Ruikun Pan

Large rectifying leakage current in Pt/BaTiO3/Nb:SrTiO3/Pt structure

20-nm-thickness epitaxial BaTiO3 (BTO) thin films were prepared on the Nb-doped SrTiO3 single-crystal substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technology. The rectifying characteristic current-voltage curves were observed and was discussed using the Schottky barrier model taking into account the movement of oxygen vacancies. The leakage current mechanisms were interpreted by the Schottky emission and Poole-Frenkel emission near the Pt/BTO interface at lower bias and higher bias, respectively.

Microstructure and Optical Properties of Ba0.65Sr0.35TiO3 Thin Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Ba0.65Sr0.35TiO3 thin films have been prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. The crystallization and microstructure of the films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scan electronic microstructure (SEM) and atom force microstructure (AFM). As-deposited thin films were found to be amorphous. The more intense characteristic diffraction peaks and improved crystallization can be observed in (Ba,Sr)TiO3 (BST) thin films deposited at high temperatures and annealed at higher than 650°C. Optical constants were determined from transmittance spectra by using the envelope method. The refractive index increased from 1.778 to 1.961 as the substrate temperature increased from 560 to 650°C. Both the refractive index and extinction coefficient increased with annealing temperature. The refractive index and extinction coefficient increased when the oxygen-to-argon ratio increased from 1:4 to 1:1. The dispersion of relation of the extinction coefficient vs wavelength was also investigated. The optical band gap of BST thin films was found to be about 3.56 eV, which decreased apparently with increasing annealing temperature.

Composite semiconductor quantum dots CdSe/CdS Co-sensitized TiO2 nanorod array solar cells

CdSe/CdS semiconductor quantum dots co-sensitized TiO2 nanorod array was fabricated on the transparent conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate using the hydrothermal and successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) process. The structural and morphological properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that CdSe/CdS QDs are uniformly coated on the surface of the TiO2 nanorods. The shift of light absorption edge was monitored by taking UV-visible absorption spectra. Compared with the absorption spectra of the TiO2 nanorod array, deposition of CdSe/CdS QDs shifts the absorption edge to the higher wavelength. The enhanced light absorption in the visible-light region of CdSe/CdS/TiO2 nanorod array indicates that CdSe/CdS layers can act as co-sensitizers in quantum dots sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). By optimizing the CdSe layer deposition cycles, a photocurrent of 5.78 mA/cm2, an open circuit photovoltage of 0.469 V and a conversion efficiency of 1.34 % were obtained under an illumination of 100 mw/cm2.

Tunneling electroresistance effect in Pt/MgO/Pt/PbTiO3/Pt ferroelectric tunnel junctions

Tunneling electroresistance (TER) effect was investigated in Pt/MgO/Pt/PbTiO3/Pt ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) theoretically. Compared to Pt/MgO/PbTiO3/Pt FTJs with the same composite barrier thickness (unit cells), FTJs with a thicker Pt interlayer (2 ∼ 3 unit cells) could provide 1 ∼ 6 orders of magnitude improvement in the TER ratio in a wide range of polarization. Resonant tunneling effect and/or enhanced asymmetry of the potential energy profile induced by the resonant-tunneling structure of MgO/Pt/PbTiO3 in Pt/MgO/Pt/PbTiO3/Pt FTJs is responsible for the TER improvement.

Microstructure and photoluminescence properties of Nd-doped (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films

Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3(BST) thin films with different Nd-doped concentrations have been frabracated on silicon substrates by modified Sol-gel process. All the samples were annealed at 700°C for 60 min.The structural and morphological properties of the films were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The XRD studies indicated that both pure and doped BST thin films show crystallized perovskite structures, the particle size is about 20 nm. The AFM images displayed that the films have high quality and finegrained polycrystalline structure. The photoluminescence spectra(PL) were carried out using the 808 nm Ar+ laser line as the excitation source at room temperature. The Nd-doped BST thin films show three NIR luminescence peaks corresponding to 4F3/2-4I9/2 transition at 880 nm; 4F3/2-4I11/2 transition at 1066 nm and 4F3/2-4I13/2 transition at 1345 nm; respectively. The influence of Nd3+ concentration on the microstructure and the luminescence properties were discussed. All the results showed that the Nd-doped BST films have great potential uses for novel integrated optic devices.

Influences of deposition parameters on microstructure and dielectric properties of BST thin film deposited by R.F. magnetron sputtering

Down graded barium strontium tianate(BST) thin films were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrate by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The BST thin films were deposited at various substrate temperatures, then annealed at 700 °C for an hour. The influences of the deposition parameters on the crystallization behavior, microstructure and dielectric properties of BST thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and dielectric frequency spectra. XRD results indicate that the BST thin films deposited at higher temperature have improved crystallization structure.The SEM observations show that the surface of the films is smooth with homogeneous grains.The dielectric properties of the films have been examined and discussed. The experiments show that BST thin films deposited at 650oc, 3.0Pa working pressure exhibits superior dielectric properties: the highest dielectric constant is 448 and lowest dielectric loss is 0.013 at 100 kHz, respectively. These results make BST thin films be a promising candidate for microelectronic device application.

Effects of Calcining and Sintering Temperatures on the Pyroelectric Properties of Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 Ceramics

Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 ceramics were prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method. The effects of different calcining and sintering temperatures on pyroelectric properties of the ceramics were investigated. The TG-DTG test was used to determine the calcining temperature. The XRD results showed that all samples were perfect perovskite structure. SEM results exhibited a homogeneous grain dimensions distribution and dense microsructure in the samples prepared for optimum process condition. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 ceramics are 1681 and 0.0067 at 100 kHz in room temperature, respectively. The pyroelectric coefficient is 4542 μC·m−2·K−1. The mean detection rate (FD) reached 1.42 × 10−4 m3/2·J−1·F−1/2.