Transparent conductive Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have shown excellent structural, optical and electrical properties for applications in photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices, transparent conducting electrodes, solar cells, liquid crystal displays, touchscreens, energy efficient window coatings and heat reflective coatings. In this work, the AZO thin films were deposited at room temperature by multi-target reactive magnetron sputtering using metallic Zn and Al targets simultaneously. The Al doping content of the AZO films by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) had great impacts on optical properties in the near infrared (NIR) and in the UV regions and were strongly correlated to their electrical properties. The spectroscopic ellipsometry data in three incident angles and transmission intensity data were measured and fitted simultaneously with a Tauc-Lorentz oscillator and a Drude model in the wavelength of 270 -2500 nm. The transmittance and reflectance spectra, the derived refractive index and extinction coefficient, were tailored in the NIR region by Al content and correlated to the electrical resistivity. The blue shift of the absorption edge in the UV region and the widening of the optical band gap were associated with the increase of the Al content. Structural, optical and electrical properties were characterized using x-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy, UV-Vis-NIR spectra and four-point probe methods.

Performance of thin film solar cells depends on (i) electronic quality of the components (doped and undoped semiconductors, metallic and transparent conducting contact layers), (ii) component optical response, and (iii) full opto-electronic response of the photovoltaic (PV) device structure dictated by layer properties and thickness. Spectroscopic ellipsometry probes (ii) and (iii) through measurement of both thickness and optical response (N = n + ik, ε = ε₁ + iε₂, α = 4πk/λ) of multiple layers in thin film device structures. Assessing (i) electronic quality of materials or devices optically relies on understanding other property information deduced from the optical response, such as connecting variations in film structure (crystallinity, degree of disorder) or growth evolution to device performance. In situ, real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) monitors growth evolution and post-deposition processes to better understand property changes with thickness, phase transitions and separation, and process kinetics. RTSE of hydrogenated silicon (Si:H), cadmium telluride (CdTe), and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) absorbers have been used to understand growth and its relationship to the respective device performance. All of these are relatively mature PV technologies, where knowledge gained from RTSE during growth can potentially improve metrology and manufacturing. The potential impact of RTSE is equally strong when applied to developing technologies. Organometal lead halide perovskite semiconductors (CH₃NH₃PbI₃) are used in >20% initial efficiency solar cells but suffer from degradation with temperature, bias, moisture, and ultraviolet light exposure. The time scale of device performance degradation is much shorter than that of other polycrystalline PV (CdTe, CIGS). RTSE has been applied during co-evaporation of CH₃NH₃I and PbI₂ to produce the perovskite, but also during decomposition of the perovskite. Significant fractions of CH₃NH₃I and PbI₂ at the substrate / perovskite and perovskite / ambient interfaces after deposition even under simple atmospheric exposure begin to appear in a matter of minutes. The ability to track the degradation – or death of this material – in addition to growth may be equally important to assessing the ultimate stability and manufacturability of these next generation PV materials.

Elastomers can transform electrical energy into mechanical one. They have a wide variety of appli-cations including powering wipers, sound generation, and operating camera lenses. Sandwiched between electrodes the deformable but incompressible elastomer laterally expands when apply-ing a voltage. To provide the necessary strain of at least 10 %, micrometer-thick silicone mem-branes need an operation voltage of several hundred volts, which is inappropriate for the human body. Nanometer-thin membranes, however, require only a few volts. To generate forces as nec-essary for artificial sphincters, i.e. muscles to treat incontinence, several ten thousand membranes have to be sandwiched. Currently, the manufacturing methods such as organic molecular deposition only reach deposition rates of about one micrometer per hour, which does not allow fabricating the sandwiched nanostructures in an efficient way. We have developed an alternative deposition method to pre-pare extremely flat silicone membranes that are below one micrometer thick. The root-mean-square-roughness is smaller than one nanometer. For this purpose, silicone polymers in solution are sprayed by electrospray deposition [1,2]. Usually electrospraying is based on direct current mode. Here, we have employed, however, an alternating current to avoid charge accumulation on the substrate. Spectroscopic ellipsometry has been used to monitor the formation of confluent organic films and electrodes as well as the changes of the organic thin films during ultra-violet radiation treatments. This in situ technique enabled us to derive the refractive index, the porosity, the surface rough-ness, and the film thickness. The derived quantities on surface roughness and film thickness were validated using atomic force microscopy. The combination of electrospraying, ultra-violet light curing, and in situ ellipsometry has a huge potential to efficiently create and monitor nanometer-thin, ultra-flat elastomeric membranes, which may become part of artificial muscles for medical applications and beyond.

[1] F.M. Weiss, T. Töpper, B. Osmani, S. Peters, G. Kovacs, and B. Müller Electrospraying Nanometer-Thin Elastomer Films for Low-Voltage Dielectric Actuators Advanced Electronic Materials (2016) 1500476; DOI: 10.1002/aelm.201500476

[2] F.M. Weiss, T. Töpper, B. Osmani, H. Deyhle, G. Kovacs, and B. Müller Thin Film Formation and Morphology of Electro-sprayed Polydimethylsiloxane Langmuir 32 (2016) 3276-3283

Thin films with simultaneous high transparency and electrical conductivity have applications in photovoltaics, displays, and other opto-electronic devices. Accurate characterization of electrical transport properties along with optical properties in these transparent conductors, particularly when in the device structure, is of critical importance to their use. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) provides a widely applicable method for determining such properties without many of the complications and limitations that accompany other methods that make use of physical contact to the film. As is described by the Drude model, free carrier optical absorption has increasing effect on the complex dielectric function (ε = ε₁ + iε₂) with decreasing photon energies. Thus, extracting ε from SE measurements spanning the visible to terahertz (THz) frequency ranges provides sensitivity to film thickness and morphology at higher energies and free carrier absorption dominating the optical response at low energies. In this work fluorine doped tin oxide (SnO₂:F), aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al), and sprayed single walled carbon nanotube (CNT) thin films are measured with ex situ SE over a spectral range of 0.035 to 5.9 eV using a single rotating compensator multichannel ellipsometer (0.75 - 5.9 eV) and a single rotating compensator Fourier transform infrared ellipsometer (0.035 - 0.75 eV). Additionally, the ZnO:Al and CNT films are measured using a single rotating compensator THz ellipsometer (0.4 - 5.8 meV) to further extend the measured spectral range to lower energies. Due to the wide spectral range measured, a single model describing ε and layer thicknesses has sufficient sensitivity to simultaneously determine electronic transitions, vibrational phonon modes, and free carrier absorption. The electrical properties in the Drude model are described by the bulk material resistivity ρ and scattering time τ. Optically extracted ρ has increasing correspondence to ρ deduced from four point probe electrical measurements as increasing low photon energies are included in the fitting (< 5% variation in ρ for ZnO:Al analzying the full measured range); a behavior that demonstrates the benefit of extending the measurement spectrum to very low energies. The analyzed spectral range dependence of optically determined transport properties in these examples is considered to illustrate how narrower spectral range measurements impact deduced ρ and τ.

Recent studies have demonstrated that photovoltaic (PV) device performance of thin film cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells is improved when a thin cadmium selenide (CdSe) layer is added at the cadmium sulfide (CdS) / CdTe interface and when oxygen is added to the CdS window layer (CdS:O). Specifically, devices fabricated with this configuration show increased short circuit current density without a corresponding degradation in open circuit voltage. The high temperature close spaced sublimation (CSS) deposition of the CdTe layers in these devices effectively anneals the existing CdS:O / CdSe window layer creating alloyed regions between these three materials as opposed to distinct, separate layers at the front side of the device. To better understand the sources of performance gain, we begin by using ex situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) from the near infrared to the ultraviolet (0.74 – 5.9 eV) to study the optical and structural properties of these alloys. Films of CdS:O, CdS_xSe_1-x, and CdSe_yTe_1-y are fabricated on soda lime glass substrates by radio frequency sputtering a stack of layered combinations of CdS, CdSe, and/or CdTe followed either by annealing at the CdTe CSS deposition temperature or actual CSS of CdTe. A parameterized model describing the critical point transitions in the optical response (ε = ε₁ + iε₂) is developed, allowing for tracking of the changes in ε as a result of film composition and processing for each alloy. Additionally, structural and compositional variations introduced by the alloying of materials is considered and supported by complementary x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy measurements. The database of ε developed for these materials can be used to assess how the oxygen introduced in the CdS:O layer and diffusion of CdSe into both CdTe and CdS:O modify that interface and impact PV device performance.

As a result of its increased visible light absorption and increased stability in comparison to hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin films are of considerable interest for a variety of opto-electronic applications, including photovoltaic (PV) devices. Radio frequency (RF) sputtering in an Ar + H₂ ambient provides a cost effective deposition technique for Si:H films and has advantages over conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition as a result of the potential to improve deposition rates and the elimination of hazardous precursor gasses. In this work we investigate how pressure, RF power, and Ar/H₂ ambient gas composition ratio influence film structure (thicknesses; amorphous, nanocrystalline, mixed phase composition) and optical response of Si:H films deposited by RF sputtering onto native oxide covered crystalline silicon wafer substrates using in situ real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) over the near infrared to ultraviolet spectral range. Through analysis of RTSE measurements and application of virtual interface analysis where appropriate, the time evolution of bulk layer thickness, surface roughness, and complex dielectric function (ε = ε₁ + iε₂) spectra are extracted. Variations in nucleation and evolution of crystallites forming from the amorphous phase as a function of pressure, power, or Ar/H₂ ratio can be deduced from the growth evolution and used to create growth evolution diagrams. Overall film quality, crystallinity, and hydrogen incorporation (assessed using infrared extended measurements), are also determined from ε. X-ray diffraction measurements provide complementary information about how deposition conditions influence the density, size, and preferred orientation of crystallites. In addition to controlling film phase and structure, improvement of the deposition rate is also of practical interest and is explored here.