Double perovskite Cs2AgBiBr6 radiation sensor: synthesis and characterization of single crystals

Single crystals of lead-free halide double perovskite Cs2AgBiBr6 sensor material manifest a remarkable potential for application in radiation detection and imaging. In this study, the purity and crystallinity of solution-grown Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals with cubic Fm$$\overline{3}$$ 3 ¯ m symmetry have been corroborated by powder XRD measurements, while the single crystal XRD patterns reveal the dominant {111} lattice planes parallel to the sample surfaces. A wider range of lower resistivity values (106–109 Ωcm) was obtained from the I-V measurements compared to the 1.55 × 109–6.65 × 1010 Ωcm values from the van der Pauw method, which is typically higher for the Ag than for the carbon paint electrodes. Charge-carrier mobility values estimated from the SCLC method for the carbon paint-Cs2AgBiBr6 (1.90–4.82 cm2V−1 s−1) and the Ag-Cs2AgBiBr6 (0.58–4.54 cm2V−1 s−1) including the density of trap states (109–1010 cm−3) are comparable. Similar values of 1.89 cm2V−1 s−1 and 2.36 cm2V−1 s−1 are derived from the Hall effect measurements for a sample with carbon and Ag electrodes, respectively. The key electrical parameters including the X-ray photoresponse measurements indicate that the Cs2AgBiBr6 samples synthesized in this study satisfy requirements for radiation sensors. Graphical abstract

Hall effect in gated single-wall carbon nanotube films

The presence of hopping carriers and grain boundaries can sometimes lead to anomalous carrier types and density overestimation in Hall-effect measurements. Previous Hall-effect studies on carbon nanotube films reported unreasonably large carrier densities without independent assessments of the carrier types and densities. Here, we have systematically investigated the validity of Hall-effect results for a series of metallic, semiconducting, and metal–semiconductor-mixed single-wall carbon nanotube films. With carrier densities controlled through applied gate voltages, we were able to observe the Hall effect both in the n- and p-type regions, detecting opposite signs in the Hall coefficient. By comparing the obtained carrier types and densities against values derived from simultaneous field-effect-transistor measurements, we found that, while the Hall carrier types were always correct, the Hall carrier densities were overestimated by up to four orders of magnitude. This significant overestimation indicates that thin films of one-dimensional SWCNTs are quite different from conventional hopping transport systems.

Photodetector based on Rutile and Anatase TiO2 nanostructures/n-Si Heterojunction

Rutile and anatase titanium dioxide TiO2 nanostructures has been prepared successfully by hydrothermal technique. Also Rutile and anatase TiO2/n-Si heterojunction detector (HJ) has been fabricated. Hall Effect measurements confirmed that prepared films are n-type. The optical absorption spectra showed the prepared films have peak absorption in UV region. TiO2/n-Si heterojunction had exhibited diode-like rectifying I-V behaviour in the dark as well as under the illumination. Ideality factor greater than 2 and rectification factor for Rutile TiO2/n-Si HJ is equal 32.0961 higher than anatase TiO2/n-Si HJ. Photodetetor based on rutile TiO2/n-Si HJ showed higher responsivity and incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) than photodetector based on anatase TiO2/n-Si HJ. Photodetetor based on rutile TiO2/n-Si HJ has responsivity is 69.11Amp/W at 570 nm and IPCE is 21.2%at 370nm and 1.38% at 570nm. For the purpose of investigating the impacts of TiO2 crystal phase upon the performance of the device despite the fact that rutile has a lower band gap compared to anatase, rutile exhibits better photovoltaic activity due to its higher specific surface area.

Controlling the Electrical Properties of Reactively Sputtered High Entropy Alloy CrFeNiCoCu Films

Oxide-containing films were made by reactively sputtering a high-entropy alloy target of CrFeCoNiCu. We report on a wide range of changes to the electrical properties made by different heat treatments in oxidizing and reducing atmospheres, respectively. We combine temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements down to 10 K to study the transport mechanisms and correlate that with structural measurements by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The measured/effective resistivity could be varied between 1.3 × 10−4 Ω cm and 1.2 × 10−3 Ω cm by post-deposition processing. The temperature coefficient of resistivity could be varied between − 1.2 × 10−3 K−1 through 0 and to + 0.7 × 10−3 K−1. The key to the variation is controlling the morphology and topology of the film. The conduction of charge carriers is dominated by the relative contribution of weak localization and alloy scattering by varying the degree of disorder in the metallic high-entropy alloy and its topology.

Electrical and Magnetic Investigations of Magnesium-doped Epitaxial Gadolinium Nitride Thin Films

<p>Mg-doped epitaxial GdN thin films with various Mg-doping levels were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, and their electric, magnetic and optoelectronic properties were investigated. Characterisation through X-ray diffraction technique showed that there is no systematic variation in the crystallographic structure of the films with increasing level of Mg-doping, for Mg concentrations up to ~5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. However, from Mg concentration ~2 x 10²⁰ atoms/cm³ a clear deterioration in the crystalline quality was seen. We observed an increase in the resistivity of the films from 0.002 Ωcm to 600 Ωcm at room temperature when increasing the Mg-doping level, resulting in semi-insulating films for Mg concentrations up to 5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. Hall effect measurements revealed that the n-type carrier concentration was reduced from 7 x 10²⁰ cm⁻³ for an undoped film to 5 x 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ for a heavily doped film, demonstrating electron compensation in GdN via Mg-doping. Magnetic measurements exhibited substantial contrasts in the films, with a Curie temperature of ~70 K for an undoped film reduced down to ~50 K for a heavily Mg-doped film. Finally, photoconductivity measurements showed that films with higher level of Mg-doping displaying a faster photoconductive response. The decay time of 13000 s for an undoped film was reduced to 170 s with a moderate level of Mg-doping, which raises the possibility of Mg impurities providing hole traps that act as recombination centres in n-type GdN films.</p>

Electrical and Magnetic Investigations of Magnesium-doped Epitaxial Gadolinium Nitride Thin Films

<p>Mg-doped epitaxial GdN thin films with various Mg-doping levels were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, and their electric, magnetic and optoelectronic properties were investigated. Characterisation through X-ray diffraction technique showed that there is no systematic variation in the crystallographic structure of the films with increasing level of Mg-doping, for Mg concentrations up to ~5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. However, from Mg concentration ~2 x 10²⁰ atoms/cm³ a clear deterioration in the crystalline quality was seen. We observed an increase in the resistivity of the films from 0.002 Ωcm to 600 Ωcm at room temperature when increasing the Mg-doping level, resulting in semi-insulating films for Mg concentrations up to 5 x 10¹⁹ atoms/cm³. Hall effect measurements revealed that the n-type carrier concentration was reduced from 7 x 10²⁰ cm⁻³ for an undoped film to 5 x 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ for a heavily doped film, demonstrating electron compensation in GdN via Mg-doping. Magnetic measurements exhibited substantial contrasts in the films, with a Curie temperature of ~70 K for an undoped film reduced down to ~50 K for a heavily Mg-doped film. Finally, photoconductivity measurements showed that films with higher level of Mg-doping displaying a faster photoconductive response. The decay time of 13000 s for an undoped film was reduced to 170 s with a moderate level of Mg-doping, which raises the possibility of Mg impurities providing hole traps that act as recombination centres in n-type GdN films.</p>

The Magnetic Properties of Selected Rare Earth Nitrides Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

<p>Gadolinium nitride (GdN) and samarium nitride (SmN) are grown by pulsed laser deposition on yttria stabilised zirconia substrates. Surface and structural characterisation shows that the thin films are epitaxial with crystallites of up to 30 nm in diameter and a very large in plane coherence length. A novel oxide layer is observed at the substrate-film interface, caused by oxygen in the substrate reacting with the deposited rare earth element. GdN is found to be ferromagnetic below 70 K with a saturation moment of 7 Bohr magneton per ion. The relationship between the crystal structure and the magnetisation is investigated using ferromagnetic resonance and a weak easy axis along the [111] azimuth is reported. Hall effect measurements show the carriers are electrons, present in concentrations of 1020/cm3. Magnetic measurements on SmN show the presence of metallic droplets, but correcting for these, the Curie temperature is found to be 30 K.We report on preliminary growths of europium nitride and show the valence of the Eu is 3+, solving an outstanding theoretical question.</p>

The Magnetic Properties of Selected Rare Earth Nitrides Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

<p>Gadolinium nitride (GdN) and samarium nitride (SmN) are grown by pulsed laser deposition on yttria stabilised zirconia substrates. Surface and structural characterisation shows that the thin films are epitaxial with crystallites of up to 30 nm in diameter and a very large in plane coherence length. A novel oxide layer is observed at the substrate-film interface, caused by oxygen in the substrate reacting with the deposited rare earth element. GdN is found to be ferromagnetic below 70 K with a saturation moment of 7 Bohr magneton per ion. The relationship between the crystal structure and the magnetisation is investigated using ferromagnetic resonance and a weak easy axis along the [111] azimuth is reported. Hall effect measurements show the carriers are electrons, present in concentrations of 1020/cm3. Magnetic measurements on SmN show the presence of metallic droplets, but correcting for these, the Curie temperature is found to be 30 K.We report on preliminary growths of europium nitride and show the valence of the Eu is 3+, solving an outstanding theoretical question.</p>

Non-equilibrium methods for synthesis and modification of gallium oxide

Synthesis and modification of gallium oxide as a wide-bandgap semiconductor is a topical task in the fields of power electronics, UV detectors, gas sensors, telecommunication. In the present work, the Ga2O3 films deposited on sapphire substrates by magnetron sputtering have been studied. The influence of deposition parameters and subsequent annealing on the structure and optical properties of the synthesized films is analyzed. Ion doping of magnetron-deposited films with silicon is carried out by the ion implantation method. It is shown by the Raman scattering and optical transmission spectroscopy that ion irradiation leads to the disordering of the crystal structure, but subsequent annealing results in a partial recovery of the structure. Hall-effect measurements for irradiated and then annealed films do not reveal the formation of a conducting layer. Apparently, this is due to the fact that the main contribution to the resistance is made by grain boundaries in the magnetron-deposited films.

Annealing Effect on the SnSe Nanocrystalline Thin Films and the Photovoltaic Properties of the p-SnSe/n-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells

A thin film of SnSe were deposited by thermal evaporation technique on 400 ±20 nm thick glass substrates of these films were annealed at different temperatures (100,150,200 ⁰C), The effect of annealing on the characteristics of the nano crystalline SnSe thin films was investigated using XRD, UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), and Hall effect measurements. The results of X-ray displayed that all the thin films have polycrystalline and orthorhombic structure in nature, while UV-VIS study showed that the SnSe has direct band gap of nano crystalline and it is changed from 60.12 to 94.70 nm with increasing annealing temperature. Hall effect measurements showed that all the films have a positive Hall coefficient, which means that the conductivity of the films is p-type. The conductivity of SnSe films was increased with increasing annealing temperatures (except that at 200⁰C). The I-V characteristics under illumination for the "p-SnSe/n-Si” solar cell displayed an increase in conversion efficiency with increasing annealing temperature from R.T to 150⁰C, while at 200⁰C, this efficiency was decreased. The measurements of the C-V characteristics displayed that all junctions were abrupt type. It is clear from C-V measurements that the capacitance decreased with increasing reverse bias voltage which leads to an increase in the depletion width.