R. Mu, M.H. Wu, Y.C. Liu, A. Ueda, D.O. Henderson, A.B. Hmelo, L.C. Feldman, and A. Hepp, Fabrication of copper-indium-disulfide films onto Mo/glass substrates using pulse laser deposition, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings Volume 730 (Materials for Energy Storage Generation and Transport), (2002), pp-55 V3.4/1 - V2.4/6.

Abstract

Pico-second pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was employed to fabricate copper indium disulfide (CIS) thin films on pure silica and the Mo coated glass substrates. By properly preparing the target materials and controlling the elemental ratio of the Cu, In and S in the deposited film followed by post-thermal annealing, good quality of CIS films can be obtained. A series of characterizations were conducted including XRD, RBS, IR, UV-Vis, AFM and STM analyses.

R. Mu, M.H. Wu, Y.C. Liu, A. Ueda, D.O. Henderson, A.B. Hmelo, and L.C. Feldman, Investigation of oxidation process of ultrathin amorphous and/or nano-crystalline silicon films, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings Volume 727 (Materials Nanostructured Interfaces, (2002), pp-123 R9.11/1 - R9.11/6.

Abstract

A series experiments were conducted and reported here on how to employ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a highly mass sensitive sensor to study a-Si film and Si nanocrystals oxidation under ambient oxygen. An experimental calibration procedure has been developed to prevent problems with QCM systems during routine study. With the help of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, one can purposely deposit a thin layer of a heavy element as an in-situ calibrant which can be analyzed by RBS quantitatively for QCM. The errors resulted from manufacture’s sensor, non-repeatable sensor mounting and handling, temperature cycling history from run to run and so on will be effectively eliminated. Our preliminary results indicate that the oxidation process of a-Si thin films has two stages. A fast oxidation associated with surface and near surface oxidation followed by a slow oxidation. The former is depends on the oxygen vapor pressure in the chamber and the later is oxygen diffusion controlled process.

Z. Pan. S.H. Morgan, A.Ueda, R. Aga, A. Steigerwald, A.B. Hmelo and R. Mu, Er-doped ZnO Films Grown by Pulsed E-beam Deposition, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, 19, 266216, (2007).

Abstract

Erbium (Er) and ZnO thin films were grown on fused silica and silicon substrates by successively evaporating ZnO and Er layers. The thicknesses of layers are 70 nm (ZnO), 5nm (Er), 100 nm (ZnO), 5 nm (Er), and 70 nm (ZnO), respectively. Er-doped ZnO films were formed by solid-phase Er diffusion using a thermal annealing process at 700 ^oC in air. The films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), UV-visible absorption, and photoluminescence (PL). PL was measured at 325 nm and 488 nm laser excitation, respectively. With 325 nm excitation, emission from as-deposited film is dominated by the near-band-gap luminescence, while emission from annealed film showed a dramatic increase of the deep-level emission centered at about 550 nm. With 488 nm excitation, the PL spectrum of annealed film revealed luminescent features of the Er-doped polycrystalline ZnO film, where emission bands of ²H_11/2 ® ⁴I_15/2, ⁴S_3/2 ® ⁴S_15/2, and ⁴F_9/2 ® ⁴S_15/2 transitions of Er³⁺ ions were observed. The smooth emission profile from Er³⁺ in film is attributed to inhomogeneous broadening.

Erbium-doped ZnO thin films with nano-size grains were grown on silicon substrate by pulsed e-beam deposition. The luminescence provides evidence that the Er ions have been incorporated inside the crystalline ZnO grains in film. 

A. Steigerwald, R. Aga, W. E. Collins, R. Mu and A. B. Hmelo, Compositional analysis of lead telluride films deposited via pulsed electron-beam ablation, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films -- May 2008 -- Volume 26, Issue 3, pp. 513.