Rupali Kulkarni

Low substrate temperature deposition of transparent and conducting ZnO:Al thin films by RF magnetron sputtering

Transparent and conducting Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films were prepared on glass substrate using the RF sputtering method at different substrate temperatures from room temperature (RT) to 200℃. The structural, morphological, electrical and optical properties of these films were investigated using a variety of characterization techniques such as low angle XRD, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Hall measurement and UV-visible spectroscopy. The electrical properties showed that films deposited at RT have the lowest resistivity and it increases with an increase in the substrate temperature whereas carrier mobility and concentration decrease with an increase in substrate temperature. Low angle XRD and Raman spectroscopy analysis reavealed that films are highly crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and a preferred orientation along the c-axis. The FE-SEM analysis showed that the surface morphology of films is strongly dependent on the substrate temperature. The band gap decreases from 3.36 to 3.29 eV as the substrate temperature is increased from RT to 200℃. The fundamental absorption edge in the UV region shifts towards a longer wavelength with an increase in substrate temperature and be attributed to the Burstein-Moss shift. The synthesized films showed an average transmission (>85%) in the visible region, which signifies that synthesized ZnO:Al films can be suitable for display devices and solar cells as transparent electrodes.

Substrate temperature dependent studies on properties of chemical spray pyrolysis deposited CdS thin films for solar cell applications

Thin films of CdS have been prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis by spraying precursor solution directly onto soda lime glass (SLG) substrates. Influence of substrate temperature on structural, optical, morphological and electrical properties have been investigated by using various techniques such as low angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–visible spectroscopy photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy etc. Formation of CdS has been confirmed by low angle XRD, Raman spectroscopy and XPS analysis. XRD pattern showed that CdS films are polycrystalline, have hexagonal structure and prefer orientation of crystallites shifts from (101) to (002) with increase in substrate temperature. Raman spectroscopy revealed that exciton-phonon coupling depends on substrate temperature and hence on crystallite size. Optical band gap increased from 2.43 to 2.99 eV when substrate temperature increased from 325 to . Transmittance of the film also showed an increasing trend from to with increase in substrate temperature. Such high band gap and transmittance values of CdS films prepared at make it a useful window material in CdS/CdTe and CdS/Cu2S heterojunction solar cells.

Synthesis of nanocrystalline silicon carbide thin films by HW-CVD using ethane carbon precursor for photo detector application

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon carbide (nc-SiC:H) films were prepared by hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HW-CVD) method using ethane (C2H6) as a carbon precursor. The influence of deposition pressure on structural and optical properties was investigated. The formation of nc-SiC:H films was confirmed by low angle x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. An inverse relation between deposition pressure and deposition rate was observed. Optical band gap values, ETauc and E04 increases with increase in deposition pressure. In fact, optical band gap values estimated from E04 method was found higher than the ETauc values calculated from Taucs plot. Finally, at optimized deposition pressure (450 mTorr), a photo detector having configuration glass/nc-SiC:H/Al have been fabricated and its photo response was studied. Further study is required to improve the quality of nc-SiC:H films to make use in photo detectors.