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Antimony triselenide (Sb2Se3) is one of the most promising absorber material choices among the inorganic semiconductors that has attracted much attention today. However, highest recorded efficiencies for Sb2Se3 solar cells are still lower than ideal. Exploring antimony selenosulfide (Sb-2(SxSe1-x)(3)) to increase device performance is one option because some features of alloyed Sb-2(SxSe1-x)(3) depend on composition such as bandgap and band position. In this study, two-step process was used to grow Sb-2(SxSe1-x)(3) thin films. In the first stage, Sb2Se3 thin films were deposited on soda lime glass substrates using direct current magnetron sputtering technique. In the second stage, Sb2Se3 thin films were exposed to sulfurization process in a quartz ampoule to obtain Sb-2(SxSe1-x)(3) thin films. Characterization results showed that morphological, optical, and structural properties of Sb-2(SxSe1-x)(3) thin films grown by presented method were highly dependent on amount of sulfur in the films. By the adjustment of the S/S + Se atomic ratio, Sb-2(SxSe1-x)(3) absorber materials with suitable bandgap, favorable orientation and compact morphology can be obtained for photovoltaic applications.

The metal to insulator transition (MIT) in vanadium dioxide (VO2) has played a key role in development of devices in the terahertz frequency range. In the present study, the use of VO2 patterned as a metamaterial surface or coupled as a homogeneous layer with a metallic metamaterial surface on top is investigated in terms of performance. High quality VO2 thin films were deposited on c-cut sapphire substrates by using the dc magnetron sputtering technique. A change in resistivity by a factor of 104 MIT in VO2 was observed allowing to investigate its use as a controllable metamaterial. The layer was patterned using a unique geometry (four-cross shaped) that operates in the THz frequency range. To understand its performance as a tunable THz filter, the four-cross structure fabricated from VO2 is compared to one fabricated from Au on VO2 bare film using UV lithography and ion beam etching techniques. The spectral performances of metamaterials was assesed using THz-Time Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and results were compared with simulations based on CST Microwave Studio. Absence of the resonant effects in the purely developed VO2 device while clear observation of the MIT behavior shows the strong dependency of the inductive and/or capacitive effets of the four-cross structure on conductivity of the surface metamaterial which is clearly observable for the Au-based device. In the latter case, the resonant transmittance of the filter can be effectively modulated by change in temperature.

The choice of metals, bonding conditions and interface purity are critical parameters for the performance of metal–metal bonding quality for quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). Here, we present a novel approach for the thermocompression bonding of Cu–Cu thin films on GaAs-based waveguides without having any oxide phase, contamination or impurities at the interface. We designed a hybrid system in which magnetron sputtering of Ta, thermal evaporation of Cu and Cu–Cu thermocompression bonding processes can be performed sequentially under high vacuum conditions. GaAs/Ta/Cu and Cu/Ta/GaAs structures were thermocompressionally bonded in our in-situ homebuilt bonding system by optimizing the deposition parameters and bonding conditions. The grown thin film and the obtained interfaces were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. The optimum Ta and Cu films’ thicknesses were found to be about 20 nm and 500 nm, respectively. EDX analysis showed that the Ta thin film interlayer diffused into the Cu structure, providing better adhesivity and rigidity for the bonding. Additionally, no oxidation phases were detected at the interface. The best bonding quality was obtained when heated up to 430 °C with an applied pressure of 40 MPa during bonding process.

ITO/Au/ITO multilayer thin films were deposited onto polycarbonate substrate via magnetron sputtering technique without intentional heating. The deposition times of both ITO and Au layers were studied to optimize the overall transparency and conductivity. As-prepared thin films were characterized using X-ray diffraction analysis, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and physical property measurement system. The optical measurement results revealed that the transmittance of the films were enhanced by increasing the gold deposition time up to 15 s. Beyond this point, further increasing the duration caused a decrease in optical transmittance. Upon optimization of the Au deposition time, the deposition duration of ITO layers was also studied to increase electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE). Maximum EMI SE in this work was measured as 26.8 dB, yielding 99.8% power attenuation, which was verified by simulation results.

Transparent conductive oxides (TCEs) are essential and important part of many optoelectronic devices. They could affect efficiencies due to their optical and electrical properties. In this work, commercially available Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) and generously provided ZTO/Ag/ZTO (ZAZ) multilayer thin film coated glasses are utilized as anodes in a Super Yellow (SY) based Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED). ZAZ electrode presented comparable transparency with the ITO and although, it was much thinner, its sheet resistance was more than 20% lower than the ITO electrode. The electroluminescence wavelength range of SY was almost identical with both electrodes. Due to the obtained higher turn-on voltage, the power efficiency value was slightly lower with the ZAZ electrode, and a negligible full width of half-maximum increase was detected. Nevertheless, ZAZ electrode presented higher luminous and external quantum efficiencies, color stability with applied voltage, and therefore addressed as a good candidate for ITO-free OLEDs.

International Conference on Photovoltaic Technologies (PVCon) -- JUL 04-06, 2018 -- Middle E Tech Univ, Culture & Convent Ctr, Ankara, Turkey, WOS: 000499762300011, In the present study, using a large area roll-to-roll DC magnetron sputtering system deposition of ITO thin films on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates were achieved. In order to investigate the effect of growth conditions on the film properties all through the deposition process, optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analysis have been accomplished in a governable way. The consequences of Oxygen partial pressure and film thickness on electrical, and optical properties of the films were determined. It was shown that the intensity of optical emission peaks are subjected to the discharge power and as well as the O-2/Ar flow ratio. Large area, uniform ITO films with relatively high transparency and low electrical resistivity (R(2)(

Indium tin oxide/silver/indium tin oxide (ITO/Ag/ITO) multilayers have attracted much attention to fulfill the growing need for high-performance transparent conducting oxide electrodes. To make these transparent multilayers work better, electro-annealing, which is a method of self-heating by electric current, can be effective. Moreover, the effect of current on ITO/Ag/ITO multilayers should be investigated to make sure that electronic devices will be reliable over their lifetime. In this study, ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer electrodes with varying Ag thicknesses were grown by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Structural, optical, and electrical properties of these multilayers were investigated before and after electro-annealing. Measurement results revealed that improved optical transmittance and sheet resistance can be obtained by the optimization of Ag thickness for the as-grown ITO/Ag/ITO layers. The highest figure of merit (FoM) value of 17.37 × 10−3 Ω−1 with optical transmittance of 85.15% in the visible region and sheet resistance of 11.54 Ω/□ was obtained for the Ag thickness of 16.5 nm for as-grown samples. The electro-annealing of as-grown ITO/Ag/ITO multilayers led to improved optical behavior of the multilayer structure over a wide spectral range, especially in the near-infrared range. Electro-annealing also provided an improvement in the crystallinity and sheet resistance of the electrodes. The improvement of the electrical and optical properties of the structure enabled a FoM of 23.07 × 10−3 Ω−1 with the optical transmittance of 86.80% in the visible region and sheet resistance of 10.52 Ω/□. The findings of this work provide proper knowledge of the properties of ITO/Ag/ITO multilayers under electrical current and suggest that the overall performance of the multilayers can be improved by the electro-annealing process.

ITO, ZTO, AZO and Ag are commonly used in transparent conducting oxide (TCO)/metal/TCO electrodes to form multilayered thin films on a suitable substrate. A detailed surface free energy (SFE) knowledge of these films is critical to design desirable TCO-based sandwich structures. In this study, TCO/Ag/TCO multilayer thin films were coated onto glass substrates using ITO, ZTO, AZO and Ag targets by magnetron sputtering. The wettability properties of TCO, Ag interlayer and TCO/Ag/TCO were evaluated by contact angle measurements of seven different liquids having various surface tension values. The dispersive and polar components of SFE were calculated using geometric and harmonic mean approaches. The acidic and basic components of SFE were calculated using van Oss-Chaudhury-Good method. Following this, the work of adhesion values between TCO films and Ag interlayer were estimated using SFE values of the films. The results show that the SFE components of the surfaces differ depending on the TCO type, the total SFE values of TCO/Ag/TCO films were lower than that of TCO films, and AZO/Ag adhesion is stronger than the other TCO/Ag structures. The reasons behind these differences were discussed by evaluating the SFE, XRD, AFM and SEM analysis simultaneously.

Zinc tin oxide (ZTO)/Ag/ZTO multilayer thin films were grown by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature on soda lime glass (SLG) and different polymer substrates such as polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for transparent conductive electrode (TCE) applications. The effect of substrate on the structural, optical and electrical characteristics of ZTO/Ag/ZTO multilayers was investigated. All prepared ZTO/Ag/ZTO films presented amorphous structure as expected from room temperature deposition process and smooth surface quality with very low surface roughness. We found that ZTO/Ag/ZTO multilayer films grown on SLG, PET and PC substrates have very high optical transmission and low surface resistance. Moreover, after ZTO/Ag/ZTO multilayer thin film deposition on polymer substrates, the optical transmission was found to be enhanced because the higher absorption due to Ag layer is compensated by lower reflectance. Our results suggest that ZTO/Ag/ZTO multilayer thin films on any substrate can be a promising alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) films as a cost-effective, indium-free, flexible and transparent electrode for various applications.

Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) absorber layer attracts so much attention in photovoltaic industry since it contains earth abundant, low cost and non-toxic elements contrary to other chalcogenide based solar cells. In the present work, CZTS absorber layers were prepared following a two-stage process: firstly, a stack of metal precursors (Copper (Cu)/Tin (Sn)/Zinc (Zn)/Copper (Cu)) were deposited on molybdenum (Mo) substrate by magnetron sputtering, then this stack was annealed under S atmosphere inside a tubular furnace. CZTS thin films were investigated using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The effect of sulfurization time and the thickness of top and bottom Cu layer in precursors on the properties of CZTS thin films were investigated. The importance of Cu thickness adjacent to Sn to avoid detrimental phases was addressed. The significance of sulfurization time to restrict the Sn and Zn losses, formation of oxides such as tin dioxide and zinc oxide, and formation of molybdenum disulfide and voids between Mo/CZTS interface was also addressed. Moreover, cadmium sulfide buffer layer, which is conventionally used in CZTS solar cells, is replaced by an environmentally friendly alternative zinc oxysulfide buffer layer.

We present highly efficient green, yellow, and red filters based on a metal-dielectric structure. The filters encompass only five layers of alternating zinc tin oxide and silver thin films that are grown on soda lime glass and white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using direct current magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The designed filters provide efficient color filtering in the visible spectrum. High purity colored light is obtained by direct application of filters on LEDs as color converters. The presented method offers an easy way for realizing different colors by tuning the thicknesses of layers in the structure. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America

In this study Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 (CZTSe) thin films were grown by a two-stage process that involved sputter deposition of a Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu metallic stack, annealing the stack at various temperatures for 30 min, evaporation of a Se cap over the metallic stack thus forming a precursor layer, and subjecting the precursor layer to a final high temperature reaction step at 550 °C. Different samples were prepared with annealing temperatures of the metallic stacks ranging from 200 °C to 350 °C. The results showed that heat treatment of the metallic stacks did not cause much change in their morphology and elemental composition, however their phase content changed noticeably when the anneal temperature was raised to 250 °C. Specifically, while the metallic films were dominated by CuSn and Cu 5 Zn 8 phases at low temperatures, the dominant phase shifted to Cu 6 Sn 5 at the annealing temperature of 250 °C and higher. Also formation of a distinct Cu 3 Zn 2 phase was observed upon annealing at temperatures at or above 250 °C. After reaction with Se, the CZTSe layer obtained from the metallic film, which was annealed at 250 °C was found to be the best n terms of its composition, crystalline quality and purity, although it contained a small amount of CuSe. The other layers were found to contain small amounts of other secondary phases such as SnSe, CuSe 2 , ZnSe and Cu 2 SnSe 3 . SEM micrographs showed denser structure for CZTSe layers grown from metallic films annealed at or above 250 °C. Optical band gap, resistivity and carrier concentration of the best quality CZTSe film were found to be about 0.87 eV, 2 Ω-cm and 4 × 10 17 cm − 3 , respectively.

In this study, we propose a new type of nanolithography procedure to fabricate orderly patterned metallic nanostructures using the electrohydrodynamic method and the reactive ion etching process. The electrohydrodynamic process parameters were tuned so as to create patterning with precision, and fibers in nanoscale on silver-coated substrates. We also studied reactive ion etching with different durations on the well-patterned samples. The experiments show that applying a voltage of 400 V resulted in straight patterned fibers with a diameter of 208.7 ± 30.3 nm. The statistical analysis on scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed a significant difference in the diameter of the fibers fabricated at 400 V compared to those at 500 V and 600 V. We also confirm that the etching process has no affect on the fiber diameter. Moreover, electron dispersive X-Ray spectrometer (EDX) results suggest that an etching duration of 7 min is sufficient to remove the silver coating that is not covered with the fibers, and protect the silver nanostructures underneath the fibers. Utilizing a low-cost nanolithography procedure, we obtain the orderly patterned silver nanostructures for possible integration into miniaturized devices.

A detailed surface free energy (SFE) knowledge of transparent conducting oxide (TCO)/metal/TCO electrodes is necessary for their applications related to surface wettability. However, SFE analysis of these surfaces has not been performed systematically previously. In this study, ITO and ITO/Au/ITO multilayer thin films were coated onto O2 plasma treated polycarbonate (PC) substrates by magnetron sputtering. The wettability characteristics of untreated PC, O2 plasma treated PC, ITO, Au interlayer, and ITO/Au/ITO multilayer thin films were evaluated by apparent contact angle measurements of nine different test liquids having various surface tensions. Following this, Lifshitz-van der Waals, acidic, basic, dispersive, and polar components of SFE were calculated using acid-base, geometric and harmonic mean approaches. In the present study, in which the significance of calculation methods and selected liquid pairs on SFE parameters were investigated, the effect of Au interlayer presence on SFE parameters were also evaluated simultaneously. The results showed that the total SFE values of ITO/Au/ITO multilayer thin films were found to be higher than that of ITO surface. The reasons behind this difference were discussed in terms of SFE components obtained using various liquid pairs by different methods. The results were also supported with XRD, XPS, AFM, and TEM analysis.

Fabrication of approx. 3 THz Al0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs QCLs grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy equipped with Ta/Cu or Ti/Cu waveguide claddings will be presented. Our previous studies showed that copper layers as the waveguide claddings are most promising in THz QCLs technology. The theoretical predictions showed that lasers with Ti/Cu or Ta/Cu claddings (where Ti and Ta play the role of diffusion barriers and improve adhesion) show the smallest waveguide losses when compared with other metals. The main important issue of the presentation will be the wafer bonding of the QCL active region and GaAs receptor wafer. We will compare the results of ex-situ and in-situ bonding technology. The structures were tested by optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS). Our studies show that it was necessary to apply at least 5 nm-thick diffusion-barrier layers, as well as to keep all of the process temperatures below 400C in order to ensure the barrier tightness. The next important issue was control of composition of metallic claddings, in order to provide the control of the refractive index profiles of the claddings. The ridge structure lasers were fabricated with ridge width in the range 100 – 140 µm, formed by dry plasma etching in BCl3/Cl2/Ar mixture in ICP RIE system. The lasers operated with threshold current densities of approx. 1.2 kA/cm2 at 77 K and the Tmax = 130 K, when fed by 100-300 ns current pulses supplied with 0.3-1 kHz repetition frequencies. *This research is supported by The National Centre for Research and Development (bilateral cooperation, project no. 1/POLTUR-1/2016) and TUBITAK (Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey) project number 215E113.

The aim of this study is to calculate the optimum lifetime of Molybdenum (Mo) thermal evaporation boats for Copper (Cu) filling in thin film technologies. Three types of Mo boats with thicknesses of 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 mm were used during the experiments under the high vacuum condition about 6.0 × 10−6 Torr. The behavior of each boat was investigated by focusing on the total amount of evaporation material, operational time and applied power. Prior to the deposition process, material was loaded on the evaporation boat by two methods. In the first method, Cu wire was cut into 1 cm long, then every boat was filled with this amount of Cu material. The second alternative feeding method is to use a wire-feeder step motor, which refills boat with Cu wire during evaporation process. The latter one is very useful for continuous deposition process since there is no need to break the vacuum state. In both methods, however, the number of failures during operations increases after a series of experiments have been taken place because of boat aging. The results of failures have been analyzed by various methods, and it has been observed that thinner boats showed better stability for long time operation by continuous feeding technique.

A HfO2 film was grown by RF magnetron sputtering technique on a Si substrate Using in situ Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE), the film thickness and refractive index were examined as a function of deposition time. Ex situ x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used in depth profile mode to determine the phase evolution of HfO2/Hf/Si multilayer structure after the growth process. The chemical composition and the crystal structure of the film were investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic measurements and x-ray Diffraction in Grazing Incidence (GI-XRD) mode, respectively. The results showed that the film was grown in the form of HfO2 film. According to SE analysis, reactive deposition of HfO2 directly on Hf/Si results to SiO2 interface of about 2 nm. The final HfO2 films thickness is 5.4 nm. After a certain period of time, the XPS depth profile revealed that the film was in the form of Hf-rich Hf silicate with SiO2 interfacial layer. In reference to XPS quantification analysis from top to bottom of film, the atomic concentration of Hf element reduces from 19.35% to 7.13%, whereas Si concentration increases from 22.99% to 74.89%. The phase change of HfO2 film with time is discussed in details., The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK project 113F349)

WOS: 000447108500032, Since addition of Al in Li0.5La0.5TiO3 has enhanced ionic conductivity in bulk materials, it is important to apply this material on all solid state thin film batteries. Because some of the good ionic conductors such as Lithium Phosphorus Oxynitride (LiPQN) are sensitive to oxygen and moisture and their application is limited, so amorphous Li0.5La0.5Ti1-xAlxO3 (LLTA1O) is a most promising candidate because of its stability. In this study, the crystalline LLTAlO targets were prepared changing the amount of x content by conventional solid state reactions. Using these targets, lithium lanthanum titanium oxide (LLTO) thin film electrolytes were deposited on ITO/SLG substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering system in Ar atmosphere. The structural and compositional properties of targets and thin films were characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and XPS. It was found that all targets are crystalline while the thin films are amorphous. To understand the effect of Al doping on ionic conductivity, electrical measurements were done at room temperature by AC impedance spectroscopy forming ITO/LLTA10/Al structure like capacitor. Highest ionic conductivity result, 0.96 x 10(-6) S.cm(-1), is obtained from the nominal thin film composition of Li0.5La0.5Ti1-xAlxO3 (x = 0.05) at room temperature measurements. Heat treatment is also conducted to investigate to understand its effect on ionic conductivity and the structure of the thin films. It is found that ionic conductivity enhances with annealing. Also, temperature dependent ionic conductivity measurements from 298 K to 385 K are taken in order to evaluate activation energy for Li-ion conduction.

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were grown on Mo-coated soda lime glass (SLG) substrates by the sulfurization of DC magnetron-sputtered Zn, Sn and Cu metallic precursors under a sulfur atmosphere at 550 °C for 45 min. Understanding the composition and structure of the CZTS absorber layer is necessary to obtain efficient solar cells. With this aim, x-ray diffractometry, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to investigate the CZTS absorber layers. CZTS absorber films were obtained and found to be Cu-poor and Zn-rich in composition, which are both qualities desired for efficient solar cells. CdS was used as a buffer layer and was grown by the chemical bath deposition technique. The optical properties of CdS films on SLG were searched for using a spectroscopic ellipsometer and the results revealed that the bandgap increases with film thickness increment. CZTS-based solar cells with different CdS buffer layer thicknesses were prepared using a SLG/Mo/CZTS/CdS/ZnO/AZO solar cell configuration. The influence of the CdS buffer layer thickness on the performance of the CZTS solar cells was investigated. Device analysis showed that electrical characteristics of solar cells strongly depend on the buffer layer's thickness. Highly pronounced changes in V OC, fill factor and J SC parameters, which are the main efficiency limiting factors, with changing buffer layer thicknesses were observed. Our experiments confirmed that decreasing the CdS thickness improved the efficiency of CZTS solar cells down to the lowest thickness limit., The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with the project number of 114F341 and the Applied Quantum Research Center (AQuRec)

Vanadium oxide (VOx) thin film has been widely used for IR detectors and it is one of the promising materials for THz detectors due to its high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) values. VOx films with proper TCR values have also high resistance and it restricts bolometer performance especially for uncooled bolometers. To overcome this problem, deposition at elevated temperatures or annealing approach has been accepted and used but gold co-deposition approach has been proposed recently. In this study, vanadium oxide films were fabricated on high resistivity silicon substrates by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering in different O2/Ar atmosphere at room temperature. We investigated influence of oxygen partial pressure during deposition process and fabricated VOx thin films with sufficient TCR values for bolometer applications. In order to decrease resistivity of the deposited films, post annealing and gold doping approaches were performed separately. Effect of both post annealing process and gold doping process on structural and electrical properties of VOx thin films deposited at room temperature were investigated and detailed comparison between these methods were presented. We obtained the best possible approach to obtain optimum conditions for the highly reproducible VOx thin films which have the best resistivity and suitable TCR value for bolometer applications., TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey); 115F549

High-κ hafnium-oxide thin films have been fabricated by radio frequency (rf) reactive magnetron sputtering technique. To avoid formation of an undesired interfacial suboxide layer between Si and high-κ film, prior to HfO2 deposition, a thin Hf buffer layer was deposited on p-type (1 0 0) Si substrate at room temperature. Effect of oxygen gas quantity in the O2/Ar gas mixture was studied for the optical and structural properties of grown HfO2 high-κ thin films. The grown thin oxide films were characterized optically using spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE) in detail. Crystal structure was studied by grazing incidence X-ray diffractometer (GIXRD) technique, while bonding structure was obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. In agreement with GIXRD and FTIR analyses, SE results show that any increment above ideal quantity of oxygen content in the gas mixture resulted in decrements in the refractive index and thickness of HfO2 dielectric film, while increments in SiO2 thickness. It is apparent from experimental results that oxygen to argon gas ratio needs to be smaller than 0.2 for a good film quality. The superior structural and optical properties for grown oxide film were obtained for O2/Ar gas ratio of about 0.05-0.1 combined with ∼30 W constant rf sputtering power. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., TUBITAK project number of 107T117; Izmir Institute of Technologywith BAP project number of 2008IYTE37

5th International Conference on Photonics, Optics and Laser Technology (PHOTOPTICS); FEB 27-MAR 01, 2017; Porto, Portugal, Patterned and unpatterned films of vanadium oxide grown on dielectric substrates such as fused silica and sapphire were grown and analysed by varying the temperature using terahertz time domain spectroscopy. After investigating the critical transition temperature near 340K, a well-known cross-shaped pattern was studied to observe any resonances upon transmission. Due to the poor conductivity of the films the frequency selective nature of the structure was not observed, however an etalon effect could be seen in the sapphire substrate as opposed to the fused silica substrate above the critical temperature. Dependence of the refractive index difference between substrates upon transmission of the THz pulse is likely in explaining this observed difference.

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) shows metal-insulator phase transition at nearly 68 °C. This metal-insulator transition (MIT) in VO2 leads to a significant change in near-infrared transmittance and an abrupt change in the resistivity of VO2. Due to these characteristics, VO2 plays an important role on optic and electronic devices, such as thermochromic windows, meta-materials with tunable frequency, uncooled bolometers and switching devices. In this work, VO2 thin films were fabricated by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering in O2/Ar atmosphere on sapphire substrates without any further post annealing processes. The effect of sputtering parameters on optical characteristics and structural properties of grown thin films was investigated by SEM, XRD, Raman and UV/VIS spectrophotometer measurements. Patterning process of VO2 thin films was realized by e-beam lithography technique to monitor the temperature dependent electrical characterization. Electrical properties of VO2 samples were characterized using microprobe station in a vacuum system. MIT with hysteresis behavior was observed for the unpatterned square samples at around 68 °C. By four orders of magnitude of resistivity change was measured for the deposited VO2 thin films at transition temperature. After e-beam lithography process, substantial results in patterned VO2 thin films were observed. In this stage, for patterned VO2 thin films as stripes, the change in resistivity of VO2 was reduced by a factor of 10. As a consequence of electrical resistivity measurements, MIT temperature was shifted from 68 °C to 50 °C. The influence of e-beam process on the properties of VO2 thin films and the mechanism of the effects are discussed. The presented results contribute to the achievement of VO2 based thermochromic windows and bolometer applications., TUBITAK (113F349); University Research Foundation (BAP) 2015-IYTE- 42

In this study Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) compound layers were grown using a two-stage technique that involved deposition of metallic precursors (Cu, Zn, and Sn) and Se in the first stage, followed by reaction of all the species at temperatures between 525 °C and 600 °C, during the second stage of the process. Two sets of samples, one with Cu-poor, Zn-rich and the other with Cu-rich, Zn-rich compositions, were prepared and their structural, optical and electrical properties were measured. XRD analyses showed the characteristic peaks of CZTSe regardless of the Cu content and the processing temperature. However, for samples reacted at temperatures of 575 °C and 600 °C a Cu2-xSe secondary phase separation was detected for all films suggesting that the reaction temperatures should be limited to values below 575 °C in a two-stage process such as ours. Excessive Sn loss was also present in samples processed at the highest temperatures. Raman scattering measurements confirmed formation of the CZTSe kesterite structure, and also indicated a small ZnSe phase, which could not be detected by XRD. Scanning electron micrographs demonstrated dense film structure with the Cu-rich films having smoother morphology. Optical characterization showed that increasing the Cu content in the compound layers caused a reduction in the optical band gap values due to increased interaction between the Cu-3d orbital electrons and the Se-4p orbital electrons. Electrical measurements showed that the carrier concentration increased with Cu content.

A 3D model is set up to simulate the exposure process of inclined/rotated UV lithography for negative SU-8 resists. The formation of inclined resist pillars and microstructures with truncated cone shapes is simulated based on a 3D exposure model in combination with a post exposure bake model for chemically amplified resists and the Mack development model. As one of the interesting applications employing this promising lithography technique for MEMS fabrication, a solid microneedle for drug delivery is simulated., Bayerische Forschungsstiftung

In this work, the effects of gamma radiation on the Raman spectra of Ge nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 have been investigated. SiO2 films containing nanoparticles of Ge were grown using the r.f.-magnetron sputtering technique. Formation of Ge nanocrystals was observed after high temperature annealing in an inert atmosphere and confirmed by Raman measurements. The intensity of the Raman signal originating from Ge nanocrystals was found to decrease with increasing gamma radiation. The study also includes the gamma radiation effects on MOS structure with Ge nanocrystals embedded in SiO2. The gamma radiation effects from 500 up to 4000 Gray were investigated. Capacitance-voltage measurements were performed and analyzed. Oxide traps and interface trap charges were calculated. Results show that MOS structure with Ge nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 is a good candidate to be used in radiation sensors, especially at high radiation doses. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., Abant Izzet Baysal University, BAP.2008.03.02.289

In this study, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The distance between the substrate and target axis, and substrate rotation speed were varied to get high quality AZO thin films. The influences of these deposition parameters on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the fabricated films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, spectrophotometry, and four-point probe techniques. The overall analysis revealed that both sample position and substrate rotation speed are effective in changing the optical, structural, and electrical properties of the AZO thin films. We further observed that stress in the films can be significantly reduced by off-center deposition and rotating the sample holder during the deposition. An average transmittance above 85% in the visible range and a resistivity of 2.02 × 10-3Ω cm were obtained for the AZO films., TUBITAK (114F341)

Use of germanium as a storage medium combined with a high-k dielectric tunneling oxide is of interest for non-volatile memory applications. The device structure consists of a thin HfO2 tunneling oxide with a Ge layer either in the form of continuous layer or discrete nanocrystals and relatively thicker SiO2 layer functioning as a control oxide. In this work, we studied interface properties and formation kinetics in SiO2/Ge/HfO2(Ge) multilayer structure during deposition and annealing. This material structure was fabricated by magnetron sputtering and studied by depth profiling with XPS and by Raman spectroscopy. It was observed that Ge atoms penetrate into HfO2 layer during the deposition and segregate out with annealing. This is related to the low solubility of Ge in HfO2 which is observed in other oxides as well. Therefore, Ge out diffusion might be an advantage in forming well controlled floating gate on top of HfO2. In addition we observed the Ge oxidation at the interfaces, where HfSiOx formation is also detected. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., TÜBİTAK; Chalmers University of Technology

The effect of electro-annealing in vacuum and air on the optical and electrical properties of ITO thin films grown by large area DC magnetron sputtering was investigated. Moreover, the performances of the electro-annealed ITO thin films in vacuum and air were compared. Electro-annealing was performed by applying 0.75, 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50 A constant ac current to the ITO thin films. It was observed that the crystallinity of the films was better for the ITO thin films electro-annealed in vacuum. The changes in sheet resistance of electro-annealed ITO thin films with applied currents were detailed. The transmittance of the films increased for both electro-annealing in vacuum and air. A correlation between band-gap and resistivity for all of the electro-annealed thin films was observed.

Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) which is a transition metal compound demonstrates metal insulator transition (MIT) property. The transition carries out at nearly 68 °C 1. VO 2 exhibits insulator phase with monoclinic crystal structure at low temperatures below the transition, while metallic phase with tetragonal crystal structure at high temperatures above the transition 2. Electrical resistivity of VO 2 at MIT changes by a factor of 104. VO 2 has high potential for the applications in microelectronic devices. It is used not only for FET applications, but also for other devices including nonvolatile resistive memories, optical sensors and termochromic smart windows 3,4.

X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) of thin SiO2 layers grown by pulsed Nd:YAG laser at a substrate temperature of 748 K are presented. The peak decomposition technique combined with depth profiling is employed to identify the composition and chemical states of the film structure. It is established that the oxide is non-stoichiometric, and contains all oxidation states of Si in different amounts throughout the film. The interface Si/laser-grown oxide is not abrupt, and the coexistence of Si2O3 and Si2O suboxides in a relatively wide interfacial region is found. It is concluded that post-oxidation annealing is necessary in order to improve the microstructure of both oxide and near interface region., TÜBİTAK TBAG/U68 and Bulgarian National Science Foundation under the contract F1508

Light emission from Si-implanted SiO2 layer is a well-known phenomenon. We demonstrated that samples which were implanted with 28Si at a dose of 1.5×1017 cm−2 at 100 keV and annealed at 1050 °C for 2 h exhibit two broad photoluminescence (PL) peaks at ∼650 and 850 nm. The origin of these peaks was investigated by a controlled etch experiment in order to figure out the dependence of the PL spectrum on the location of the implanted Si atoms. It was found that the emission peak of 850 nm is correlated with the Si atom distribution in the matrix and hence with the distribution of Si nanocrystals formed upon annealing, while the emission centers for the 650 nm peak are located in the near surface region. In a parallel experiment, the dependence of the PL spectrum on the excitation wavelength was studied. PL spectrum shifted to higher energies with increasing photon energy due to the selective excitation of the light-emitting centers.

The reflectance spectra and refractive index of Nd:YAG laser-oxidized SiO2 layers with thicknesses from 15 to 75 nm have been investigated with respect to the laser beam energy density and substrate temperature. Thickness and refractive index of films have been determined from reflectance measurements at normal light incidence in the spectral range 300–800 nm. It was found that the oxide-growth conditions at higher substrate temperatures and laser powers greater than 3.36 J cm−2 provides a better film quality in terms of both optical thickness and refractive index. However, the refractive indices of the films are smaller in the whole spectral range studied as compared to that of conventional thermally grown SiO2. This might be due to the porous structure formed during the laser-assisted oxidation. The results suggest the need of post-oxidation annealing to improve the refractive indices of the films, suitable for Si-device applications.

SiO2 thin films have been obtained by 1064 nm Nd: YAG laser oxidation of p-Si in the presence of O2. The thickness uniformity, dielectric and electrical properties of the layers have been studied. The effect of both the laser beam energy density and the substrate temperature on the oxide growth is also discussed. It was established that there exists an interval of laser beam energy density in which the oxidation occurs without surface melting. The oxidation process is controlled by the laser beam energy density rather than by the substrate temperature (673-748 K) and the higher laser power results in a thicker oxide. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to provide information on the oxide composition. XPS results revealed that the as-grown oxide is a mixed layer of SiO2 and Si2O, which are distributed nonuniformly through the depth. MOS capacitors fabricated on the grown oxide exhibited typical capacitance-voltage, conductance-voltage characteristics. However, the density of interface states and oxide charge density were found to be higher than the typical values of thermally grown oxides. The quality of the oxide layers can be further improved by optimization of the process parameters and/or by post-processing of the grown films. It is concluded that the SiO2 films formed by the technique of Nd: YAG laser-enhanced oxidation at low temperature are potentially useful for device applications., TÜBİTAK TBAG/U68; Bulgarian National Science Foundation under Contract F-901

In this study, the effect of sulfurization temperature on the morphology, composition and structure of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films grown on titanium (Ti) substrates has been investigated. Since Ti foils are flexible, they were preferred as a substrate. As a result of their flexibility, they allow large area manufacturing and roll-to-roll processes. To understand the effects of sulfurization temperature on the CZTS formation on Ti foils, CZTS films fabricated with various sulfurization temperatures were investigated with several analyses including x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman scattering. XRD measurements showed a sharp and intense peak coming from the (112) planes of the kesterite type lattice structure (KS), which is strong evidence for good crystallinity. The surface morphologies of our thin films were investigated using SEM. Electron dispersive spectroscopy was also used for the compositional analysis of the thin films. According to these analysis, it is observed that Ti foils were suitable as substrates for the growth of CZTS thin films with desired properties and the sulfurization temperature plays a crucial role for producing good quality CZTS thin films on Ti foil substrates., TUBITAK (114F341)

Efficiency of solar panels degrades as a result of organic contamination such as airborne particles, bird droppings and leaves. Any foreign object on photovoltaic panels reduces the sunlight entering the absorbing surface of the solar panels. Since this leads to a major problem decreasing in energy production, solar panels should be cleaned. The self-cleaning method can be preferred. There are some methods to clean the surface of solar panels. Among the self-cleaning materials, TiO2 is the most preferable ones because of its powerful photocatalytic properties. In this study, photocatalytic TiO2 were produced in two different nanostructures: nanofibers and thin films. TiO2 nanofibers were successfully produced by electrospinning. TiO2 thin films were fabricated by reactive magnetron sputtering technique. Both TiO2 nanofiber and thin film structures were heat-treated to form TiO2 in anatase phase at 600 °C for 2 h in air. Then, they were evaluated by SEM analyses for morphology, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses for phase structures, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the chemical state and atomic concentration, and UV-spectrometer for photocatalytic performance. The results indicate that photocatalytic and transmittance properties of TiO2 thin films are better than those of nanofibers. Consequently, TiO2 based thin films exhibit better performance for solar cell applications due to the surface cleanliness.

EMRS Conference on Frontiers of Multifunctional Oxides, Strasbourg, France, 31 May-04 June 2010, HfO2 thin films were prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique on (100) p-Si substrate. The effects of O2/Ar ratio, substrate temperature, sputtering power on the structural properties of HfO2 grown films were studied by Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling techniques. The results show that the formation of a SiOx suboxide layer at the HfO2/Si interface is unavoidable. The HfO2 thickness and suboxide formation are highly affected by the growth parameters such as sputtering power, O 2/Ar gas ratio during sputtering, and substrate temperature. XRD spectra show that the deposited films have (111) monoclinic phase of HfO 2, which is also supported by FTIR spectra. XPS depth profiling spectra shows that highly reactive sputtered Hf atoms consume some of the oxygen atoms from the underlying SiO2 to form HfO2, leaving Si-Si bonds behind. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with project number of 107T117 and partially by Izmir Institute of Technology with research project number of 2008 IYTE 37

The determination of Dill parameters of thick resist is very important to improve simulation models of resist exposure and real world processes. A new extraction technique of Dill parameters based on spectroscopic ellipsometry in combination with an advanced resist exposure model is proposed for thick resist analysis. The complex refractive index of the resist is related to the relative concentration of the photoactive compound in the resist in order to describe the vertical distribution of the refractive index and the extinction coefficient. Moreover, Dill parameters are extracted by directly fitting the bleaching curves to the measured ellipsometry data. The new approach was investigated experimentally by spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements on AZ5214E resist with two moderate layer thickness values in order to verify the accuracy of the new method. Dill parameters were extracted by using this new technique and by applying resist samples subjected to different exposure doses. Possible reasons for the variation of Dill parameters depending on resist thickness are explained. Furthermore, advantages, limitations and potential improvements of the model are discussed. Finally, the impact of Dill parameter variation on image formation in the resist is demonstrated by applying the spectroscopic ellipsometer analysis results as input parameters to the lithography simulator Dr.LiTHO.

Thermally grown SiO2 layers were treated by a plasma nitridation process realized in a vertical furnace. The combination of a pulsed-low frequency plasma and a microwave remote plasma with N2/NH 3/He feed gas mixture was used to nitride the thermally grown SiO2 gate dielectrics of MIS structures. Temperature dependency of effective masses and the barrier heights for electrons in pure thermally grown SiO2 as well as plasma nitrided SiO2 in high electric field by means of Fowler-Nordheim regime was determined. It is frequently seen from the literature that either effective electron mass or barrier height (generally effective electron mass) is assumed to be a constant and, as a result, the second parameter is calculated under the chosen assumption. However, in contrast to general attitude of previous studies, this work does not make any such assumptions for the calculation of neither of these two important parameters of an oxide at temperature ranges from 23 to 110 °C for SiO 2, and 23 to 130 °C for nitrided oxide. It is also shown here that both parameters are affected from the temperature changes; respectively, the barrier height decreases while the effective mass increases as a result of elevated temperature in both pure SiO2 and plasma nitrided SiO 2. Therefore, one parameter could be miscalculated if the other parameter, i.e., effective mass of electron, was assumed to be a constant with respect to variable physical conditions like changing temperature. Additionally, the barrier heights were calculated just by taking constant effective masses for both types of oxides to be able to compare our results to common literature values. © 2010 American Institute of Physics., European Union Project of SEA-NET with project Contract No. 027982

Magnetron sputtered HfO2 layers formed on a heated Si substrate were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling techniques. The results show that the formation of a SiO x suboxide layer at the HfO2 /Si interface is unavoidable. The HfO2 thickness and suboxide formation are highly affected by the growth parameters such as sputtering power, O2 /Ar gas ratio during sputtering, sputtering time, and substrate temperature. XRD spectra show that the deposited film has (111) monoclinic phase of HfO2, which is also supported by FTIR spectra. The atomic concentration and chemical environment of Si, Hf, and O have been measured as a function of depth starting from the surface of the sample by XPS technique. It shows that HfO2 layers of a few nanometers are formed at the top surface. Below this thin layer, Si-Si bonds are detected just before the Si suboxide layer, and then the Si substrate is reached during the depth profiling by XPS. It is clearly understood that the highly reactive sputtered Hf atoms consume some of the oxygen atoms from the underlying SiO2 to form HfO2, leaving Si-Si bonds behind.

Tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) thin films (20 to 44 nm) have been grown by 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser oxidation of Ta deposited films with various thickness on Si. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrum, thickness distribution, dielectric and electrical properties of laser grown oxide layers have been studied. The effect of the sputtered Ta film thickness, laser beam energy density and the substrate temperature on the final Ta2O5 film structure has been determined. It is shown that the oxide layers obtained for the laser beam energy density in the range from 3.26 to 3.31 J/cm2 and the substrate temperature around 350 °C have superior properties. FTIR measurement demonstrates that the Ta2O5 layers are obtained with the laser assisted oxidation technique. Metal Oxide Semiconductor capacitors fabricated on the grown oxide layers exhibits typical Capacitance-Voltage, Conductance-Voltage and Current-Voltage characteristics. However, the density of oxide charges is found to be slightly higher than the typical values of thermally grown oxides. The conduction mechanism studied by Current-Voltage measurements of the capacitors indicated that the current flow through the oxide layer is modified Poole-Frenkel type. It is concluded that the Ta2O5 films formed by the technique of Nd:YAG laser-enhanced oxidation at relatively low substrate temperatures are potentially useful for device applications and their properties can be further improved by post oxidation annealing processes. © 2008 Elsevier B.V, TÜBİTAK project number TBAG/U68

Tantalum pentoxide (Ta2 O5) thin films (20-50 nm) have been grown by 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser oxidation of Ta film deposited on Si. The chemical bonding, structure, and optical properties of the films have been studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and reflectance measurements at normal light incidence in the spectral range of 350-800 nm. The effect of the substrate temperature (250-400 °C) during oxidation and its optimization with respect to the used laser beam energy density (3.2-3.4 J cm2 per pulse) is discussed. It is established that the substrate temperature is a critical factor for the effectiveness of the oxidation process and can be used to control the composition and amorphous status of the films. The film density explored by refractive index is improved with increasing film thickness. The refractive index of the layers grown under the higher laser beam energy density and at substrate temperature of 350-400 °C was found to be close to the value of bulk Ta2 O5. The films are amorphous at substrate temperature below 350 °C and possessed an orthorhombic (Β- Ta2 O5) crystal structure at higher temperatures. The thinner layers crystallize at a little higher temperature., Bulgarian National Science Foundation Project No. F1508 and TÜBİTAK Project No. TBAG/U68

High quality indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were grown without oxygen by both dc and RF magnetron sputtering techniques on glass substrates. The effects of substrate temperature, film thickness and sputtering method on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the as-grown films were investigated. The results showed that the substrate temperature had substantial effects on the film properties, in particular on the crystallization and resistivity. When the substrate temperature was increased to 150 °C, crystallization in the (2 2 2) plane started appearing for both dc and RF sputtered films. We additionally found that with further increments of substrate temperature, the preferred crystallization orientation changed differently for dc and RF sputtered films. Optical transmission in the visible region for a film thickness of 70 nm was found to be above 85%. The bandgap was calculated to be about 3.64 eV for the substrate temperature of 150 °C for a 70 nm thick film. The value of the bandgap increased with respect to the increment in film thickness as well as substrate temperature. We also measured the temperature dependence of the resistivity and Hall coefficient of the films, and calculated the carrier concentration and Hall mobility. Very low room temperature resistivities for dc and RF magnetron sputtered grown films of about 1.28 × 10-4 Ω cm and 1.29 × 10-4 Ω cm, respectively, were obtained. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd., Ministry of Industry of Turkey, SANTEZ project number 00058.STZ.2007-1; TÜBİTAK project number 107T117

Well controlled Hf oxide patterns have been grown on a flat Hf thin film surface produced by the dc magnetron sputtering method on Si and SiOx substrates. These patterns have been created by using the technique of semi-contact scanning probe lithography (SC-SPL). The thickness and width of the oxide patterns have been measured as a function of applied voltage, duration and relative humidity. There is a threshold voltage even at 87% humidity, due to insufficient energy required to start the oxide growth process for a measurable oxide protrusion. Electrical characterization was also performed via the I-V curves of Hf and HfOx structures, and the resistivity of HfO x was found to be 4.284 × 109 Ω cm. In addition to the I-V curves, electric force microscopy and spreading surface resistance images of Hf and HfOx were obtained., TÜBİTAK project number 107T117; DPT2003K120390 and Izmir Institute of Technology project number of 2004IYTE22 and 2006IYTE21