Flexible transparent heteroepitaxial conducting oxide with mobility exceeding 100 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature

Flexible and transparent applications have become an emerging technology and have shifted to the forefront of materials science research in recent years. Transparent conductive oxide films have been applied for flat panel displays, solar cells, and transparent glass coatings. However, none of them can fulfill the requirements for advanced transparent flexible devices, such as high-frequency applications. Here, we present a promising technique for transparent flexible conducting oxide heteroepitaxial films: the direct fabrication of epitaxial molybdenum-doped indium oxide (IMO) thin films on a transparent flexible muscovite substrate. An n-type epitaxial IMO film is demonstrated with a mobility of 109 cm2 V−1 s−1, a figure of merit of 0.0976 Ω−1, a resistivity of 4.5 × 10−5 Ω cm and an average optical transmittance of 81.8% in the visible regime. This heteroepitaxial system not only exhibits excellent electrical and optical performance but also shows excellent mechanical durability. Our results illustrate that this is an outstanding way to fabricate transparent and flexible conducting elements for the evolution and expansion of next-generation smart devices.

Electrical and Optical Properties of Amorphous SnO2:Ta Films, Prepared by DC and RF Magnetron Sputtering: A Systematic Study of the Influence of the Type of the Reactive Gas

By reactive magnetron sputtering from a ceramic SnO2:Ta target onto unheated substrates, X-ray amorphous SnO:Ta films were prepared in gas mixtures of Ar/O2(N2O, H2O). The process windows, where the films exhibit the lowest resistivity values, were investigated as a function of the partial pressure of the reactive gases O2, N2O and H2O. We found that all three gases lead to the same minimum resistivity, while the width of the process window is broadest for the reactive gas H2O. While the amorphous films were remarkably conductive (ρ ≈ 5 × 10−3 Ωcm), the films crystallized by annealing at 500 °C exhibit higher resistivities due to grain boundary limited conduction. For larger film thicknesses (d ≳ 150 nm), crystallization occurs already during the deposition, caused by the substrate temperature increase due to the energy influx from the condensing film species and from the plasma (ions, electrons), leading to higher resistivities of these films. The best amorphous SnO2:Ta films had a resistivity of lower than 4 × 10−3 Ωcm, with a carrier concentration of 1.1 × 1020 cm−3, and a Hall mobility of 16 cm2/Vs. The sheet resistance was about 400 Ω/□ for 100 nm films and 80 Ω/□ for 500 nm thick films. The average optical transmittance from 500 to 1000 nm is greater than 76% for 100 nm films, where the films, deposited with H2O as reactive gas, exhibit even a slightly higher transmittance of 80%. These X-ray amorpous SnO2:Ta films can be used as low-temperature prepared transparent and conductive protection layers, for instance, to protect semiconducting photoelectrodes for water splitting, and also, where appropriate, in combination with more conductive TCO films (ITO or ZnO).

Effect of (Ba1−xLax)TiO3 and (Pb1−xLax)TiO3 dopants in optical and dielectric properties of PMN-based transparent ceramics

A relaxor electroceramic [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text]–0.30-[Formula: see text] (PMN–PLT–BLT) with [Formula: see text] = 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 was synthesized using the two combination methods of auto-combination and hot-pressing. Characterization of the crystal phase, microstructure, optical and dielectric properties of PMN–PLT–BLT was made primarily by X-ray diffraction and TEM and SEM methods. The pure perovskite crystals (rhombohedral and tetragonal) prepared at [Formula: see text] for 2 h calcination were revealed by using X-ray diffraction. The average optical transmittance of these electroceramics in the range between 450 nm and 900 nm is higher than 60% while in the IR region reached 100%. The PMN–PLT–BLT with [Formula: see text] = 0.75 displays the highest transparency around 70% near 1100 nm. The microstructures and dielectric measurements show that these three electroceramics have densities of about 98.8% and exhibit a normal relaxation characteristic.

Growth and properties of fluorine-doped tin oxide films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

We used low-cost ultrasonic spray pyrolysis to prepare fluorine-doped tin oxide film from 470 to 590°C in 30°C increments with air and nitrogen as carrier gas. The film had 86.4% optical transparency and 16.8 Ω/□ electrical resistivity. The quality factor was defined as average optical transmittance to the 10th power divided by square resistance. The quality factor for one film fabricated at 590°C was 139 × 10−4/Ω, which is acceptable for many commercial applications. Detailed analysis indicates that the optical and electrical properties are greatly influenced by the film microstructure which is a function of temperature.

Influence of TiO2 content on microstructures and optoelectronic properties of titanium-doped ZnO nanofilms

Thin films of TiO2-doped ZnO (TZO) with TiO2 contents from 0.5 to 3.0 wt.% were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. The microstructures and optoelectronic properties of the TZO films were characterized by XRD, Hall effect analyzer, UV–VIS spectrophotometry and physical property measurement (PPMS-9). Results indicate that the microstructure and optoelectronic properties of TZO films are strongly affected by the TiO2 content. The best optoelectronic properties were obtained with the film having 2.0 wt.% TiO2. This film had superior crystal properties, high average optical transmittance (89.0%), and the lowest resistivity (9.58 × 10[Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] ⋅ cm). Furthermore, the resistivity of this film changed with temperature between 10 and 350 K, they experienced an initial decrease followed by an increase as the temperature increased.

Characteristics Study of Nanostructured CdO Prepared by Spray Pyrolysis

In this paper, nanostructured cadmium oxide films were prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis technique.The structural, morphological and optical characteristics of synthesized films are investigated as function of concentration .AFM results revealed that the root mean square of surface roughness is increased with cadmium concentration. XRD investigation confirmed that the films are polycrystalline with cubic structure. SEM study displayed that the synthesized films have particle size in the range of 25-100nm depending on cadmium ion concentration. The optical properties revealed the films have maximum average optical transmittance of 78% for film sprayed with 0.1 M. The optical band gap of the CdO film prepared with 0.25 M was 2.65eV. The optical band gap increased as the film molarity.

In-Line Sputtered Gallium and Aluminum Codoped Zinc Oxide Films for Organic Solar Cells

Gallium and aluminum codoped zinc oxide (GAZO) films were deposited at different temperatures by in-line sputtering. Aluminum is thermally unstable compared to other elements in GAZO films. The grains of GAZO films increase with deposition temperature. Coalescence between grains was observed for GAZO films deposited at 250°C. The deposition temperature exhibits positive influence on crystallinity, and electrical and optical properties of GAZO films. The carrier concentration and mobility of GAZO films increase, while the electrical resistivity of GAZO films decreases with deposition temperature. The average optical transmittance of GAZO films rises with deposition temperature. In-line sputtering demonstrates a potential method with simplicity, mass production, and large-area deposition to produce GAZO films with good electrical and optical quality. The electrical resistivity of 4.3×10−4 Ω cm and the average optical transmittance in the visible range from 400 to 800 nm of 92% can be obtained for GAZO films deposited at 250°C. The hybrid organic solar cells (OSC) were fabricated on GAZO-coated glass substrates. Blended poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) were the photoactive materials in OSC. The power conversion efficiency of OSC is 0.65% for the OSC with the 250°C deposited GAZO electrode.

Optical Properties and Morphology of Al Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Film Exposed on Wet and Dry Conditions

The optical properties and morphology of Aluminum (Al) doped Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films prepared by sol-gel method have been investigated. The thin films were prepared at annealing temperature of 550 OC and have been exposed under wet and dry conditions. UV-Vissmeasurements have been carried out to investigate the optical properties while Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to investigate morphology. The grain size of films was increased with increased annealing temperature. The average optical transmittance became about 80% in the visible and had sharp ultraviolet absorption edges at 380 nm. The absorption edge analysis revealed that the optical band gap energy for the films was ~ 3.26 eV. The surface morphology in increasing annealing temperature has a big size and less porosity between particles.

Effect of Silver thickness and Annealing on Optical and Electrical Properties of Nb2O5/Ag/Nb2O5 Multilayers as Transparent Composite Electrode on Flexible Substrate

ABSTRACTMultilayer structures of Nb2O5/Ag/Nb2O5 have been deposited onto flexible substrates by sputtering at room temperature to develop indium free composite transparent conductive electrodes. The optical and electrical properties of the multilayers are measured by UV–Visible spectroscopy, Hall measurement and four point probe and the effect of Ag thickness has been studied. The critical thickness of Ag to form a continuous conducting layer is found to be 9.5 nm and the multilayer stack has been optimized to obtain a sheet resistance of 7.2 Ω/sq and an average optical transmittance of 86 % at 550 nm. The Haacke figure of merit (FOM) has been calculated for the films, and the multilayer with 9.5 nm thick Ag layer has the highest FOM with 31.5 x 10-3 Ω/sq, which is one of the best FOM reported till date for room temperature deposition on flexible substrates. The multilayered samples are annealed in vacuum, forming gas, air and O2 environments and the optical and electrical properties are compared against the as-deposited samples.

Structural, Optical and Electrical Characterization of Mo Doped In2O3 Thin Films Prepared via Sol-Gel Spin Coating Technique

The optically transparent conducting molybdenum doped indium oxide (IMO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by sol-gel spin coating technique. The effect of various molybdenum contents in the range of 0.25–1 at.% on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties was studied. XRD results confirmed the formation of cubic bixbyite structure of In2O3 with preferred orientation along (222) plane. Microstructural studies show nearly spherical morphology for thin films with size in the range of 20-40 nm. The films doped with 0.25 at.% Mo found to exhibit a minimum electrical resistivity of 188×10-3 Ω.cm and an average optical transmittance of more than 80% in the visible region with a band gap of 3.85 eV.