Electrical characterization of SnO2 : Sb ultrathin films obtained by controlled thickness deposition

A representative study is reported on the electrical properties of SnO2: Sb. ultrathin films (thickness of 40-70 nm) produced by a deposition method based on aqueous colloidal suspensions of 3-5 nm crystalline oxides. The results revealed the films' electrical behavior in a range of 10-300 K, showing a strong dependence on dopant incorporation, with minimum resistivity values in 10 mol % of Sb content. All the samples displayed semiconductor behavior, but the transport mechanism showed a strong dependence on thickness, making it difficult to fit it to well-known models. In thicker films, the mechanism proved to be an intermediary system, with thermally activated and hopping features. Electron hopping was estimated in the range of 0.4-1.9 nm, i.e., in the same order as the particle size. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Drude's model calculation rule on electrical transport in Sb-doped SnO2 thin films, deposited via sol-gel

The evaluation of free carrier concentration based on Drude's theory can be performed by the use of optical transmittance in the range 800-2000 nm (near infrared) for Sb-doped SnO2 thin films. In this article, we estimate the free carrier concentration for these films, which are deposited via sol-gel dip-coating. At approximately 900 mn, there is a separation among transmittance curves of doped and undoped samples. The plasma resonance phenomena approach leads to free carrier concentration of about 5 x 1020 cm(-3). The increase in the Sb concentration increases the film conductivity; however, the magnitude of measured resistivity is still very high. The only way to combine such a high free carrier concentration with a rather low conductivity is to have a very low mobility. It becomes possible when the crystallite dimensions are taken into account. We obtain grains with 5 nm of average size by estimating the grain size from X-ray diffraction data, and by using line broadening in the diffraction pattern. The low conductivity is due to very intense scattering at the grain boundary, which is created by the presence of a large amount of nanoscopic crystallites. Such a result is in accordance with X-ray photoemission spectroscopy data that pointed to Sb incorporation proportional to the free electron concentration, evaluated according to Drude's model. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CaCu3Ti4O12 thin films with non-linear resistivity deposited by RF-sputtering

Calcium copper titanate, CaCu3Ti4O12, CCTO, thin films with polycrystalline nature have been deposited by RF sputtering on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si (100) substrates at a room temperature followed by annealing at 600 °C for 2 h in a conventional furnace. The CCTO thin film present a cubic structure with lattice parameter a = 7.379 ±0.001 Å free of secondary phases. The observed electrical features of CCTO thin films are highly dependent on the [CaO12], [CaO 4], [CuO11], [CuO11Vx 0] and [TiO5.VO] clusters. The CCTO film capacitor showed a dielectric loss of 0.40 and a dielectric permittivity of 70 at 1 kHz. The J-V behavior is completely symmetrical, regardless of whether the conduction is limited by interfacial barriers or by bulk-like mechanisms. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrical and Superconducting Properties in Lap Joints for YBCO Tapes

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Electrical properties of highly conducting Sno2:Sb nanocrystals synthesized using a nonaqueous sol gel method

This work describes the synthesis of highly conducting antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) nanocrystals prepared via a nonaqueous sol–gel route in the size range of 4–6 nm and provides insights into its electrical properties. The antimony composition was varied from 1 to 18 mol% and the lowest resistivity (4.0 × 10−4Ω·cm) was observed at room temperature in the SnO2:8.8 mol% Sb composition. The samples were evaluated by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope, and resistivity measurements were taken in the four-probe mode in the temperature range of 13–300 K. The results show highly crystalline nanoparticles in a monodisperse colloidal system, dependence on the shape of ATO nanoparticles as a function of Sb distribution, low resistivity, and semiconductor–metal transition.

Electrical Properties at Grain Boundaries Influenced by Cr3+ Diffusion in SnO2.ZnO.Nb2O5-Films Varistor Prepared by Electrophoresis Deposition

SnO2-based varistors are strong candidates to replace the ZnO-based varistors due to ordering fewer additives to improve its electrical behavior as well as by showing similar nonlinear characteristics of ZnO varistors. In this work, SnO2-nanoparticles based-varistors with addition of 1.0 %mol of ZnO and 0.05 %mol of Nb2O5 were synthesized by chemical route. SnO2.ZnO.Nb2O5-films with 5 μm of thickness were obtained by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of the nanoparticles on Si/Pt substrate from alcoholic suspension of SnO2-based powder. The sintering step was carried out in a microwave oven at 1000 °C for 40 minutes. Then, Cr3+ ions were deposited on the films surface by EPD after the sintering step. Each sample was submitted to different thermal treatments to improve the varistor behavior by diffusion of ions in the samples. The films showed a nonlinear coefficient (α) greater than 9, breakdown voltage (VR) around 60 V, low leakage current (IF ≈ 10-6 A), height potential barrier above 0.5 eV and grain boundary resistivity upward of 107 Ω.cm.

Improved electrical transport in lightly Er-doped sol-gel spin-coating SnO2 thin films, processed by photolithography

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Electrical transport mechanisms and structure of hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated nanocrystalline Ga1-xMnxAs films

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Post-annealed SiC(x)N(y) Films

Amorphous SiC(x)N(y) films have been deposited on (100) Si substrates by RF magnetron sputtering of a SiC target in a variable nitrogen-argon atmosphere. The as-deposited films were submitted to thermal anneling in a furnace under argon atmosphere at 1000 degrees C for 1 hour. Composition and structure of unannealed and annealed samples were investigated by RBS and FTIR. To study the electrical characteristics of SiC(x)N(y) films, Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures were fabricated. Elastic modulus and hardness of the films were determined by nanoindentation. The results of these studies showed that nitrogen content and thermal annealing affect the electrical, mechanical and structural properties of SiC(x)N(y) films.

Comparative electrical behavior at low and high current of SnO(2)- and ZnO-based varistors

The complete I-V characteristics of SnO(2)-based varistors, particularly of the Pianaro system SCNCr consisting in 98.9%SnO(2)+1%CoO+0.05%Nb(2)O(5)+0.05%Cr(2)O(3), all in mol%, have been seldom reported in the literature. A comparative study at low and high currents of the nonohmic behavior of SCNCr- and ZnO-based varistors (modified Matsuoka system) is proposed in this work. The SCNCr system showed higher nonlinearity coefficients in the whole range of measured current. The electrical breakdown field (E(b)) was twice as high for the SCNCr system (5400 V/cm) than for the ZnO varistor (2600 V/cm) due to a smaller average grain size of the former (4.5 mu m) with respect to the latter (8.5 mu m). Nevertheless, we consider that another important factor responsible for the high E(b) in the SCNCr system is the great number of electrically active interfaces (85%) as determined with electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). It was also established that the SCNCr system might be produced in disks of smaller dimensions than that of commercial ZnO-based product, with a 5.0 cm(-1) minimal area-volume (A/V) ratio. The SCNCr reached the saturation current in a short time because of the high resistivity of the grains, which is five times higher than that of the grains in ZnO-based varistors.

On the electrical conductivity of Ti-implanted alumina

Ion implantation of metal species into insulators provides a tool for the formation of thin, electrically conducting, surface layers with experimenter-controlled resistivity. High energy implantation of Pt and Ti into alumina accelerator components has been successfully employed to control high voltage surface breakdown in a number of cases. In the work described here we have carried out some basic investigations related to the origin of this phenomenon. By comparison of the results of alumina implanted with Ti at 75 keV with the results of prior investigations of polymers implanted with Pt at 49 eV and Au at 67 eV, we describe a physical model of the effect based on percolation theory and estimate the percolation parameters for the Ti-alumina composite. We estimate that the percolation dose threshold is about 4 x 10(16) cm(-2) and the maximum dose for which the system remains an insulator-conductor composite is about 10 x 10(16) cm(-2). The saturation electrical conductivity is estimated to be about 50 S/m. We conclude that the observed electrical conductivity properties of Ti-implanted alumina can be satisfactorily described by percolation theory. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3697900]

Investigating Peatland Stratigraphy and Hydrogeology Using Integrated Electrical Geophysics

Hydrology has been suggested as the mechanism controlling vegetation and related surficial pore-water chemistry in large peatlands. Peatland hydrology influences the carbon dynamics within these large carbon reservoirs and will influence their response to global warming. A geophysical survey was completed in Caribou Bog, a large peatland in Maine, to evaluate peatland stratigraphy and hydrology. Geophysical measurements were integrated with direct measurements of peat stratigraphy from probing, fluid chemistry, and vegetation patterns in the peatland. Consistent with previous field studies, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was an excellent method for delineating peatland stratigraphy. Prominent reflectors from the peat-lake sediment and lake sediment-mineral soil contacts were precisely recorded up to 8 m deep. Two-dimensional resistivity and induced polarization imaging were used to investigate stratigraphy beneath the mineral soil, beyond the range of GPR. We observe that the peat is chargeable, and that IP imaging is an alternative method for defining peat thickness. The chargeability of peat is attributed to the high surface-charge density on partially decomposed organic matter. The electrical conductivity imaging resolved glaciomarine sediment thickness (a confining layer) and its variability across the basin. Comparison of the bulk conductivity images with peatland vegetation revealed a correlation between confining layer thickness and dominant vegetation type, suggesting that stratigraphy exerts a control on hydrogeology and vegetation distribution within this peatland. Terrain conductivity measured with a Geonics EM31 meter correlated with confining glaciomarine sediment thickness and was an effective method for estimating variability in glaciomarine sediment thickness over approximately 18 km(2). Our understanding of the hydrogeology, stratigraphy, and controls on vegetation growth in this peatland was much enhanced from the geophysical study.