[en] Accurate knowledge of the alignment of conduction and valence bands of layers at the heterojunction and warrant knowledge of the band offsets at the interface is essential for Zn_1_−_xSb_xO/ZnO based quantum well device designing and modeling. Under this scenario, valence band offsets of Zn_1_−_xSb_xO/ZnO heterostructures grown by the pulsed laser deposition technique was measured by photoelectron spectroscopy and consequently, the conduction band offset was calculated by UV-visible spectroscopy. The change in band alignment has been observed with the dopant (Sb) concentration. Ratios of conduction band offset to valence band offset were estimated to be 1.67 and 0.04 for x = 0.03 and 0.06, respectively, for Sb doped films. A Type-II band alignment was observed at the Zn_0_._9_7Sb_0_._0_3O/ZnO interface, whereas the Type-I band alignment took place at the Zn_0_._9_4Sb_0_._0_6O/ZnO interface. (paper)

[en] Highly c-axis-oriented Zn_1-xMg_xO multilayered thin films have been deposited on p-type Si substrates with different concentration of Mg (x = 0.00−0.40) using a sol–gel spin-coating technique. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that single-phase wurtzite thin films start showing phase segregation for a Mg content of x = 0.25 for the sol–gel-derived ZnMgO thin films. The element specific near edge x-ray fine structure (NEXAFS) collected at O K-edge also clearly evidence the phase segregation at x = 0.25. These results also show that films are deposited with wurtzite structure as dominant phase even after phase segregation. The NEXAFS spectra collected at Zn L₃-edge rule out the presence of any Zn-related defect due to Mg doping. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) depicts the spherical shape of nanosized grains, and grain size varies slightly with Mg content. The single-phase ZnMgO thin films show a band gap tuning from 3.38 to 3.84 eV, which is also consistent with blue shifting of near-band edge PL emission. The electrical resistivity of thin films increases with Mg content before phase segregation. However, the optical band gap, photoluminescence and electrical resistivity show anomalous behavior at phase segregation limit which has been discussed and correlated with each other. (paper)

[en] Electroless based Ni-Co-P alloy thin films were deposited using sodium hypophosphite as a reducing agent and sodium citrate as a complexing agent in an alkaline plating bath. The effect of solution pH and temperature on the plating rate was examined. The decrease in activation energy (81.35 − 73.54 kJ mole"−"1) for the Ni-Co-P thin films deposited on corning glass was observed with the increase in pH (8.5–9.38) of the plating bath. There is a significant decrease in sheet resistance of alloy thin films as the post deposition annealing temperature approaches 400 °C. The presence of nickel as well as nickel phosphide peaks and transition from metastable Ni_1_2P_5, Ni_8P_5 and Ni_5P_2 phases into thermodynamically stable NiP, NiP_2, Ni_3P phases after annealing at 600 °C was observed in XRD spectra, indicating the crystallization of the thin films. Surface topography analysis shows the variation of grain size in the range 20–40 nm. (paper)

[en] The magnesium doped zinc oxide is a promising optical material to enhance the luminescence for possible application in solid state lighting. Magnesium doped zinc oxide thin films (Zn_0.85Mg_0.15O) were deposited by sol-gel route on p-type silicon and annealed at different temperatures in oxygen environment for an hour. The doping of magnesium in zinc oxide was confirmed by X-Ray diffraction and the samples were found to have wurtzite crystal structure with (002) preferred orientation. The films were characterized by Hall-effect, atomic force microscopy, UV-VIS spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) and work function measurements. The different studies exhibited an anomalous behavior for the film annealed at 900 deg. C. The Hall effect, work function measurements and UV-VIS spectroscopy indicated that the resistivity, work function and optical band gap increased as a function of annealing temperature (from 300 deg. C to 700 deg. C) however these parameters were found to decrease for the films annealed above 700 deg. C. The particle size increased with the annealing but for the samples annealed at 900 deg. C, the shape of the grains changed and became elongated like fibers as observed by the atomic force microscopy. The PL measurements displayed the existence of oxygen vacancies defects for the samples annealed at and above 600 deg. C. The possible mechanism for this anomaly has been discussed in this work.

[en] Ternary ZnCdO thin films oriented along c-axis have been successfully deposited on p-Si (1 0 0) substrates using sol-gel spin coating route. To optimize most suitable annealing temperature for the Zn_1-xCd_xO thin films; these films with selected cadmium content x = 0.10 were treated at annealing temperatures from 300 °C up to 800 °C in oxygen ambient after deposition. The structural and optical properties of deposited thin films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectra. The results show that the obtained films possess high crystallinity with wurtzite structure. The crystallite size, lattice parameters, lattice strain and stress in the deposited films are determined from X-ray diffraction analysis. The band gap energy increased as a function of annealing temperatures as observed from optical reflectance spectra of samples. The presence of Cd in the deposited films is confirmed by energy dispersive spectrum and it is observed that Cd re-evaporate from the lattice with annealing. The photoluminescence measurements as performed at room temperature did not exhibit any luminescence related to oxygen vacancies defects for lower annealing temperatures, as normally displayed by ZnO films. The green yellow luminescence associated to these defects was observed at higher annealing temperatures (≥700 °C).