes by Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

The effects of H2flow rate during plasma pretreatment on synthesizing the multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by using the microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition are investigated in this study. A H2and CH4gas mixture with a 9:1 ratio was used as a precursor for the synthesis of MWCNT on Ni-coated TaN/Si(100) substrates. The structure and composition of Ni catalyst nanoparticles were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The present findings showed that denser Ni catalyst nanoparticles and more vertically aligned MWCNTs could be effectively achieved at higher flow rates. From Raman results, we found that the intensity ratio of G and D bands (ID/IG) decreases with an increasing flow rate. In addition, TEM results suggest that H2plasma pretreatment can effectively reduce the amorphous carbon and carbonaceous particles. As a result, the pretreatment plays a crucial role in modifying the obtained MWCNTs structures.

Effects of isomeric transformation on characteristics of Alq3 amorphous layers prepared by vacuum deposition at various substrate temperatures

Organic tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3) amorphous layers are prepared by vacuum deposition at various substrate temperatures Tsub from 30 to 180 °C. The surface morphology and electrical characteristics of these as-deposited layers are studied by atomic force microscopy and current-density versus electric-field (J-E) curves. The temperature dependence of the dark electrical conductivity σ(T) determined from J-E curves is also examined. These experimental results reveal that the surface and electrical properties of Alq3 amorphous layers deposited at Tsub between 90 and 120 °C exhibit an anomalous Tsub dependence. However, this anomalous Tsub dependence is not observed from infrared absorption measurements, and therefore is not the result of chemical degradation. The observed behavior is explained in terms of the property that the vacuum deposition of Alq3 with Tsub between 90 and 120 °C involves a thermal interconversion between meridional and facial Alq3 isomers.

Formation of a precursor layer in self-assembled CdTe quantum dots grown on ZnSe by molecular beam epitaxy

The growth mode of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) grown on highly lattice-mismatched ZnSe buffer was investigated. CdTe QDs (0.6 to 5.0 mono-layers (MLs)) were deposited on the Se-stabilized ZnSe buffer layers using an alternating supply of Cd and Te atomic sources. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed the existence of a CdSe-like two-dimensional precursor layer (PCL). The prominent difference in the temperature-dependent PL peak shift was associated with the emissions from the respective CdSe PCL and CdTe QDs. In addition, the PL excitation measurement demonstrated the existence of the first QD excited excitonic state.

Femtosecond laser-induced formation of wurtzite phase ZnSe nanoparticles in air

We demonstrate an effective method to prepare wurtzite phase ZnSe nanoparticles from zincblende ZnSe single crystal using femtosecond pulse laser ablation. The fabricated ZnSe nanoparticles are in spherical shape and uncontaminated while synthesized under ambient environment. By controlling the laser fluences, the average size of ZnSe nanoparticles can be varied from ∼16nm to ∼22nm in diameter. In Raman spectra, the surface phonon mode becomes dominant in the smaller average particle size with uniform size distribution. The interesting phase transition from the zinc blende structure of ZnSe single crystal to wurtzite structure of ZnSe nanoparticles may have been induced by the ultrahigh ablation pressure at the local area due to the sudden injection of high energy leading to solid-solid transition.

Temperature-Dependent Excitonic Luminescence in ZnO Thin Film Grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

In this study, the excitonic luminescence behaviors of ZnO thin films in the temperature range of 10–300 K were investigated. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum exhibits the bound-exciton emission and the donor-acceptor recombination accompanying its multiphonon replicas at low temperatures. The observed features exhibit redshift with an increase in temperature, and the temperature dependence of the peak position was analyzed by the Varshni empirical expression. The study showed the dominant presence of bound excitonic transition below 160 K or free excitonic transition at higher temperatures for the observed PL spectrum. The free exciton emission can be observed up to room temperature. The Debye temperature of ZnO was evaluated by taking into account the elastic constants of ZnO and utilized as a parameter in the Varshni empirical expression giving an accurate description of the free exciton emission behavior up to room temperature.

Depth-Profiling Electronic and Structural Properties of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 Thin-Film Solar Cell

Utilizing a scanning photoelectron microscope (SPEM) and grazing-incidence X-ray powder diffraction (GIXRD), we studied the electronic band structure and the crystalline properties of the pentanary Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (CIGSSe) thin-film solar cell as a function of sample depth on measuring the thickness-gradient sample. A novel approach is proposed for studying the depth-dependent information on thin films, which can provide a gradient thickness and a wide cross-section of the sample by polishing process. The results exhibit that the CIGSSe absorber layer possesses four distinct stoichiometries. The growth mechanism of this distinctive compositional distribution formed by a two-stage process is described according to the thermodynamic reaction and the manufacturing process. On the basis of the depth-profiling results, the gradient profiles of the conduction and valence bands were constructed to elucidate the performance of the electrical properties (in this case, Voc = 620 mV, Jsc = 34.6 mA/cm(2), and η = 14.04%); the valence-band maxima (VBM) measured with a SPEM in the spectroscopic mode coincide with this band-structure model, except for a lowering of the VBM observed in the surface region of the absorber layer due to the ordered defect compound (ODC). In addition, the depth-dependent texturing X-ray diffraction pattern presents the crystalline quality and the residual stress for each depth of a thin-film device. We find that the randomly oriented grains in the bottom region of the absorber layer and the different residual stress between the underlying Mo and the absorber interface, which can deteriorate the electrical performance due to peeling-off effect. An anion interstitial defect can be observed on comparing the anion concentration of the elemental distribution with crystalline composition; a few excess sulfur atoms insert in interstitial sites at the front side of the absorber layer, whereas the interstitial selenium atoms insert at the back side.

Fabrication of Resistive Random Access Memory by Atomic Force Microscope Local Anodic Oxidation

The fabrication of gallium, zinc and nickel oxide nanodots for application of resistive random access memory (RRAM) was demonstrated using the atomic force microscopy (AFM) local anodic oxidation technique. Thin metal films were deposited on indium tin oxide conductive glass substrates. In the atmospheric environment, using AFM equipped with an Ag-coated probe can generate metal oxide nanodots locally on the metal films. These nanodots act as an insulator layer in a single unit cell of the RRAM. The voltage-biased method allows devices to reset from a low-resistance state (LRS) to a high-resistance state (HRS) at 0.9 V. These results show the ability of the AFM local anodic oxidation to produce 50 nm NiO nanodots on glass substrates for potentially high-density RRAMs. As we developed the characteristics of the structure, we found that a lateral NiO nanobelt RRAM performs very low power operation from such experimental manufacturing process. Using a current-biased method, the lateral device switches from a HRS to a LRS with a low writing voltage of 0.64 V.

Optical and Electrical Characterizations of ZnMnO Thin Films on c-Al2O3

We have studied the manganese (Mn) composition dependence of the optical and electrical properties of ZnMnO thin films, which are grown on c-Al2O3 substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The lattice constant and grain size are estimated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and it is found that the lattice constant increases and the grain size decreases with increasing Mn composition. When more Mn is incorporated into the ZnMnO thin films, a blue shift of the absorption edges and photoluminescence emission peaks are observed. Hall measurement shows n-type conduction behavior for all the samples. The decrease in mobility might be related with the increase in the number of impurity scattering centers, and the decrease in the carrier concentration can be attributed to the carrier quenching effect induced by the deep-level defects. The ac electrical response of ZnMnO is studied by impedance spectroscopy (IS). The equivalent RC circuit and parameters of the grain and grain boundary are determined.

Improving stability of photoluminescence of ZnSe thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy by incorporating Cl dopant

This investigation studies the effect of chlorine (Cl) dopant in ZnSe thin films that were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on their photoluminescence (PL) and the stability thereof. Free excitonic emission was observed at room-temperature in the Cl-doped sample. Photon irradiation with a wavelength of 404 nm and a power density of 9.1 W/cm2 has a much stronger effect on PL degradation than does thermal heating to a temperature of 150 °C. Additionally, this study shows that the generation of nonradiative centers by both photon irradiation and thermal heating can be greatly inhibited by incorporating Cl dopant.

A comprehensive study of temperature-dependent reflectance and photoluminescence of Zn1−xMnxO thin films grown on c-Al2O3

We present a systematic study of temperature-dependent reflectance (R) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements on ZnMnO films grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. For the first time, the three free-exciton transitions FXA (Γ7c-Γ7vu), FXB (Γ7c-Γ9v), and FXC (Γ7c-Γ7vl) and the longitudinal-optical phonon replicas of FXB and FXC of ZnMnO films have been clearly observed in the R spectra. The parameters describing the activation energy and the temperature dependence of the transition energy and broadening have been extracted by fitting the experimental R and PL spectra. The spectral data of ZnMnO films not only show the deterioration of crystalline quality with increasing Mn composition fraction but also indicate the Mn clustering caused by Mn atom segregation.