Metal films (i.e., Ti, Al and SUH310S) were prepared in a magnetron sputtering apparatus, and their cross-sectional structures were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The apparatus used consisted of a cylindrical metal target which was electrically grounded, and two anode rings attached to the top and to the bottom of the target. A wire was placed along the center-line of the cylindrical target to provide a substrate. When the electrical potential of the substrate was varied, the metal-film formation rate depended on both the discharge voltage and the electrical potential of the substrate. As we made the magnetic field stronger, the plasma which appeared near the target collected on the plasma wall surface and thereby decreased the bias current. The bias current on the conducting wire was different from that for cation collection. The bias current decreased because the collection of cations decreased when we increased the magnetic-coil current. When the substrate was electrically isolated, the films deposited showed a slightly coarse columnar structure with thin voids between adjacent columns. In contrast, in the case of the grounded substrate, the deposited film did not show any clear columns but instead, showed a densely-packed granular structure. No peeling region was observed between the film and substrate, indicating good adhesion.

Flexible BaTiO3 films as dielectric materials for high energy density capacitors were deposited on polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering. The growth behavior, microstructure and electrical properties of theflexible BaTiO3 films were dependent on the sputtering pressure during sputtering. The RMS roughness and crystallite size ofthe BaTiO3 increased with increasing sputtering pressure. All BaTiO3 films had an amorphous structure, regardless of thesputtering pressures, due to the low PET substrate temperature. The composition of films showed an atomic ratio (Ba:Ti:O)of 0.9:1.1:3. The electrical properties of the BaTiO3 films were affected by the microstructure and roughness. The BaTiO3 filmsprepared at 100mTorr exhibited a dielectric constant of ~80 at 1kHz and a leakage current of 10−8A at 400kV/cm. Also, filmsshowed polarization of 8µC/cm2 at 100kV/cm and remnant polarization (Pr) of 2µC/cm2. This suggests that sputter depositedflexible BaTiO3 films are a promising dielectric that can be used in high energy density capacitors owing to their high dielectricconstant, low leakage current and stable preparation by sputtering.

In this study, we report the sintering behavior and properties of a Ge2Sb2Te5 alloy powders for use as asputtering target by spark plasma sintering. The effect of various sintering parameters, such as pressure, temperature andtime, on the density and hardness of the target has been investigated in detail. Structural characterization was performedby scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Hardness and thermal properties were measured by differentialscanning calorimetry and micro-vickers hardness tester. The density and hardness of the sintered Ge2Sb2Te5 materialswere 5.8976~6.3687 g/cm3 and 32~75 Hv, respectively.

This study attempted to manufacture a Cu-Ga coating layer via the cold spray process and to investigate the applicability of the layer as a sputtering target material. In addition, changes made to the microstructure and prop- erties of the layer due to annealing heat treatment were evaluated, compared, and analyzed. The results showed that coating layers with a thickness of 520 mm could be manufactured via the cold spray process under optimal conditions. With the Cu-Ga coating layer, the α-Cu and Cu3Ga were found to exist inside the layer regardless of annealing heat treatment. The microstructure that was minute and inhomogeneous prior to thermal treatment changed to homogeneous and dense with a more clear division of phases. A sputtering test was actually conducted using the sputtering target Cu- Ga coating layer (~2 mm thickness) that was additionally manufactured via the cold-spray coating process. Consequently, this test result confirmed that the cold sprayed Cu-Ga coating layer may be applied as a sputtering target material.

ZnO thin films co-doped with Mg and Ga (MxGyZzO, x+y+z=1, x=0.05, y=0.02 and z=0.93) were preparedon glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering with different sputtering powers ranging from 100W to 200W at a substratetemperature of 350oC. The effects of the sputtering power on the structural, morphological, electrical, and optical propertiesof MGZO thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that all the MGZO thin films were grown asa hexagonal wurtzite phase with the preferred orientation on the c-axis without secondary phases such as MgO, Ga2O3, orZnGa2O4. The intensity of the diffraction peak from the (0002) plane of the MGZO thin films was enhanced as the sputteringpower increased. The (0002) peak positions of the MGZO thin films was shifted toward, a high diffraction angle as thesputtering power increased. Cross-sectional field emission scanning electron microscopy images of the MGZO thin filmsshowed that all of these films had a columnar structure and their thickness increased with an increase in the sputtering power.MGZO thin film deposited at the sputtering power of 200W showed the best electrical characteristics in terms of the carrierconcentration (4.71×1020cm−3), charge carrier mobility (10.2cm2V−1s−1) and a minimum resistivity (1.3×10−3Ωcm). A UV-visible spectroscopy assessment showed that the MGZO thin films had high transmittance of more than 80% in the visibleregion and that the absorption edges of MGZO thin films were very sharp and shifted toward the higher wavelength side, from270nm to 340nm, with an increase in the sputtering power. The band-gap energy of MGZO thin films was widened from3.74eV to 3.92eV with the change in the sputtering power.

In this study, we mainly focus on the study of densification of gas-atomized Cu-50 wt.%In-13 wt.%Ga alloy powder without occurrence of crack during the forming process. Cu-50 wt.%In-13 wt.%Ga alloy powder was consolidated by sintering and rolling processes in order to obtain high density. The phase and microstructure of formed materials were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM), respectively. Warm rolling using copper can result in the improvement of density. The specimen obtained with 80% of rolling reduction ratio at using cooper can have the highest density of .

Insoluble catalytic electrodes were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering of Pt on Ti substrates and the performance of seawater electrolysis was compared in these electrodes to that is DSA electrodes. The Pt-sputtered insoluble catalytic electrodes were nearly 150 nm-thick with a roughness of 0.18μm, which is 1/660 and 1/12 of these values for the DSA (dimensionally stable anodes) electrodes. The seawater electrolysis performance levels were determined through measurements of the NaOCl concentration, which was the main reaction product after electrolysis using artificial seawater. The NaOCl concentration after 2 h of electrolysis with artificial seawater, which has 3.5% NaCl normally, at current densities of 50, 80 and 140 mA/cm2 were 0.76%, 1.06%, and 2.03%, respectively. A higher current density applied through the electrodes led to higher electrolysis efficiency. The efficiency reached nearly 58% in the Pt-sputtered samples after 2 h of electrolysis. The reaction efficiency of DSA showed higher values than that of the Pt-sputtered insoluble catalytic electrodes. One plausible reason for this is the higher specific surface area of the DSA electrodes; the surface cracks of the DSAs resulted in a higher specific surface area and higher reaction sites. Upon the electrolysis process, some Mg- and Ca-hydroxides, which were minor components in the artificial seawater, were deposited onto the surface of the electrodes, resulting in an increase in the electrical resistances of the electrodes. However, the extent of the increase ranged from 4% to 7% within an electrolysis time of 720 h.

In2O3 films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on a glass substrate and then the effect of post depositionannealing in nitrogen atmosphere on the structural, optical and electrical properties of the films was investigated. Afterdeposition, the annealing process was conducted for 30 minutes at 200 and 400oC. XRD pattern analysis showed that the asdeposited films were amorphous. When the annealing temperature reached 200-400oC, the intensities of the In2O3 (222) majorpeak increased and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the In2O3 (222) peak decreased due to the crystallization. Thefilms annealed at 400oC showed a grain size of 28nm, which was larger than that of the as deposited amorphous films. Theoptical transmittance in the visible wavelength region also increased, while the electrical sheet resistance decreased. In this study,the films annealed at 400oC showed the highest optical transmittance of 76% and also showed the lowest sheet resistance of89Ω/□. The figure of merit reached a maximum of 7.2×10−4Ω−1 for the films annealed at 400oC. The effect of the annealingon the work-function of In2O3 films was considered. The work-function obtained from annealed films at 400oC was 7.0eV. Thus,the annealed In2O3 films are an alternative to ITO films for use as transparent anodes in OLEDs.

The electrochromic properties of tungsten oxide films grown by RF sputtering were investigated. Among the sputter parameters, first the Ar:O2 ratios were controlled with division into only an O2 environment, 1:1 and 4:1. The structure of each film prepared by these conditions was studied by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. The sputter-deposited tungsten oxide films had an amorphous structure regardless of the Ar:O2 ratios. The chemical compositions, however, were different from each other. The stoichiometric structure and low-density film was obtained at higher O2 contents. Electrochemical tests were performed by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry at 0.05 M H2SO4 solutions. The current density and charge ratio was estimated during the continuous potential and pulse potential cycling at -0.5 V and 1.8 V, respectively. The film grown in a higher oxygen environment had a higher current density and a reversible charge reaction during intercalation and deintercalation. The in-situ transmittance tests were performed by He-Ne laser (633 nm). At higher oxygen contents, a big transmittance difference was observed but the response speed was too slow. This was likely caused by higher film resistivity. Furthermore, the effect of sputtering pressure was also investigated. The structure and surface morphology of each film was observed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. A rough surface was observed at higher sputtering pressure, and this affected the higher transmittance difference and coloration efficiency.

This study attempted to manufacture a Cu-15 at.%Ga coating layer via the cold spray process and investigated the effect of heat treatment environment on the properties of cold sprayed coating material. Three kinds of heat treatment environments, +argon, pure argon, and vacuum were used in this study. Annealing treatments were conducted at /1 hr. With the cold sprayed coating layer, pure -Cu and small amounts of were detected in the XRD, EDS, EPMA analyses. Porosity significantly decreased and hardness also decreased with increasing annealing temperature. The inhomogeneous dendritic microstructure of cold sprayed coating material changed to the homogeneous and dense one (microstructural evolution) with annealing heat treatment. Oxides near the interface of particles could be reduced by heat treatment especially in vacuum and argon environments. Vacuum environment during heat treatment was suggested to be most effective one to improve the densification and purification properties of cold sprayed Cu-15 at.%Ga coating material.

The CdS thin film used as a window layer in the CdTe thin film solar cell transports photo-generated electrons to the front contact and forms a p-n junction with the CdTe layer. This is why the electrical, optical, and surface properties of the CdS thin film influence the efficiency of the CdTe thin film solar cell. When CdTe thin film solar cells are fabricated, a heat treatment is done to improve the qualities of the CdS thin films. Of the many types of heat treatments, the CdCl2 heat treatment is most widely used because the grain size in CdS thin films increases and interdiffusion between the CdS and the CdTe layer is prevented by the heat treatment. To investigate the changes in the electrical, optical, and surface properties and the crystallinity of the CdS thin films due to heat treatment, CdS thin films were deposited on FTO/glass substrates by the rf magnetron sputtering technique, and then a CdCl2 heat treatment was carried out. After the CdCl2 heat treatment, the clustershaped grains in the CdS thin film increased in size and their boundaries became faint. XRD results show that the crystallinity improved and the crystalline size increased from 15 to 42 nm. The resistivity of the CdS single layer decreased from 3.87 to 0.26 Ωcm, and the transmittance in the visible region increased from 64% to 74%.

Ultra-thin aluminum (Al) and tin (Sn) films were grown by dc magnetron sputtering on a glass substrate. The electrical resistance R of films was measured in-situ method during the film growth. Also transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study was carried out to observe the microstructure of the films. In the ultra-thin film study, an exact determination of a coalescence thickness and a continuous film thickness is very important. Therefore, we tried to measure the minimum thickness for continuous film (dmin) by means of a graphical method using a number of different y-values as a function of film thickness. The raw date obtained in this study provides a graph of in-situ resistance of metal film as a function of film thickness. For the Al film, there occurs a maximum value in a graph of in-situ electrical resistance versus film thickness. Using the results in this study, we could define clearly the minimum thickness for continuous film where the position of minimum values in the graph when we put the value of Rd3 to y-axis and the film thickness to x-axis. The measured values for the minimum thickness for continuous film are 21 nm and 16 nm for sputtered Al and Sn films, respectively. The new method for defining the minimum thickness for continuous film in this study can be utilized in a basic data when we design an ultra-thin film for the metallization application in nano-scale devices.

Abstract In this study characteristics of Al-doped ZnO thin film by HIPIMS (High power impulse sputtering) are discussed. Deposition speed of HIPIMS with conventional balanced magnetic field is measured at about 3 nm/min, which is 30% of that of conventional RF sputtering process with the same working pressure. To generate additional magnetic flux and increase sputtering speed, electromagnetic coil is mounted at the back side of target. Under unbalanced magnetic flux from electromagnet with 1.5A coil current, deposition speed of AZO thin film is increased from 3 nm/min to 4.4 nm/min. This new value originates from the decline of particles near target surface due to the local magnetic flux going toward substrate from electromagnet. AZO film sputtered by HIPIMS process shows very smooth and dense film surface for which surface roughness is measured from 0.4 nm to 1 nm. There are no voids or defects in morphology of AZO films with varying of magnetic field. When coil current is increased from 0A to 1A, transmittance of AZO thin film decreases from 80% to 77%. Specific resistance is measured at about 2.9×10-2Ω·cm. AZO film shows C-axis oriented structure and its grain size is calculated at about 5.3 nm, which is lower than grain size in conventional sputtering.

Most TCOs such as ITO, AZO(Al-doped ZnO), FTO(F-doped SnO2) etc., which have been widely used in LCD,touch panel, solar cell, and organic LEDs etc. as transparent electrode material reveal n-type conductivity. But in order to realizetransparent circuit, transparent p-n junction, and introduction of transparent p-type materials are prerequisite. Additionalprerequisite condition is optical transparency in visible spectral region. Oxide based materials usually have a wide optical band-gap more than ~3.0eV. In this study, single-phase transparent semiconductor of SrCu2O2, which shows p-type conductivity, havebeen synthesized by 2-step solid state reaction at 950oC under N2 atmosphere, and single-phase SrCu2O2 thin films of p-typeTCOs have been deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on alkali-free glass substrate from single-phase target at 500oC, 1%H2/(Ar+H2) atmosphere. 3% H2/(Ar+H2) resulted in formation of second phases. Hall measurements confirmed the p-typenature of the fabricated SrCu2O2 thin films. The electrical conductivity, mobility of carrier and carrier density 5.27×10−2S/cm,2.2cm2/Vs, 1.53×1017/cm3 a room temperature, respectively. Transmittance and optical band-gap of the SrCu2O2 thin filmsrevealed 62% at 550nm and 3.28eV. The electrical and optical properties of the obtained SrCu2O2 thin films deposited by RFmagnetron sputtering were compared with those deposited by PLD and e-beam.

Films consisting of a silicon quantum dot superlattice were fabricated by alternating deposition of silicon rich silicon nitride and Si3N4 layers using an rf magnetron co-sputtering system. In order to use the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure for third generation multi junction solar cell applications, it is important to control the dot size. Moreover, silicon quantum dots have to be in a regularly spaced array in the dielectric matrix material for in order to allow for effective carrier transport. In this study, therefore, we fabricated silicon quantum dot superlattice films under various conditions and investigated crystallization behavior of the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra showed an increased intensity of the 840 cm-1 peak with increasing annealing temperature due to the increase in the number of Si-N bonds. A more conspicuous characteristic of this process is the increased intensity of the 1100 cm-1 peak. This peak was attributed to annealing induced reordering in the films that led to increased Si-N4 bonding. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that peak position was shifted to higher bonding energy as silicon 2p bonding energy changed. This transition is related to the formation of silicon quantum dots. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis also confirmed the formation of silicon quantum dots. This study revealed that post annealing at 1100˚C for at least one hour is necessary to precipitate the silicon quantum dots in the SiNx matrix.

Solar cells have been more intensely studied as part of the effort to find alternatives to fossil fuels as power sources.The progression of the first two generations of solar cells has seen a sacrifice of higher efficiency for more economic use ofmaterials. The use of a single junction makes both these types of cells lose power in two major ways: by the non-absorptionof incident light of energy below the band gap; and by the dissipation by heat loss of light energy in excess of the band gap.Therefore, multi junction solar cells have been proposed as a solution to this problem. However, the 1st and 2nd generation solarcells have efficiency limits because a photon makes just one electron-hole pair. Fabrication of all-silicon tandem cells using anSi quantum dot superlattice structure (QD SLS) is one possible suggestion. In this study, an SiOx matrix system was investigatedand analyzed for potential use as an all-silicon multi-junction solar cell. Si quantum dots with a super lattice structure (Si QDSLS) were prepared by alternating deposition of Si rich oxide (SRO; SiOx (x=0.8, 1.12)) and SiO2 layers using RF magnetronco-sputtering and subsequent annealing at temperatures between 800 and 1,100oC under nitrogen ambient. Annealing temperaturesand times affected the formation of Si QDs in the SRO film. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra and x-rayphotoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that nanocrystalline Si QDs started to precipitate after annealing at 1,100oC for onehour. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images clearly showed SRO/SiO2 SLS and Si QDs formation in each 4, 6, and8nm SRO layer after annealing at 1,100oC for two hours. The systematic investigation of precipitation behavior of Si QDsin SiO2 matrices is presented.

Tin oxide thin films were prepared on borosilicate glass by rf reactive sputtering at different deposition powers, process pressures and substrate temperatures. The ratio of oxygen/argon gas flow was fixed as 10 sccm / 60 sccm in this study. The structural, electrical and optical properties were examined by the design of experiment to evaluate the optimized processing conditions. The Taguchi method was used in this study. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectrometer, Hall effect measurements and atomic force microscope. Tin oxide thin films exhibited three types of crystal structures, namely, amorphous, SnO and SnO2. In the case of amorphous thin films the optical band gap was widely spread from 2.30 to 3.36 eV and showed n-type conductivity. While the SnO thin films had an optical band gap of 2.24-2.49 eV and revealed p-type conductivity, the SnO2 thin films showed an optical band gap of 3.33-3.63 eV and n-type conductivity. Among the three process parameters, the plasma power had the most impact on changing the structural, electrical and optical properties of the tin oxide thin films. It was also found that the grain size of the tin oxide thin films was dependent on the substrate temperature. However, the substrate temperature has very little effect on electrical and optical properties.

Silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) in a superlattice for high efficiency tandem solar cells were fabricated by magnetron rf sputtering and their characteristics were investigated. SiC/Si1-xCx superlattices were deposited by co-sputtering of Si and C targets and annealed at 1000˚C for 20 minutes in a nitrogen atmosphere. The Si QDs in Si-rich layers were verified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction. The size of the QDs was observed to be 3-6 nm through high resolution TEM. Some crystal Si and -SiC peaks were clearly observed in the grazing incident X-ray diffractogram. Raman spectroscopy in the annealed sample showed a sharp peak at 516 cm-1 which is an indication of Si QDs. Based on the Raman shift the size of the QD was estimated to be 4-6 nm. The volume fraction of Si crystals was calculated to be about 33%. The change of the FT-IR absorption spectrum from a Gaussian shape to a Lorentzian shape also confirmed the phase transition from an amorphous phase before annealing to a crystalline phase after annealing. The optical absorption coefficient also decreased, but the optical band gap increased from 1.5 eV to 2.1 eV after annealing. Therefore, it is expected that the optical energy gap of the QDs can be controlled with growth and annealing conditions.

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) is a promising material for use in many potential applications because of its outstanding physical properties such as high thermal stability, high abrasive wear resistance, and super hardness. Even though 316L austenitic stainless steel (STS) has poor wear resistance causing it to be toxic in the body due to wear and material chips, 316L STS has been used for implant biomaterials in orthopedics due to its good corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. Therefore, in the present study, c-BN films with a B4C layer were applied to a 316L STS specimen in order to improve its wear resistance. The deposition of the c-BN films was performed using an r.f. (13.56 MHz) magnetron sputtering system with a B4C target. The coating layers were characterized using XPS and SEM, and the mechanical properties were investigated using a nanoindenter. The friction coefficient of the c-BN coated 316L STS steel was obtained using a pin-on-disk according to the ASTM G163-99. The thickness of the obtained c-BN and B4C were about 220 nm and 630 nm, respectively. The high resolution XPS spectra analysis of B1s and N1s revealed that the c-BN film was mainly composed of sp3 BN bonds. The hardness and elastic modulus of the c-BN measured by the nanoindenter were 46.8 GPa and 345.7 GPa, respectively. The friction coefficient of the c-BN coated 316L STS was decreased from 3.5 to 1.6. The wear property of the c-BN coated 316L STS was enhanced by a factor of two.

Various thicknesses of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films were deposited on glass substrate using pulsed dcmagnetron sputtering with a cylindrical target designed for large-area high-speed deposition. The structural,electrical, and optical properties of the films of various thicknesses were characterized. All deposited AZO filmshave (0002) preferred orientation with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate. Crystal quality and surfacemorphology of the films changed according to the film thickness. The samples with higher surface roughnessexhibited lower Hall mobility. Analysis of the measured data of the optical band gap and the carrierconcentration revealed that there were no changes for all the film thicknesses. The optical transmittances weremore than 85% regardless of film thickness within the visible wavelength region. The lowest resistivity,4.13×10-4Ω·cm-1, was found in 750nm films with an electron mobility (µ) of 10.6cm2V-1s-1 and a carrierconcentration (n) of 1.42×1021cm-3.