Xing-Min Cai

The high performance of a thin film thermoelectric generator with heat flow running parallel to film surface

In conventional thin film thermoelectric generators, heat flow running vertical to film surface is used. The hot side and the cold side are just separated by the thickness of the films and to maintain the temperature difference between both sides remains a key challenge. Here, we demonstrate the properties of our designed thin film thermoelectric generators with heat flow running parallel to film surface, where a larger temperature difference between both sides is maintained. The maximum output power of our generator can reach 19.13 μW at the temperature difference of 85 K.

The n-type conduction of indium-doped Cu2O thin films fabricated by direct current magnetron co-sputtering

Indium-doped Cu2O thin films were fabricated on K9 glass substrates by direct current magnetron co-sputtering in an atmosphere of Ar and O2. Metallic copper and indium disks were used as the targets. X-ray diffraction showed that the diffraction peaks could only be indexed to simple cubic Cu2O, with no other phases detected. Indium atoms exist as In3+ in Cu2O. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy showed that the transmittance of the samples was relatively high and that indium doping increased the optical band gaps. The Hall effect measurement showed that the samples were n-type semiconductors at room temperature. The Seebeck effect test showed that the films were n-type semiconductors near or over room temperature (<400 K), changing to p-type at relatively high temperatures. The conduction by the samples in the temperature range of the n-type was due to thermal band conduction and the donor energy level was estimated to be 620.2–713.8 meV below the conduction band. The theoretical calculation showed that indi...

Influence of plasma treatment on laser-induced damage characters of HfO 2 thin films at 355nm

HfO(2) thin films were deposited by e-beam evaporation, and were post-treated with plasma under different flow rate ratios of argon to oxygen. By measuring the surface defect density, weak absorption, laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) and damage morphology, the influence of the flow rate ratio of argon to oxygen on the laser-induced damage characters of HfO(2) thin films were analyzed. The experimental results show that plasma treatment is effective in reducing the surface defect density of thin films. Compared with the as-grown sample, the absorption reduction is obvious after plasma treatment when argon and oxygen flow rate ratio is 5:25, but the absorption increases gradually with the continued increase of argon and oxygen flow rate ratio. LIDT measurements in 1-on-1 mode demonstrate that plasma treatment is not effective in improving LIDT of the samples at 355 nm. Damage morphologies reveal that the LIDT is dominated by nanoscale absorbing defects in subsurface layers, which agrees well with our numerical simulation result based on a spherical absorber model.

Dual-Band Unidirectional Emission in a Multilayered Metal–Dielectric Nanoantenna

Controlling the emission efficiency, direction, and polarization of optical sources with nanoantennas is of crucial importance in many nanophotonic applications. In this article, we design a subwavelength multilayer metal–dielectric nanoantenna consisting of three identical gold strips that are separated by two dielectric spacers. It is shown that a local dipole source can efficiently excite several hybridized plasmonic modes in the nanoantenna, including one electric dipole (ED) and two magnetic dipole (MD) resonances. The coherent interplay between the ED and MDs leads to unidirectional emissions in opposite directions at different wavelengths. The relative phase difference between these resonant modes determines the exact emission direction. Additionally, with a proper spacer thickness and filling medium, it is possible to control the spectral positions of the forward and backward unidirectional emissions and to exchange the wavelengths for two unidirectional emissions. An analytical dipole model is established, which yields comparable results to those from the full-wave simulation. Furthermore, we show that the wavelength of the peak forward-to-backward unidirectionality is essentially determined by the MD and is approximately predictable by the plasmonic wave dispersion in the corresponding two-dimensional multilayer structure. Our results may be useful to design dual-band unidirectional optical nanoantennas.

Comparison of ion post treatment and laser conditioning of thin films

Laser-induced damage of optical thin films is one of the main obstacles, which prevents laser technology from being developed toward high power. Many experimental results indicated that microdefect and absorption of films are the two major factors that influence laser induced damage threshold (LIDT). To reduce microdefect density and absorption, and improve LIDT of thin films, researchers have developed not only novel film deposition techniques, but also novel film post-treatment techniques. Though film deposition techniques have been highly developed, microdefect still remains to be the main limited factor of LIDT. Because of this, posttreatment techniques as a novel way to reduce defect density and improve LIDT has (been) attracted much attentions. One of the most frequently used posttreatment methods is laser conditioning and another is ion posttreatment. By comparing the treatment mechanism of two posttreatment techniques, it is easy to find their similarities and differences. Though laser conditioning is a classical posttreatment technique, its shortages such as low efficiency, rigorous requirement of equipment stability, and uncertain treatment results are inevitable. As a novel technique, ion posttreatment has great potential to improve LIDT of thin films. This technique not only has high treatment efficiency, but also has convenience and easily adjusted parameters. So it should be a promising posttreatment technique in improving LIDT of optical thin films.

Laser-induced Damage of 355 nm High-reflective Mirror Caused by Nanoscale Defect

Al2O3/SiO2 multilayer high-reflective (HR) mirrors at 355 nm were prepared by electron beam evaporation, and post-irradiated with Ar/O mixture plasma. The surface defect density, reflective spectra, and laser-induced damage characteristics were measured using optical microscopy, spectrophotometry, a damage testing system, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The results indicated that moderate-time of irradiation enhanced the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the mirror, but prolonged irradiation produced surface defects, resulting in LIDT degradation. LIDT of the mirrors initially increased and subsequently decreased with the plasma processing time. SEM damage morphologies of the mirrors revealed that nanoscale absorbing defects in sub-layers was one of the key factors limiting the improvement of LIDT in 355 nm HR mirror.

Matching characteristics of different buffer layers with VO2 thin films

VO2 thin films were fabricated by reactive DC magnetron sputtering on different buffer layers of MgF2, Al2O3 and TiO2, respectively. The crystallinity and orientation relationship, thickness of VO2 thin films, atoms vibrational modes, optical and electrical property, surface morphology of films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering microscopy, step profiler, spectrophotometer, four-probe technique, and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. XRD results investigated that the films have preferential crystalline planes VO2 (011). The crystallinity of VO2 films grown on TiO2 buffer layers are superior to VO2 directly deposited on soda-lime glass. The Raman bands of the VO2 films correspond to an Ag symmetry mode of VO2 (M). The sample prepared on 100nm TiO2 buffer layer appears nanorods structure, and exhibits remarkable solar energy modulation ability as high as 5.82% in full spectrum and 23% in near infrared spectrum. Cross-sectional SEM image of the thin films samples indicate that MgF2 buffer layer has clear interface with VO2 layer. But there are serious interdiffusion phenomenons between Al2O3, TiO2 buffer layer with VO2 layer.

Dependence of annealing temperature on microstructure and photoelectrical properties of vanadium oxide thin films prepared by DC reactive sputtering

Vanadium oxide thin films were prepared by DC reactive sputtering method, and the samples were annealed in Ar atmosphere under different temperature for 2 hours. The microstructure, optical and electrical properties of the as-grown and treated samples were characterized by XRD, spectrophotometer, and four-probe technique, respectively. XRD results investigated that the main content of the annealed sample are VO2 and V2O5. With annealing temperature increasing, the intensity of the VO2 phase diffraction peak strengthened. The electrical properties reveal that the annealed samples exhibit semiconductor-to-metal transition characteristic at about 40°C. Comparison of transmission spectra of the samples at room temperature and 100°C, a drastic drop in IR region is found.

Effect of the deposition processes on the micro-defects and laser-induced damage threshold of thin films

Micro-defect is one of key limiting factors in the improvement of the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of thin films. In the present paper, thin films were prepared using the electron-beam evaporation technique with different coating materials and pre-melting processes. The relationships of thin film LIDT with impurity element content and with pre-melting processes were investigated. The experiment results indicate that a number of impurity elements play an important role in the LIDT of the samples. An efficient pre-melting process is necessary to maintain deposition stability, which could also reduce micro-defect density in thin films.

Minimal continuous thickness and microstructure of Mo thin films

The minimal continuous thickness of Mo film was obtained. Microstructure analysis shows the characteristics peak increases sharply and RMS surface roughness reaches its maximum when thickness approaches the minimal continuous thickness. RMS then decreases rapidly.