Thermal annealing effect on the nanomechanical properties and structure of P3HT:PCBM thin films

Nanostructured polymer-fullerene thin films are among the most prominent materials for application in high efficient polymer solar cells. Specifically, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and fullerene derivatives (PCBM) blends are used as the donor/acceptor materials forming a bulk heterojunction. Although P3HT:PCBM properties have been extensively studied, less light has been set on its nanomechanical properties, which affect the device service life. In this work Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy (AFAM), Atomic Force Spectroscopy and Nanoindentation were used to study the effect of the fullerene presence and the annealing on the P3HT:PCBM nanomechanical behavior. The P3HT:PCBM thin films were prepared by spin coating on glass substrates and then annealed at 100 °C and 145 °C for 30 min. Large phase separation was identified by optical and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) for the annealed samples. Needle-like PCBM crystals were formed and an increase of the polymer crystallinity degree with the increase of the annealing temperature was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. AFAM characterization revealed the presence of aggregates close to stiff PCBM crystals, possibly consisting of amorphous P3HT material. AFM force-distance curves showed a continuous change in stiffness in the vicinity of the PCBM crystals, due to the PCBM depletion near its crystals, and the AFM indentation provided qualitative results about the changes in P3HT nanomechanical response after annealing. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dye-sensitized solar cells based on a single layer deposition of TiO 2 from a new formulation paste and their photovoltaic performance

A new strategy for enhancing the efficiency and reducing the production cost of TiO 2 solar cells by design of a new formulated TiO 2 paste with tailored crystal structure and morphology is reported. The conventional three- or four-fold layer deposition process was eliminated and replaced by a single layer deposition of TiO 2 compound. Different TiO 2 pastes with various crystal structures, morphologies and crystallite sizes were prepared by an aqueous particulate sol-gel process. Based on simultaneous differential thermal (SDT) analysis the minimum annealing temperature to obtain organic-free TiO 2 paste was determined at 400°C, being one of the lowest crystallization temperatures of TiO 2 photoanode electrodes for solar cell application. Photovoltaic measurements showed that TiO 2 solar cell with pure anatase crystal structure had higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) than that made of pure rutile-TiO 2. However, the PCE of solar cells depends on the anatase to rutile weight ratio, reaching a maximum at a specific value due to the synergic effect between anatase and rutile TiO 2 nanoparticles. Moreover, it was found that the PCE of solar cells made of crystalline TiO 2 powders was much higher, increasing in the range 32-84% depending on anatase to rutile weight ratio, than that of prepared by amorphous powders. TiO 2 solar cell with the morphology of mixtures of nanoparticles and microparticles had higher PCE than the solar cell with the same phase composition containing TiO 2 nanoparticles due to the role of TiO 2 microparticles as light scattering particles. The presented strategy would open up new insight into fabrication and structural design of low-cost TiO 2 solar cells with high power conversion efficiency. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Microstructural evolution of SiOx films and its effect on the luminescence of Si nanoclusters

In this paper we demonstrate that the structural and optical properties of Si nanoclusters (Si ncs) formed by thermal annealing of SiOx films prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and magnetron sputtering are very different. In fact, at a fixed Si excess and annealing temperature, photoluminescence (PL) spectra of sputtered samples are redshifted with respect to PECVD samples, denoting a larger Si ncs size. In addition, PL intensity reaches a maximum in sputtered films at annealing temperatures much lower than those needed in PECVD films. These data are correlated with structural properties obtained by energy filtered transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy. It is shown that in PECVD films only around 30% of the Si excess agglomerates in clusters while an almost complete agglomeration occurs in sputtered films. These data are explained on the basis of the different initial structural properties of the as-deposited films that become crucial for the subsequent evolution. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Thermal evolution of Er silicate thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering

Stoichiometric Er silicate thin films, monosilicate (Er2SiO 5) and disilicate (Er2Si2O7), have been grown on c-Si substrates by rf magnetron sputtering. The influence of annealing temperature in the range 1000-1200 °C in oxidizing ambient (O 2) on the structural and optical properties has been studied. In spite of the known reactivity of rare earth silicates towards silicon, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry shows that undesired chemical reactions between the film and the substrate can be strongly limited by using rapid thermal treatments. Monosilicate and disilicate films crystallize at 1100 and 1200 °C, respectively, as shown by x-ray diffraction analysis; the crystalline structures have been identified in both cases. Moreover, photoluminescence (PL) measurements have demonstrated that the highest PL intensity is obtained for Er2Si2O7 film annealed at 1200 °C. In fact, this treatment allows us to reduce the defect density in the film, in particular by saturating oxygen vacancies, as also confirmed by the increase of the lifetime of the PL signal. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.

The role of damping in steel pan manufacture

Results are presented of systematic studies of vibration damping in steel of a type, and processed by a route, rel-evant to Caribbean steel pans. Damping is likely to be a significant factor in the variation of sound quality be-tween different pans. The main stages in pan manufac-ture are simulated in a controlled manner using sheet steel, cold-rolled to a prescribed level of thickness reduc-tion then annealed at a chosen temperature in a laboratory furnace. Small test strips were cut from the resulting material, and tested in free-free beam bending to deduce the Young’s modulus and its associated loss factor. It is shown that the steel type, the degree of cold working and the annealing temperature all have a significant influence on damping. Furthermore, for each individual specimen damping is found to decrease with rising frequency, ap-proximately following a power law. Comparison with samples cut from a real pan show that there are further influences from the pan’s geometrical details.

Changes in the Mg profile and in dislocations induced by high temperature annealing of blue LEDs

The efficiency of the injection and recombination processes in InGaN/GaN LEDs is governed by the properties of the active region of the devices, which strongly depend on the conditions used for the growth of the epitaxial material. To improve device quality, it is very important to understand how the high temperatures used during the growth process can modify the quality of the epitaxial material. With this paper we present a study of the modifications in the properties of InGaN/GaN LED structures induced by high temperature annealing: thermal stress tests were carried out at 900 °C, in nitrogen atmosphere, on selected samples. The efficiency and the recombination dynamics were evaluated by photoluminescence measurements (both integrated and time-resolved), while the properties of the epitaxial material were studied by Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) and Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) channeling measurements. Results indicate that exposure to high temperatures may lead to: (i) a significant increase in the photoluminescence efficiency of the devices; (ii) a decrease in the parasitic emission bands located between 380 nm and 400 nm; (iii) an increase in carrier lifetime, as detected by time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. The increase in device efficiency is tentatively ascribed to an improvement in the crystallographic quality of the samples. © 2013 SPIE.

Effect of high temperature post-annealing on sidewalls of GaAs NWs grown by MOCVD

The sidewall facets of GaAs nanowires (NWs) were studied. It has been found that the sidewalls of GaAs NWs grown at 450 °C are {112} facets. However, the sidewalls of GaAs NWs start to become {110} during the postannealing at 650 °C for 30 min. © 2010 IEEE.

Low-temperature (≤600 °C) semi-insulating oxygen-doped silicon films by the PECVD technique for large-area power applications

This work describes the deposition, annealing and characterisation of semi-insulating oxygen-doped silicon films at temperatures compatible with polysilicon circuitry on glass. The semi-insulating layers are deposited by the plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique from silane (SiH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and helium (He) gas mixtures at a temperature of 350 °C. The as-deposited films are then furnace annealed at 600 °C which is the maximum process temperature. Raman analysis shows the as-deposited and annealed films to be completely amorphous. The most important deposition variable is the N2O SiH4 gas ratio. By varying the N2O SiH4 ratio the conductivity of the annealed films can be accurately controlled, for the first time, down to a minimum of ≈10-7Ω-1cm-1 where they exhibit a T -1 4 temperature dependence indicative of a hopping conduction mechanism. Helium dilution of the reactant gases is shown to improve both film uniformity and reproducibility. A model for the microstructure of these semi-insulating amorphous oxygen-doped silicon films is proposed to explain the observed physical and electrical properties. © 1995.

Low temperature (≤ 600°C) semi-insulating oxygen-doped silicon films by the PECVD technique for large area power applications

This work describes the annealing and characterisation of semi-insulating oxygen-doped silicon films deposited by the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) technique from silane (SiH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and helium (He) gas mixtures. The maximum process temperature is chosen to be compatible with large area polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) circuitry on glass. The most important deposition variable is shown to be the N2O SiH4 gas ratio. Helium dilution results in improved film uniformity and reproducibility. Raman analysis shows the 'as-deposited' and annealed films to be completely amorphous. A model for the microstructure of these Semi-Insulating Amorphous Oxygen-doped Silicon (SIAOS) films is proposed to explain the observed physical and electrical properties. © 1995.

ANNEALING BEHAVIOUR OF HIGH DOSE As** plus IMPLANTS.

The annealing behaviour of doses up to 4. 10**1**6 ions/cm**2 implanted at ion currents up to 10ma is described. Differences between rapid isothermal and furnace annealing in the measured sheet resistances are due to different amounts of diffusion and to loss of dopant by evaporation. Implantation at high currents (10ma) does not appear to affect the quality of the regrown material provided the temperature rise during implantation is small.

RESIDUAL DEFECTS FOLLOWING RAPID ANNEALING OF BORON IMPLANTED SILICON WITH AND WITHOUT PREAMORPHISATION BY SILICON IMPLANTATION.

Implants of boron into silicon which has been made amorphous by silicon implantation have a shallower depth profile than the same implants into silicon. This results in higher activation and restricted diffusion of the B implants after annealing, and there are also significant differences in the microstructure after annealing compared with B implants into silicon. Rapid isothermal heating with an electron beam and furnace treatments are used to characterize the defect structure as a function of time and temperature. Defects are seen to influence the diffusion of non-substitutional boron.

TRANSIENT SCANNING ELECTRON BEAM ANNEALING METHODS USED TO STUDY DIFFUSION AND DEFECTS IN IMPLANTED SILICON.

Rapid thermal annealing of arsenic and boron difluoride implants, such as those used for source/drain regions in CMOS, has been carried out using a scanning electron beam annealer, as part of a study of transient diffusion effects. Three types of e-beam anneal have been performed, with peak temperatures in the range 900 -1200 degree C; the normal isothermal e-beam anneals, together with sub-second fast anneals and 'dual-pulse' anneals, in which the sample undergoes an isothermal pre-anneal followed by rapid heating to the required anneal temperature is less than 0. 5s. The diffusion occuring during these anneal cycles has been modelled using SPS-1D, an implant and diffusion modelling program developed by one of the authors. This has been modified to incorporate simulated temperature vs. time cycles for the anneals. Results are presented applying the usual equilibrium clustering model, a transient point-defect enhancement to the diffusivity proposed recently by Fair and a new dynamic clustering model for arsenic. Good agreement with SIMS measurements is obtained using the dynamic clustering model, without recourse to a transient defect model.

Multi-walled carbon nanotube conductivity enhancement and band gap widening via rapid pulsed thermal annealing

Herein we report on the transport characteristics of rapid pulsed vacuum-arc thermally annealed, individual and network multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Substantially reduced defect densities (by at least an order of magnitude), measured by micro-Raman spectroscopy, and were achieved by partial reconstruction of the bamboo-type defects during thermal pulsing compared with more traditional single-pulse thermal annealing. Rapid pulsed annealed processed networks and individual multi-walled nanotubes showed a consistent increase in conductivity (of over a factor of five at room temperature), attributed to the reduced number density of resistive axial interfaces and, in the case of network samples, the possible formation of structural bonds between crossed nanotubes. Compared to the highly defective as-grown nanotubes, the pulsed annealed samples exhibited reduced temperature sensitivity in their transport characteristics signifying the dominance of scattering events from structural defects. Transport measurements in the annealed multi-walled nanotubes deviated from linear Ohmic, typically metallic, behavior to an increasingly semiconducting-like behavior attributed to thermally induced axial strains. Rapid pulsed annealed networks had an estimated band gap of 11.26 meV (as-grown; 6.17 meV), and this observed band gap enhancement was inherently more pronounced for individual nanotubes compared with the networks most likely attributed to mechanical pinning effect of the probing electrodes which possibly amplifies the strain induced band gap. In all instances the estimated room temperature band gaps increased by a factor of two. The gating performance of back-gated thin-film transistor structures verified that the observed weak semiconductivity (p-type) inferred from the transport characteristic at room temperature. © 2014 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.