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We investigated the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) sequence effect on the electrical, optical, morphological, and structural properties of transparent thin film transistors (TTFTs) with an indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) channel and an indium tin oxide (ITO) source/drain. The electrical and optical properties of the IGZO channel and the ITO source/drain electrodes were compared as a function of RTA temperature in ambient air. The performance of a TTFT with only an RTA-processed IGZO channel was compared with that of a TTFT with an RTA-processed IGZO channel and ITO source/drain electrodes. Using the circular transmission line measurement (CTLM) method, we suggest a possible mechanism that explains the effect of the RTA process on the performance of the TTFT with only an annealed IGZO channel vs. that with an annealed IGZO/ITO multilayer. The TTFT with an RTA-processed IGZO/ITO multilayer showed a threshold voltage shift, an improved on/off ratio of 3.54 × 1011, a subthreshold swing of 0.33 V/decade, and a high mobility of 8.69 cm2/V·s. This indicates that simultaneous RTA processing for an IGZO channel and an ITO electrode is beneficial for the fabrication of high-performance TTFTs.

In this work, a novel molecular-solution printing approach combined with a rapid thermal annealing process for the facile fabrication of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film is reported. The intrinsic relationship between annealing parameters (temperature and time) and the properties of the fabricated samples was investigated systematically. Furthermore, the mechanism behind this CZTS formation approach was studied in detail. The results show that the best properties were obtained for the sample annealed at 600 °C for 45 min, which displayed a pure kesterite CZTS phase, acceptable morphology consisting of 1.0–1.5 μm size nanoparticles, a satisfactory Cu-poor and Zn-rich composition, and an ideal bandgap of ~1.42 eV. Thus, the prepared sample is a promising candidate for the fabrication of high-performance photovoltaic devices.

The feasibility of making Schottky barriers from Bi-nSi diode has been demonstrated. The barrier height (OBn) of the Schottky contact was estimated via four creditable methods: I-V in the dark, I-V under illumination, C-V, and Fowler plot method. Such a study has been done for the first time. Barrier height ranged from 0.74 to 0.78 eV was obtained which is in disagreement with simple theory of Schottky. Rapid thermal annealing under optimum conditions leads to a decrease in the OBn which is in good agreement with the expectations. Results of ideality factor for Bi-nSi revealed that the thermionic emission current is not dominant through this junction.

International audience; P-doped 6H-SiC substrates were implanted with Fe ions. During implantation the samples were maintained at 550 °C with energies ranging from 30 to 160 keV in order to produce a diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) with a 2% Fe homogeneous concentration to a depth of about 100 nm thickness. The effects of rapid thermal annealing on the microstructure were examined by atom probe tomography (APT). The study shows evidence of the formation of Fe rich nanoclusters after annealing which contain core magnetic phases that contribute to the magnetic properties.

A new activation annealing technology that can efficiently and uniformly heat the ion implanted transparent GaN substrates was developed. Annealing temperature was reduced by 80–50 °C using the GaN substrates coated with the carbon film on the backside. The performance of ion implanted GaN MISFETs using the newly developed low temperature annealing method were also demonstrated.

Cr C, Cr Ni C and Cr Fe Ni C deposits were successfully prepared from Cr3+-based plating baths with suitable amounts of complex agents and metal salts. The Cr-based alloy deposits could be hardened after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 500 °C for a few seconds. The highest hardness of 1800 Hv could be detected from the Cr C deposit after RTA at 500 °C for 15 s. The hardening mechanism of annealed Cr-based alloy deposits is attributed to the precipitation of crystalline diamond-like phases. The diamond-like phase in a membrane shape was observed in the annealed-hardened Cr C alloy deposits, while nano-sized membranes and particles were found in annealed-hardened Cr Ni C and Cr Ni Fe C deposits, respectively.

The effects of different rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and microwave annealing (MWA) on the electrical behaviors of ZrO2 metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors were studied in detail. The maximum capacitance density was achieved at 1400 W for MWA, i.e. ∼29.29 fF/μm2 increased by ∼40% compared with that of the un-annealed capacitors. For the capacitors under RTA at 370 °C, equivalent to the ambient of the MWA at 1400 W, the capacitance density is ∼28.04 fF/μm2. Moreover, the leakage current density of ZrO2 MIM capacitors for MWA at 1400 W and RTA at 370 °C are determined to be about 3.55 × 10−7 A/cm2 and 1.88 × 10-6 A/cm2 at the applied voltage of -1.5 V, respectively. Finally, the possible mechanisms of the improved electrical properties of ZrO2 MIM capacitors through MWA were proposed.

Bandgap grading is often employed in thin film solar cell absorbers for creating the back surface field that can reduce interface recombination at the back contact. Here, we investigate different pathways to obtain back graded Cu2Zn(Sn1-x,Gex)Se4 thin film solar cells based on a co-sputtered metal precursor and rapid thermal annealing route. The absorber bandgap can be precisely tuned for the whole compositional range of x = 0…1. While Ge does not accumulate towards the back in absorbers fabricated from uniform precursor, Ge-back graded absorbers can be obtained from stacked metal precursors. A linear back grading with a bandgap energy difference of up to 40 meV has been achieved. However, no significant improvement in open-circuit voltage and near-infrared response could be observed for the kesterite devices. This indicates that even steeper gradients are required to obtain an effective back surface field.

In this research, comparative optical annealing effects on Al-doped ZnO multilayer thin films were analyzed. Both a CO2 laser and the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process were carried out and compared to test their annealing effects. The uniformly distributed long wavelength of a CO2 laser can penetrate into deeper areas from the surface of a thin film compared to that of a short wavelength of lasers such as UV and IR lasers. 4 different types of Al-doped ZnO thin films showed different stress/strain behaviors. In this research, different compositions of Al-doped ZnO thin films were prepared and annealed through both an optical annealing method using a laser and the RTA process.

In this work, we evaluate the effect of the novel symmetric multicycle rapid thermal annealing (SMRTA) process on both Mg ion implanted and non-implanted thick unintentionally doped GaN drift layers for vertical power devices. The typical p-type behavior and restoration of implant damage are observed in implanted samples, but on non-implanted samples a reduction in background carrier concentration and associated reduction in leakage current and increase in breakdown voltage is observed. This indicates that the capping/annealing process itself is not detrimental to the crystal, and the annihilation of native point defects in the process has beneficial effects for device structures.

Sb2Se3 is one of the alternative absorber materials for thin-film solar cells (TFSCs) comprising non-toxic and low-cost elements. The duration of pre-annealing at 100 °C prior to rapid thermal annealing (RTA) influenced the final morphology, crystallinity, and preferred orientation of thermally evaporated Sb2Se3. Pre-annealing for 40 min promoted the crystallization of pure Sb2Se3 phase following RTA; however, a long pre-annealing time such as 100 min rendered morphology similar to that of the reference absorber that was not pre-annealed, as ascertained by detailed scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopic analyses. Furthermore, Sb2Se3/CdS TFSCs were fabricated with Sb2Se3 pre-annealed for various durations. The highest efficiency of 1.47% was achieved for the optimized 40-min pre-annealed absorber, enabling a smooth current flow. Our results emphasize the detailed optimization of pre-annealing time for achieving efficient TFSCs.

We studied how rapid thermal annealing (RTA) affects bulk micro-defects (BMDs) and plastic deformation in Si wafers processed at high temperatures. BMDs caused by oxygen precipitation at 1200 °C were investigated in Si wafers as a function of annealing time with and without RTA and pre-annealing. Only the pre-annealed RTA wafer revealed an average BMD size of ~50 nm after annealing at 800 °C for 2 h and subsequently at 1000 °C for 4 h, and such wafers retained BMDs after annealing at 1200 °C for 500 min. The relationship between BMDs and plastic deformation was investigated for Si wafers subjected to RTA at various temperatures. Dislocations were generated and propagated after the simulated CMOS heat treatment as RTA temperature increased because of the low dislocation pinning effect produced by the reduction in residual oxygen while precipitated oxygen concentration increased. Incident angle deviation in the rocking curve indicated a high degree of plastic deformation caused by high RTA temperature after performing a realistic device fabrication process. We propose that a combination of RTA and a pre-annealing process can improve the internal gettering efficiency during high temperature processing, which controls BMDs. This would balance the residual oxygen and preventing plastic deformation.

In this paper, samples were prepared by co-implanting Dy and carbon ions into c-plane (0001) GaN films and a subsequent rapid thermal annealing at 800 °C. The room temperature magnetic properties of Dy and C co-implanted GaN samples were investigated by experiments and theoretical calculations. Dy and C co-implanted GaN samples had the larger room temperature magnetic moment than that of the Dy-implanted GaN. The calculated results showed that the spin polarization of C-2p electrons leads to the local magnetic moment due to the hybridization between Dy-4f electron states and C-2p electron, which explains the enhancement of magnetic moment in co-implanted GaN samples. Our results suggest that co-implantation is a potential approach to enhance the room temperature ferromagnetism.

We have demonstrated the co-existence of reliable analog and digital switching characteristics with tantalum oxide based memristor by appropriate rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The device without RTA exhibits a digital SET and multilevel RESET for positive and negative sweeps, respectively. On the other hands, the device shows only analog switching characteristics such that current level increases and decreases gradually for successive positive and negative voltage sweeps, respectively, before any electroforming process with the RTA in the nitrogen ambient at the crystalline temperature of tantalum oxide which is 700 °C for 60 s. Once electroforming process is done, the device exhibits a reliable digital switching with SET at positive sweep and RESET at negative sweep voltages. In the analog state of the device we successfully emulate the synaptic characteristic of the device like spike-rate dependent plasticity (SRDP), pulse-paired facilitation (PPF) and post-tetanic potentiation (PTP). Finally, the Hermann Ebbinghaus forgetting curve is obtained from these devices. The conversion of the device from the digital SET and multilevel RESET to analogue switching is attributed to structural transition of amorphous tantalum oxide to polycrystalline tantalum oxide, different defect density and interface variation in the device.

FeNi films were directly deposited on MgO(001) substrates by co-sputtering and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The formation of the L10 phase was investigated for films with different thicknesses and different annealing conditions by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. For the FeNi films with a thickness of 5 nm, superlattice 001 and 110 peaks were observed after annealing at a heating rate of 50 °C/s, which indicates that three variants of L10 grains were formed in the films. The maximum long-range order parameter, which corresponded to a volume-averaged parameter, was approximately 0.11. For the FeNi films with a thickness of 30 nm, a superlattice 110 peak was only observed after annealing at a heating rate of 50 °C/s, and the formation of 001 textured grains was clarified. Magnetic properties also changed depending on the FeNi film structures. The formation mechanism of L10-FeNi is discussed based on the strain caused by RTA in the FeNi films.

We investigated a rapid thermal annealing process for the preparation of carbon nanotube based electrocatalysts. The non-nitrogen doped defective carbon catalysts generated using the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process performed for 32 s until 900 °C showed the best oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in 0.1 M HClO4 with onset potential reaching as high as 0.77 V vs. RHE. The RTA process was also found to be advantageous in the ORR activation of defective MWCNT (DMWNT), because the DMWNTs annealed for a shorter time showed better ORR activity and higher defect content. In addition, the importance of a defective structure and the active site obtained through the formation of topological defects during the removal of CO desorbing O-functionalities was further demonstrated by the perfect recovery of ORR activity and current density after degradation test.

The effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical properties of GaNAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) are studied by photoluminescence (PL) at 77 K. The results show that the optical quality of the MQWs improves significantly after RTA. With increasing RTA temperature, PL peak energy of the MQWs redshifts below 1023 K, while it blueshifts above 1023 K. Two competitive processes which occur simultaneously during RTA result in redshift at low temperature and blueshift at high temperature. It is also found that PL peak energy shift can be explained neither by nitrogen diffusion out of quantum wells nor by nitrogen reorganization inside quantum wells. PL peak energy shift can be quantitatively explained by a modified recombination coupling model in which redshift nonradiative recombination and blueshift nonradiative recombination coexist. The results obtained have significant implication on the growth and RTA of GaNAs material for high performance optoelectronic device application.

Passivation layer influenced structural and electrical properties of Ge MOS devices have been reported. Nitride layer was deposited on Ge substrate with rapid thermal annealing before HfO2 deposition. XRD spectra revealed that there was no difractional peak related to HfO2 on Ge substrate after annealing. HREM images showed that there was clear interface at annealed HfO2/Ge stacks. C-V plots revealed that, intentionally formed interfacial nitride layer showed significant improvement in the interface quality between HfO2 and Ge. I-V characteristics showed that Ge devices showed about one order lower leakage current densities than Si devices. All of these observations might be due to the process of surface passivation on Ge substrate.

TiO2/p-Si paste heterojunction structure, which showed photovoltaic characteristics, was successfully fabricated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). To reduce the oxidation of Si paste during the RTA, Ti was sputtered on the p-type Si paste. It was found that the RTA condition of 1200 °C/2 s enabled the Si paste to achieve the lowest oxidation and the best crystallization conditions, as well as the transformation of the Ti layer into the rutile TiO2 phase. It was observed that some molten Si grain lumps appeared on the surface of the sample annealed at 1200 °C for 2 s. This phenomenon was due to the melting process of the surface Si particles promoted by the Ti layer. Typical rectifying characteristics and photocurrent density of 36 μA/cm2 under AM1.5 were observed with the TiO2/p-Si paste heterojunction device annealed at 1200 °C for 2 s. This study shows an application potential of Si paste films for such devices as future solar cell.

Epitaxial thin ZnO films grown by Atomic Layer Deposition were implanted with 150 keV Pr ions to a fluence of 1 × 10 15 at/cm 2 . Implanted samples were subjected to two different kinds of annealing: rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and millisecond-range flash lamp annealing (FLA). Structural properties of implanted and annealed ZnO and the optical response were evaluated by the Channeling Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS/c), High-resolution X-ray diffraction and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy (PL), respectively. The results shown, that both annealing techniques lead to recrystallization of the ZnO lattice, that was damaged during the ion implantation. Upon RTA performed at 800 °C a return of Zn atoms from interstitial to their regular site positions is accompanied by rejection of primarily substitutional Pr atoms to the interstitial sites. Consequently, it leads to the out-diffusion and precipitation of Pr atoms on the surface. In contrast to RTA, the diffusion of implanted Pr during a millisecond range FLA treatment is completely suppressed. Despite differences in location of Pr inside the ZnO matrix after FLA and RTA, both annealing techniques lead to the optical activation of Pr 3 + . Interestingly, our RBS/c study for as implanted layers also revealed the anomalous damage peak, called intermediate peak (IP) located between the expected surface and the bulk damage peak. The PL spectra clearly suggest, that the defect which forms the IP, can be assigned to Zn interstitials. The long-time annealing at 800 °C in oxygen atmosphere causes the complete removal of the IP.

A novel approach based on rapid thermal annealing and advanced electron microscopy is used to elucidate the differences in early stages of high-temperature oxidation of Ni- and Co-base superalloys at 900 °C. STEM-EDX results obtained for two model superalloys with exactly the same alloying additions demonstrate the individual role of the γ and γ’ phase during initial oxidation. Observed differences in Al2O3 formation can be directly correlated to changes in the partitioning behavior and the type of defects introduced during oxidation, depending on the base element. Explanations for the worse oxidation resistance of γ’-strengthened Co-base superalloys are proposed.

This paper presents intentional doping of n - and p -type GaAs 0.19 P 0.76 N 0.05 alloys by molecular beam epitaxy, followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Sulfur and magnesium were respectively used as n - and p -type dopants. The carrier concentrations were controllable between 10 17 and 10 19 cm −3 by adjusting the dopant cell temperature. It was revealed that Hall mobility of the n -type GaAsPN alloys was increased by the RTA process compared to as-grown ones, whereas no significant difference was apparent in the p -type alloys. It is believed that improvement of the conduction band spatial uniformity was mainly responsible for the Hall mobility increase of the n -type GaAsPN alloys by RTA. Finally, a p-i-n GaAsPN diode structure was grown on n -type GaP substrates. A current-voltage characteristic showed a typical rectifying curve with a built-in voltage of 1.8 V and an ideality factor of 1.45. The reverse saturation current was estimated to be less than 10 nA/cm 2 .

The transformation of cupric oxide (CuO) into cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin films by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatments is studied. The CuO films were obtained by dip-coating from a precursor solution containing copper (II) acetate. The films are formed of ten coats, where each one was deposited with a withdrawal speed of 8 cm/min and dried in air at 250 °C for 5 min; after that, the films were sintered in air at 250 °C for 1 h. Under these conditions an average thickness of 240 nm is obtained. The RTA treatments on the CuO films were performed for 10 s with a heating ramp of 5 °C/s in vacuum at temperatures (TA) in the 325–450 °C range with steps of 25 °C. As revealed by X-ray diffraction data, the composition of the polycrystalline films depends upon the applied TA: i) CuO+Cu2O for TA

The electrical properties of Cu-germanide(Cu 3 Ge)/n-type Ge Schottky contacts formed as a result of a solid state reaction between Cu and n-type Ge were investigated as a function of the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) temperature and correlated with its microstructural evolution driven by the RTA process. The variations of the barrier height of Cu 3 Ge/n-type Ge Schottky rectifiers caused by the RTA process were determined using current-voltage ( I - V ) and capacitance-voltage ( C - V ) methods. The Cu 3 Ge film formed after annealing at 400 °C exhibited a relatively uniform surface and interface morphology. This led to the formation of a laterally homogenous Schottky barrier in the Cu 3 Ge/n-type Ge Schottky diode, resulting in an improvement of its rectifying I - V behavior. On the other hand, after annealing above 500 °C, the Cu 3 Ge film was severely agglomerated without film continuity and eventually evolved into isolated islands at 600 °C. Such structural degradation of Cu 3 Ge led to a rapid decrease in the barrier height and an increase in the reverse leakage current of the Cu 3 Ge/n-type Ge Schottky diode. The electric field dependence of the reverse current showed that the reverse leakage current in the Cu 3 Ge/n-type Ge Schottky diodes was dominated by a Poole-Frenkel emission mechanism, regardless of the RTA temperatures.

In the copper-antimony-sulfide (Cu-Sb-S) system, four major phases (CuSbS 2 , Cu 3 SbS 3 , Cu 3 SbS 4 , Cu 12 Sb 4 S 13 ) exist and are known to have good potentials as absorbers. To form thin films of Cu-Sb-S using a non-vacuum hybrid ink, Cu and Sb precursors were coated and sulfurized with a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. According to the ratio of Cu and Sb (Cu/Sb), different Cu-Sb-S thin films (CuSbS 2 vs. Cu 3 SbS 3 , Cu 3 SbS 4 , Cu 12 Sb 4 S 13 ) were easily obtained and confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). However, although the Cu/Sb ratio of the hybrid ink was the same, different phases (Cu 3 SbS 3 , Cu 3 SbS 4 , Cu 12 Sb 4 S 13 ) were observed depending on the reaction temperature, time, and pressure. It was shown that the reaction temperature, time, and pressure were also important factors for obtaining thin films. The sulfurized conditions to achieve thin films with a target phase were compared against different Cu/Sb ratios, reaction temperatures, reaction times, and chamber pressures.

A Ti-doped Y2O3(Y2Ti2O5) dielectric on polycrystalline silicon followed by rapid thermal annealing results in improved characteristics including a higher effective dielectric constant, higher breakdown electric field, lower electron trapping rate, and larger charge-to-breakdown when compared with Y2O3. The performance of high-k Y2O3 and Y2Ti2O5 dielectrics were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), capacitance-voltage, and current density-voltage. Incorporating Ti into the Y2O3 dielectric imparts improvements in the structural and electrical performance of the material. The Y2Ti2O5 dielectric with 800 °C annealing treatment has the best performance among all the samples tested.

Using ZnO as a model system, the densification mechanisms of flash sintering are investigated. Controlled experiments via limiting the maximum current or the effective ramp rate suggest that both the maximum specimen temperature and the high heating rate (on the order of 200 °C/s) are essential for the rapid densification during the flash sintering. Moreover, benchmarking rapid thermal annealing (RTA) experiments, which were conducted to mimic the heating profiles in the flash sintering, achieved similar densification and grain growth rates with comparable heating profiles, attesting that the ultrafast densification is mainly enabled/determined by the T ( t ) profile. The combination of these experiments suggest that, at least for ZnO, the rapid heating profile is a key factor for the observed rapid densification in flash sintering, while various electric field/current effects could also exist. A clear and consistent correlation between the grain sizes and relative densities is also evident for specimens made by both flash sintering and RTA with different conditions, suggesting the same conventional grain growth mechanism in both cases under the current experimental conditions.

A study of the polycrystalline silicon depletion effect generated from the subsequent thermal process is undertaken. Although phosphorus out-diffusion, which causes the polycrystalline silicon depletion effect, is increased with an increase in the thermal process temperature, the polysilicon depletion effect is stronger when inducing rapid thermal annealing in lower temperatures of 600–800 °C than in 900 °C. This indicates that the major reason for the polysilicon depletion effect is not the out-diffusion of phosphorus but the electrical deactivation of phosphorus, which is segregated at the grain boundary. Therefore, by increasing the size of polycrystalline silicon grain, we can efficiently reduce the polysilicon depletion effect and enhance the tolerance to deactivation.

Ge x Sn 1-x is one of the most promising materials in optoelectronics for its direct band-gap nature. In this paper, we report high-quality Ge and Sn thin films deposited on Si (001) substrates by magnetron sputtering. We found that the growth power and chamber pressure affect the quality of the Ge and Sn thin films significantly but in different ways. By optimizing the deposition conditions, high quality Ge and Sn films are achieved. A clear peak of Ge (004) phase in the x-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern which indicates a high-quality Ge lattice formed is observed, and post-treatment like rapid thermal annealing does not significantly affect the quality of the thin films.

In this work, we explored a novel technique for the formation of ultra-shallow p+/n and n+/p junctions on Ge substrate using the spin-on dopant (SOD) followed by laser annealing (LA). The junction depth and doping profiles were extracted and compared between Ge junctions activated by LA and by the conventional rapid thermal annealing (RTA). It is experimentally confirmed that the process of SOD followed by LA method outperformed that by RTA technique in terms of the ultra-shallow junction depth, higher surface doping concentration and steeper doping profiles. Therefore, the high performance Ge p+/n and n+/p junctions fabricated by SOD followed by LA method exhibit suppressed junction leakage current and raised on/off ratios, making this novel technique a promising way for source/drain formation in future technology nodes.

Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 (BNdT) films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates by a metal organic decomposition (MOD) method, and annealed by a rapid thermal annealing process in oxygen atmosphere and in air, respectively. The crystalline structures and morphologies of BNdT films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and the gas sensing properties were measured by monitoring its resistance at different gas concentrations. The results indicate that the BNdT films annealed in air are of porous microstructure and rough surface, and the annealing atmosphere has great influence on gas sensing properties. At an operating temperature of 100 °C, the BNdT films annealed in air are of high response value to 1×10−6 gaseous ethanol, and the detecting limit is as low as 0.1×10−6. The corresponding response and recovery time is about 10 and 6 s, respectively. The results can offer useful guidelines for fabricating high performance ethanol sensors.

Cd2SnO4/CdS/CdTe/CuxTe/Au structure solar cells were made in samples of 20 × 20 mm2. Multiple metallic back-contacts were deposited on each sample by thermal evaporation. A series of rapid thermal annealing treatments (RTA) were performed on the cells, controlling work pressure (Pw) and temperature (Ta), to activate the interface of CdTe-back contact. Several combinations of pressure (746 mbar ≤ Pw ≤ 1112 mbar) and temperature (180 °C ≤ Ta ≤ 260 °C) were studied. The best results were obtained for the lowest Pw, increasing the average efficiency from 6.9% to 9.8% as Ta increased. All photovoltaic parameters (VOC, JSC, FF, RS, and RSh) were enhanced with the RTA treatments along with the dispersion values. Once the thermal activation's optimal conditions were determined, the highest efficiency was 11.3% with an RTA single treatment. The improvement is attributed to the formation of Cu1·85Te phase. It is shown that this kind of thermal treatment on CuxTe/Au back-contact of the cells can be employed to obtain higher area solar cells.

We demonstrate 2.0–2.2 eV AlGaInP solar cells grown by molecular beam epitaxy and their performance improvement by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). As grown, these cells exhibit lower performance than their counterparts grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), indicating a high concentration of point defects. RTA improves all aspects of performance, enabling our 2.0 eV cells to match the efficiency of MOVPE-grown cells. RTA also improves the performance of wider-bandgap AlGaInP solar cells, but the magnitude of improvement decreases with %Al/bandgap energy.

This study demonstrates an easy, scalable way to fabricate stable plasmonic photocatalysts for gas-phase photocatalysis. Silver nanoparticles, coated with silica for improved stability, were fabricated via electron beam evaporation and rapid thermal annealing, modeled via finite difference time domain simulations, and characterized. Catalytic performance was evaluated by monitoring total volatile organic compound concentration from toluene degradation in a gas-phase recirculating batch reactor. Results of cycled experiments demonstrate 5-fold increase in apparent quantum yield and 18% increase in reaction rate constant over TiO2. This approach may enable plasmonic photocatalysis by offering a simple, scalable fabrication method more reliable than colloidal synthesis.

Strain technology has been widely employed to enhance the performance of MOSFETs. Recently, it has been desired that Sn as a stressor, is implanted into channel region in MOSFETs for compressive strain introduction since Sn can induce lager compressive strain than Ge. In this study, evaluation of strain in Si layers annealed with laser or rapid thermal annealing (RTA) after Ge and Sn ion implantation was carried out. As a result, a SiGeSn layer was formed only after the RTA for the Sn-implanted SiGe. Furthermore, it was confirmed the induced strain for the Sn-implanted SiGe after the RTA was more compressive than that for the Sn-implanted SiGe after the laser-annealing, resulting in the lower sheet resistance for the Sn-implanted SiGe after the RTA than that for the Sn-implanted SiGe after the laser-annealing.

In this paper, we present a novel method for graphene nanoribbons formation using nickel nanowires as templates. Modification of electrochemical procedure for nickel nanowires synthesis was introduced by implementing graphene quantum dots as a carbon source. Thus, nickel nanowires with graphene quantum dots were prepared. These wires were exposed to rapid thermal annealing at high temperatures (500 degrees C, 700 degrees C and 800 degrees C). During this process carbon atoms dissolve in metal and precipitate to the nickel surface forming nickel-carbon nanowires. Atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were characterization methods used for analysis of changes in nickel-carbon nanowires properties depending on the different annealing temperatures. After etching nickel with nitric acid, graphene nanoribbons with average diameters of 32 nm and average lengths of 4 mu m were obtained. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Time-resolved photoluminescence (TR-PL) spectroscopy has been used to study the impact of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical properties and carrier dynamics in Ga(NAsP) multiple quantum well heterostructures (MQWHs) grown on silicon substrates. TR-PL measurements reveal an enhancement in the PL efficiency when the RTA temperature is increased up to 925 °C. Then, the PL intensity dramatically decreases with the annealing temperature. This behavior is explained by the variation of the disorder degree in the studied structures. The analysis of the low-temperature emission-energy-dependent PL decay time enables us to characterize the disorder in the Ga(NAsP) MQWHs. The theoretically extracted energy-scales of disorder confirm the experimental observations.

We report a method to induce defects on the surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in order to improve the gas-sensing properties of an SWNT-based sensor. In this approach, the surface of the SWNTs is physically modified by thermal treatment at high temperature. The fabricated SWNT-based sensors were subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA) over the temperature range of 300–800 °C. After the thermal treatment, the electrical resistances of the defect-induced SWNT sensors were measured and compared with those of pristine SWNT sensors. The gas sensing properties of the defect-induced SWNT sensors upon exposure to various gases such as NO 2 , NH 3 , and H 2 were measured at room temperature. The thermally treated SWNT-based sensors exhibited much higher sensitivity and recovery than the pristine sensors. These results indicate that the defect-induced SWNTs can improve the performance of SWNT-based sensors.

Ta/PrFeB/Ta thin films were deposited on CORNING 7059 by sputtering technique followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The thickness of PrFeB was kept constant at 50 nm. The role of annealing temperature from 450 to 700 °C in a step of 50 °C for constant heating time of 60 s on the structural and magnetic consequences of thin films was studied by means of X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The (00l) texture was almost fully developed at temperature of 650 °C and with an increase in temperature up to 700 °C the (105) peaks was also appeared in the patterns. The grains size and surface roughness of PrFeB films were increased by an increase in temperature. It was found that with an increase in temperature up to 500 °C the coercivity was developed and enhanced to 0.75 MA/m by further increasing of temperature to 650 °C. The maximum remanent-magnetization ratio and coercivity were obtained at temperature of 650 °C. The magnetization reversal process is accompanied by the combination of domain wall motion (DWM) and Stoner–Wohlfarth (S–W) rotation. However, for PrFeB films annealed at 550–700 °C it is closer to the S–W model than DWM modes.

Hexagonal orthoferrite h-ErFeO3 thin films are synthesized by Atomic Layer Deposition on SiO2(100 nm)/Si substrate, followed by rapid thermal annealing at 650-700 degrees C. Structural, chemical and morphological characterizations of as-deposited and annealed layers are performed by X-ray Reflectivity/Diffraction and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion-Mass Spectrometry. The formation of the hexagonal phase, which is metastable compared to the more stable orthorhombic ErFeO3, is explained within a simple model considering the different activation energies for the nucleation of hexagonal and orthorhombic phases. The possibility to grow h-ErFeO3 in contact with SiO2/Si by chemical methods opens perspective for the inclusion of new multiferroics in silicon-based devices. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the crystallographic orientation and magnetic properties in single-layered FePt and FePd films has been characterized. A huge biaxial tensile stress of ∼2 GPa was induced in the L 1 0 -FePt thin films after an RTA of 800 °C, which resulted in a significant orientation transition from (111) to (001) texture. On the other hand, in case of the FePd films, only a small in-plane tensile stress (∼0.5 GPa) was accumulated, which caused that the orientation barely changed from a (111) texture to isotropic state. These results suggest that the high ordering temperature and low tensile stress were the likely reasons why RTA has no effect on texture formation of the FePd films.

CuIn 0.7 Ga 0.3 Se 2 (CIGS) thin-films are prepared by the particle-based screen printing technique followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) densification. Due to the short RTA time, CIGS absorber remains the ideal stoichiometric ratio originated from the CIGS particles in the coating paste and thus the conventional selenization process is not required. The effects of the particle concentrations of the coating paste, the RTA temperature and normal loading during RTA on the performances of the CIGS thin-films are studied. The film thickness increases with the increase of the particle concentration of the coating paste. The carbon content of the film is nearly zero when the RTA temperature is greater than 650 °C. The carrier concentration and Hall mobility of the CIGS film increase when increasing the RTA temperature from 300 °C to 650 °C. Using the coating paste with a particle concentration of 40 wt% for screen printing and a three-step, 250 °C solvent removal for 5 min, 500 °C annealing for 7 min and 650 °C densification for 3 min, 1.97 N cm −2 normal loading RTA process, a p-type chalcopyrite CIGS film with the carrier concentration of 1.23 × 10 15 cm −3 and mobility of 26.21 cm 2 V −1 s −1 is obtained.

Phosphorus that had been implanted into silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates was activated using different annealing techniques to investigate phosphorus deactivation at low temperatures. A combination of amorphization and excimer laser annealing (ELA) greatly enhanced phosphorus activation. However, heavy doping with phosphorus reduced the thickness of the amorphous layer. Furnace annealing at 350 °C following ELA induced significant deactivation and the deactivation behavior was similar to that following rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The temperature-dependence of phosphorus deactivation in samples that were implanted with a dose of 5×10 16 cm −2 showed a transition at 400 °C. The deactivation behavior was more sensitive to temperature below 400 °C than above it. Samples with an implantation dose of 5×10 15 cm −2 exhibited only a weak temperature-dependence of deactivation at temperatures above 400 °C, implying that the transition of temperature-dependence is caused by the change of the deactivation mechanism with the phosphorus activation level.

Dependences of the evolution of microstructure, in-plane tensile stress, and crystallographic orientation on rapid thermal annealing in the single-layered FePt films were investigated. By manipulating annealing temperature (450–800 °C), a texture transition from (111) to nearly perfect (001) was induced by a measured huge tensile stress of 2.4 GPa. Based on the microstructural observation and in-plane residual stress measurement, the tensile stress originated from the annihilation of grain boundaries and probably the unexpected surface oxidation of the L 1 0 FePt films during annealing. Conversely, L 1 0 ordering caused the relaxation of the accumulated tensile stress.

A new dehydrogenation processing method was developed for the low-temperature polysilicon process. This method can reduce both the process temperature and time through the combination of an ultraviolet pretreatment (UVP) process with near-infrared rapid thermal annealing (NIR-RTA). NIR-RTA using tungsten-halogen lamps was observed to reduce the dehydrogenation time by approximately two thirds and the temperature by approximately 20 °C compared to conventional furnace processing. The UVP process was able to lower the dehydrogenation temperature by a further 20 °C. Thus, the new dehydrogenation process, consisting of UVP followed by NIR-RTA, could achieve a hydrogen concentration of 1.97 at.% in 20 min at 360 °C.

We have investigated the microstructural and electrical properties of Cu-germanides formed by the deposition of Cu on Ge wafer, followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process at the temperatures in the range of 300–700 °C. Regardless of RTA temperature, the Cu3Ge was the only phase formed as a result of solid-state reaction between Cu and Ge driven by RTA process. The RTA temperature dependency of specific contact resistivity of Cu3Ge was explained in terms of its structural evolution caused by RTA process. The RTA process at 400 °C led to the formation of Cu3Ge film having highly uniform surface and interface morphologies, allowing the minimum value of the specific contact resistivity. The samples annealed above 500 °C underwent the severe structural degradation of Cu3Ge, resulting in a rapid increase in the specific contact resistivity. After RTA at 700 °C, pyramidal Cu3Ge islands standing on a corner, distributed along Ge direction were formed with epitaxial relationship on underlying Ge.

The effects of rapid thermal anneal (RTA) on film thickness, refractive index and residual stress of low pressure chemical vapor deposited (LPCVD) silicon nitride films are experimentally investigated. With the increase of RTA time, film thickness decreases in an exponential way and refractive index increases. Both film thickness and refractive index reach a relatively stable value after 10 min RTA process and higher RTA temperature leads to larger reduction in film thickness. Residual stress of Si – Si 3 N 4 system monotonically increases with RTA time. Based on Maxwell viscoelastic model, a model which considers film densification and viscous flow simultaneously is obtained to quantitatively calculate the effect of RTA on residual stress. In the 900 °C and 1000 °C RTA process, film densification is dominated in the 60 min RTA process and both the mechanisms are more active with the increase of annealing temperature.

The recrystallized microstructure and texture of AZ31 Mg alloy after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was investigated. A mathematical model of RTA temperature of AZ31 Mg alloy was established based on the thermal equilibrium theory. The two double-peak textures with basal poles tilted 5–10° away from the normal direction towards the rolling direction or towards the transverse direction were formed in the AZ31 alloy during RTA. The tilted basal texture was originated from recrystallized grains formed along grain boundaries for the low rolling reduction or recrystallized grains formed within the shear bands and twins for the high rolling reduction. During RTA, the recrystallization mechanism was sensitive to the previous rolling reduction and the annealing temperature, and the mechanisms of the microstructure and texture evolution of the AZ31 alloy during RTA were discussed.

A rapid melting growth of Ge on insulating substrate was developed using amorphous Si seed. Spontaneous nucleation process and lateral growth process occurred at different annealing temperature. Single-crystal Ge stripes on the insulator substrate were obtained as the Ge stripe was dominated by the lateral growth process along the stripes. Different single-crystal Ge stripe has different orientation. No preferential orientation was observed. Spatial gradient of solidification temperature along the Ge stripes induced by Si–Ge mixing in seeding region is the key to cause lateral growth of Ge stripes. Saturation of Si concentration along the Ge stripes at higher annealing temperature was observed, which was explained by limited Si volume in the seeding region.

High-order FePt continuous films with a strong (001) texture were fabricated on a glass substrate by introducing Ag layers and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The dewetting of the (001)-textured FePt was suppressed during RTA with high heating rates (>80 K/s). The Ag cap layers not only increased the in-plane tensile stress, but also improved the (001) anisotropy and L 1 0 ordering of the FePt layers. All continuous Ag/FePt bilayer films possessed strong perpendicular anisotropies and high-ordered states irrespective of the Ag layer thickness.