0000000000360059
AUTHOR
Claudio Cali
Erroneous p-type assignment by Hall effect measurements in annealed ZnO films grown on InP substrate
We report on incorrect carrier type identification achieved by Hall effect measurements performed on ZnO films grown by pulsed laser deposition on InP substrates and subsequently annealed for 1 h at 600 C in air. While Hall measurements, after post-growth annealing, reveal a change in the electrical properties of the films, from n-type to p-type, both photocurrent-based and standard C V measurements performed on the same samples show no change in the native n-type doping of the ZnO films. A possible interpretation of the two results is reported. In particular, p-type conductivity observed by Hall effect may be ascribed to a highly conductive thin layer formed during the annealing process at…
Frequency-Downconversion Stability of PMMA Coatings in Hybrid White Light-Emitting Diodes
We report on the properties of a poly(methyl methacrylate)-based coating used as a host for an organic dye in hybrid white light-emitting diodes. The device is composed by a pump source, which is a standard inorganic GaN/InGaN blue light-emitting diode (LED) emitting at around 450 nm, and a spin-coated conversion layer making use of Lumogen® F Yellow 083. Under prolonged irradiation, the coating exhibits significant bleaching, thus degrading the color rendering performance of the LED. We present experimental results that confirm that the local temperature rise of the operating diode does not affect the conversion layer. It is also proven that, during the test, the photostability of the orga…
Blue-violet heterojunction LEDs based on hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanorods
Zinc oxide nanorods have great potential for the realization of high efficiency heterostructure LEDs based on p-doped GaN. Well-aligned vertical nanorods are desirable to enhance the LED outcoupling performances due to a better confinement of the light [1]. However, due to the lack of reproducible p-type ZnO, a p-GaN substrate is still needed. This work reports on the fabrication of n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction LEDs based on vertical ZnO nanorods grown by hydrothermal method. The chemical reaction in the hydrothermal growth of ZnO is based on the decomposition of zinc nitrate, (Zn(NO3)2) with resulting Zn2+ ions reacting with the hydroxyl ions obtained by the thermal degradation of hexamethyl…
Electrochemical fabrication of metal/oxide/conducting polymer junction
After discovery of conducting polymers and the possibility to modify their electrical properties from insulating to metallic like behavior by doping and a careful choice of the processing conditions, a large amount of research effort has been devoted to the theoretical understanding of their solid state properties as well as to exploit the possible application of conducting polymers in many technological fields including large area organic electronics, polymer photovoltaic cell, and sensors. 1-4 Organic thin film transistors appear very promising devices for the development of low cost, flexible, and disposable plastic electronics. In order to reduce the operating voltage it has been sugges…
Enhancement of photoconversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells exploiting pulsed laser deposited niobium pentoxide blocking layers
Abstract Among all the photovoltaic technologies developed so far, dye-sensitized solar cells are considered as a promising alternative to the expensive and environmentally unfriendly crystalline silicon-based solar cells. One of the possible strategies employed to increase their photovoltaic efficiency is to reduce the charge recombination at the cell conductive substrate through the use of a compact blocking layer. In this paper, we report on the fabrication and characterization of dye-sensitized solar cells employing niobium pentoxide (Nb 2 O 5 ) thin film blocking layer deposited through the pulsed laser deposition technique on conductive substrates. The careful selection of the optimal…
Fabrication and characterization of microscale HfO2-based Memristors
Memristors are metal/insulator/metal devices whose resistance can be switched between two different states (i.e. the low resistive state LRS, and the high resistive state, HRS) by applying a proper voltage value over the two metal contacts [1], [2]. Their simple structure makes memristors prone to extreme down scaling and 3-D stacking potentiality, and excellent compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Moreover, because of their low power consumption and high speed, memristors are rightly considered the elemental bricks for a next generation of high-density nonvolatile memories. HfO2 has attracted much attention as an oxide material for memristor app…
Fabrication and characterization of micrometer-scale ZnO memristors
Memristors are an interesting class of resistive random access memory (RRAM) based on the electrical switching of metal oxide film resistivity . They are characterized for exhibiting resistive switching between a high-resistance state (HRS) and a low-resistance state (LRS) and have been recently considered as one of the most promising candidates for next-generation nonvolatile memory devices because of their low power consumption, fast switching operation, nondestructive readout, and remarkable scalability. The device structure is simply an oxide layer sandwiched between two metal electrodes. The switching behaviour is dependent both on the oxide material and the choice of metal electrodes.…
Optical, structural, and morphological characterisation of epitaxial ZnO films grown by pulsed-laser deposition
We report on ZnO epitaxial growth by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) on different substrates, such as quartz, sapphire, and GaN template. Approximately 1 mu m-thick films were grown under different substrate temperatures and background oxygen conditions. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated preferential growth along the c-axis direction with a full-width at half maximum(FWHM) of the rocking curve as narrow as 230 arcs in the case of the GaN template. Low-temperature photoluminescence showed A-excitonic emission near 3.36 eV and a FWHM of (DXA)-X-0 emission as small as 2.89 meV at 9 K. Atomic force microscope measurements showed that roughness as low as 18 nm could be obtained. These results p…
Resistive switching behaviour in ZnO and VO 2 memristors grown by pulsed laser deposition
The resistive switching behaviour observed in microscale memristors based on laser ablated ZnO and VO 2 is reported. A comparison between the two materials is reported against an active device size. The results show that devices up to 300 × 300 μm 2 exhibit a memristive behaviour regardless of the device size, and 100 × 100 μm 2 ZnO-based memristors have the best resistance off/on ratio.
Generation of white LED light by frequency downconversion using a perylene-based dye
A high efficiency white light emitting diode (LED) was fabricated by generation of frequency down-conversion from a GaN/InGaN blue LED. In place of conventional inorganic phosphors, a perylene-based dye was used for colour conversion. The resulting hybrid structure is analysed by focusing on the visual performance of the realised LEDs employing the most relevant photometric parameters of a light source. Preparation of the organic polymer is described as well. The thermal stability of the dye was investigated and a simple structure which avoids colour degradation is proposed.
Nd:YVO4 crystalline film grown by pulsed laser deposition
Abstract We present the preliminary results obtained in the growth of thin films of Nd-doped YVO4 (YVO) by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on amorphous substrate. The films were obtained by ablating bulk YVO crystals doped with Nd3+ ions with a Q-switched tripled Nd:YAG laser in a UHV chamber. The samples have been characterized both morphologically (with X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscope measurements) and spectroscopically, by measuring fluorescence spectra and lifetime.
Effects of the process conditions on the plume of a laser-irradiated indium–tin-oxide target
Abstract The plume of a laser-ablated indium–tin-oxide target was investigated by optical emission spectroscopy. Atomic and ionic species of indium, tin and oxygen were observed; moreover, molecular bands of indium oxide were identified in the fluorescent spectra. The effects of the oxygen as a background gas and of the laser fluence on the behaviour of the ejected particles were studied with respect to the intensity of the emission and the delay time as a function of the observation distance from the target surface. The non-linear behaviour of the fluorescent species with the process conditions could infer spatial variations of the plume composition. The analysis demonstrates a plume expan…
Effect of driving method on the degradation of organic light emitting diodes
Abstract Lifetime testing results are reported for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) having the structure ITO (anode)/ N , N ′-diphenyl- N , N ′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1′-diphenyl-4,4′-diamine (TPD)/tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (AlQ)/Al (cathode) and operated using dc and pulsed waveforms for comparison. In ambient atmosphere non-encapsulated devices show a lifetime of about 70 h in pulsed operation at an initial luminance of 500 cd/m 2 , almost four times longer than in dc operation. A fast initial decay of luminance is observed for dc operation. It is most probably due to a combination of Joule heating and mobile ionic impurities migration within the OLED structure under the conti…
Deposition of indium tin oxide films by laser ablation: Processing and characterization
Abstract In this work an indium tin oxide thin film fabrication technique based on pulsed laser deposition is described and the electrical, optical and mechanical properties of the deposited films are reported. Deposition of high quality films on cold substrates was proved. The third harmonic (355 nm) of an Nd:YAG laser was employed to photoablade the indium tin oxide target.
Warm white LED light by frequency down-conversion of mixed yellow and red Lumogen®
This work reports on the benefits and promising opportunities offered by white LED hybrid technology, based on a mixing perylene-based dyes in order to obtain a warm white light for frequency-down conversion. In a standard Ce:YAG-based white LED, the white light appears cold due to the weakness of red wavelength components in the emission spectrum. In order to obtain a warmer white, one possible solution is to add a red phosphor to the yellow one to move the chromatic coordinates properly, though the luminous efficiency drastically decreases due to the increased light absorption of the coating layer. It is generally believed that the low efficiency of warm white LEDs is the main issue today…
Electrochemical Fabrication and Physicochemical Characterization of Metal/High-k Insulating Oxide/Polymer/Electrolyte Junctions
Photoelectrochemical polymerization of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), PEDOT, was successfully realized on anodic film grown to 50 V on magnetron sputtered Ti-6 atom % Si alloys. Scanning electron microscopy allowed us to evidence formation of compact and uniform polymer layers on the oxide surface. Photoelectrochemical and impedance measurements showed that photopolymerization allows one to grow PEDOT in its conducting state, while a strong cathodic polarization is necessary to bring the polymer in its p-type semiconducting state. Information on the optical and electrical properties of metal/oxide/polymer/electrolyte junctions proves that PEDOT has promising performance as an electrolyte…
Well-aligned hydrothermally synthesized zinc oxide nanorods on p-GaN without a seed layer
Zinc oxide nanorods have great potential for the realization of high efficiency heterostructure LEDs based on pdoped gallium nitride. In order to obtain a good confinement of the light, a well-aligned nanorod waveguiding structure is desirable. This paper reports on the fabrication of vertical zinc oxide nanorods using a solution-based growth process that does not require a seed layer. The nanorods obtained follow the crystalline growth direction of the GaN layer along the c-axis. Various results with different reagent concentrations are reported.
Integrated Optical Technique for Detection of Electro-Optical Non-Linearities in Thin Films
A simple method for detection of electro-optical non-linearities in thin films is presented. The method involves an easily fabricated structure and a little practice in integrated optical techniques. It is also possible to detect small induced variations of refractive index, using lower voltage with respect to those applied in a conventional Kerr cell. We have sucessfully tested our method using two different polymer materials as thin films. In both of these we have observed an induced ?n ? 3 10?5 with an electric field of 60 V/?, with a response time round about 300 nsec. The experimental values of induced ?n versus electric field fit very well a parabola, proving the quadratic behavior of…
Fabrication and characterization of tuned Gaussian mirrors for the visible and the near infrared
A thin-film technique has been developed for vacuum fabrication of mirrors with Gaussian reflectivity profiles. Samples with diameters from 2 to 8 mm and assigned maximum reflectivities for visible or near-IR wavelengths have been made and their optical properties evaluated. By properly choosing both the geometry of the evaporation source and the masking system, one can obtain quasi-Gaussian or super-Gaussian reflectivity profiles.
Light-Induced Sublimation of Cadmium Sulphide
It has recently been shown that single crystal CdS, illuminated by light whose photon energy exceeds the bandgap, can eject particles from its surface while the temperature is well below the value required for vacuum sublimation. This phenomenon has obvious applications to the fabrication of surface structures as well as to the production of thin films that can show good CdS stoichiometry. This work will present several data on the morphology of the etched surface and its dependance on crystal orientation; results of an analysis of the recondensed thin film phase from the ejected material will also be shown. Emphasis will be devoted to examples of high resolution surface structures fabricat…
Anodized Ti-Si Alloy as Gate Oxide of Electrochemically-Fabricated Organic Field-Effect Transistors
Organic field-effect transistors were fabricated using an electrochemical route. The dielectric oxide was grown by anodization of a Ti:Si alloy, while 3,4-polyethylenedioxythiophene has been employed as a semiconducting polymer. OutputI-Vcharacteristics showed a transistor effect dependent on dielectric thickness. Fitting between I-V measurements and theoretical simulations in the triode region confirmed the presence of a conduction path through the polymer which degrades the electrical characteristics of the devices.
Measurement of drift mobilities in amorphous organic films using the Time of Flight method
We apply the Time of Flight (TOF) technique to study carrier mobility in N, N’-diphenyl-N,N’-bis(3-methylphenyl) -1,1-biphenyl-4,4’-diamine (TPD) and tris(8-hydroxyquinolato) aluminium (Alq 3 ). These materials are two examples of, respectively, hole and electron transporting molecular materials. Measurements are performed in free air or under vacuum varying the experimental parameters such as laser pulse intensity and single shot irradiation. We observe a transition from dispersive to non dispersive transport changing the experimental conditions.
Pulsed laser deposition of ZnO and VO2 films for memristor fabrication
Memristors are resistive switching memory devices which have attracted much attention over the last years for high-density memory applications because of their simple structure, small cell size, high speed, low power consumption, potential for 3-D stacking and excellent compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology [1]. Beside nonvolatile memory applications, memristors have been also proposed for other different applications including biosensors [2] and neuromorphic [3] circuits. The device structure is simply an oxide material sandwiched between two metal electrodes. The switching behavior is not only dependent on the oxide material but also on the choic…
In situ monitoring of pulsed laser indium–tin-oxide film deposition by optical emission spectroscopy
We performed optical emission spectroscopy to monitor the plasma produced during the ablation of indium-tin-oxide targets under different oxygen pressure conditions using a pulsed UV laser. Molecular bands of InO were identified in the fluorescent spectra produced by pulsed laser ablation. InO line monitoring allowed obtaining the optimal conditions for good-quality ITO film deposition. We demonstrated that it is possible to correlate InO line spectroscopic parameters with the conditions required to fabricate a high-conductivity and high-transparent ITO thin film. In particular, low resistivity (10-4 to 10-3 Ω cm) was obtained in films deposited at room temperature by regulating oxygen pres…
A Simple Apparatus for the Determination of the Optical Constants and the Thickness of Absorbing Thin Films
We report on a simple and inexpensive apparatus useful for measuring the optical constants n, k and the thickness of weakly absorbing thin films. The measurement is based on an accurate determination of the reflectance and transmittance of a specimen illuminated by a laser beam. The laser beam is incident on a transparent substrate coated with the film to be evaluated, with an angle of incidence equal to the Brewster angle for the substrate, and its polarization can be switched between the p and s states. If the thickness is known to be within a presumptive range, measurements of the p and s reflectance and transmittance allow a calculation of the optical constants n, k and the thickness of…