M. Godlewski

Extremely low temperature growth of ZnO by atomic layer deposition

We report on the zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films obtained by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method using diethyl zinc and water precursors, which allowed us to lower deposition temperature to below 200 °C. The so-obtained “as grown” ZnO layers are polycrystalline and show excitonic photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature, even if the deposition temperature was lowered down to 100 °C. Defect-related PL bands are of low intensity and are absent for layers grown at 140−200 °C. This is evidence that extremely low temperature growth by ALD can result in high quality ZnO thin films with inefficient nonradiative decay channels and with thermodynamically blocked self-compensation processes.

Giant electric fields in unstrained GaN single quantum wells

We demonstrate that, even in unstrained GaN quantum wells with AlGaN barriers, there exist giant electric fields as high as 1.5 MV/cm. These fields, resulting from the interplay of the piezoelectric and spontaneous polarizations in the well and barrier layers due to Fermi level alignment, induce large redshifts of the photoluminescence energy position and dramatically increase the carrier lifetime as the quantum well thickness increases.

Electrical behavior of zinc oxide layers grown by low temperature atomic layer deposition

We report on the electrical properties of thin film transistors based on zinc oxide (ZnO) layers grown by low temperature (100–170°C) atomic layer deposition. As evidenced through Hall effect measurements, a drastic decrease of the carrier concentration occurred for ZnO films grown at 100°C. Time of flight–secondary ions mass spectroscopy analysis revealed that this decrease is associated with an increase of the hydroxide groups in the ZnO layer which suppressed oxygen vacancy formation. Transistors fabricated from ZnO films grown at 100°C exhibit a high Ion∕Ioff ratio (∼107) and an encouraging intrinsic channel mobility (∼1cm2∕Vs).

Fluorescence upconversion in Sm-doped Gd2O3

We report the observation of efficient fluorescence upconversion in Sm-doped Gd2O3 nanopowders prepared by the spray pyrolysis method. The blue upconversion emission was observed with low-power continuous-wave excitation at 514, 561, 594, and 633nm and with a pulsed femtosecond at 710nm, in a laser scanning confocal microscope. This result indicates that Sm-doped Gd2O3 has the potential as a fluorescent label that may be excited in red, yellow, and green with blue emission.

ZnO grown by atomic layer deposition: A material for transparent electronics and organic heterojunctions

We report on zinc oxide thin films grown by atomic layer deposition at a low temperature, which is compatible with a low thermal budget required for some novel electronic devices. By selecting appropriate precursors and process parameters, we were able to obtain films with controllable electrical parameters, from heavily n-type to the resistive ones. Optimization of the growth process together with the low temperature deposition led to ZnO thin films, in which no defect-related photoluminescence bands are observed. Such films show anticorrelation between mobility and free-electron concentration, which indicates that low n electron concentration is a result of lower number of defects rather than the self-compensation effect.

Poly(3-hexylthiophene)/ZnO hybrid pn junctions for microelectronics applications

Hybrid poly(3-hexylthiophene)/ZnO devices are investigated as rectifying heterojunctions for microelectronics applications. A low-temperature atomic layer deposition of ZnO on top of poly(3-hexylthiophene) allows the fabrication of diodes featuring a rectification ratio of nearly 105 at ±4 V and a current density of 104 A/cm2. Electrical characteristics are discussed taking into account the chemical structure of the stack and the energy band diagram.

Zinc oxide for electronic, photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications

We show that the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique has great potential for widespread use in the production of ZnO films for applications in electronic, photovoltaic (PV), and optoelectronic devices. The low growth temperature makes ALD-grown ZnO films suitable for fabrication of various semiconductor/organic hybrid structures. This opens up the possibility of novel devices based on very cheap organic materials, including organic light emitting diodes and third-generation PV cells.

Label-free sensitivity of long-period gratings enhanced by atomic layer deposited TiO 2 nano-overlays

In this paper, we discuss an impact of thin titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) coatings on refractive index (RI) sensitivity and biofunctionalization of long-period gratings (LPGs). The TiO(2) overlays on the LPG surfaces have been obtained using atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. This method allows for a deposition of conformal, thickness-controlled, with well-defined optical properties, and high-RI thin films which are highly desired for optical fiber sensors. It has been found that for LPGs working at a dispersion turning point of higher order cladding modes only tens of nanometers of TiO(2) overlay thickness allow to obtain cladding mode transition effect, and thus significant improvement of RI sensitivity. When the TiO(2) overlay thickness reaches 70 nm, it is possible to obtain RI sensitivity exceeding 6200 nm/RIU in RI range where label-free sensors operate. Moreover, LPGs with TiO(2)-enhanced RI sensitivity have shown improved sensitivity to bacteria endotoxin (E. coli B lipopolysaccharide) detection, when TiO(2) surface is functionalized with endotoxin binding protein (adhesin) of T4 bacteriophage.

The influence of growth temperature and precursors' doses on electrical parameters of ZnO thin films grown by atomic layer deposition technique

In this paper we report on the low-temperature growth (Ts=30-250^oC) of zinc oxide thin films by atomic layer deposition method using two different organic zinc precursors: diethylzinc and (for comparison) dimethylzinc, and deionized water as an oxygen precursor. An evident influence of growth temperature and precursors" doses on electron concentration and Hall mobility of obtained zinc oxide layers is presented. The lowest achieved room-temperature electron concentration was at the level of 10^1^6cm^-^3 with mobility up to 110cm^2/Vs.

Excitation and recombination processes during electroluminescence of rare earth-activated materials

Abstract Electroluminescence phenomena in rare earth doped materials are reviewed. The main emphasis is in the basic physics of EL processes, viz. direct and indirect excitation and nonradiative and radiative recombination of rare earth ions. The device structures, the recent material development, and the present state of art in AC operated thin fdm EL devices have been reviewed as well.