Ultrasonic spray pyrolysis is a deposition technique that enables a fine mist of the precursor solution in order to deposit higher-density thin films. This characteristic makes of great potential the use of ultrasonically spray-deposited semiconductors films for low-cost, transparent, flexible and large-area applications. In this chapter, low-temperature deposition and characterization of ultrasonically spray-deposited zinc oxide (ZnO) films are presented. The ZnO films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis at 200°C were characterized by optical transmittance, photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The study of low-temperature annealing of ZnO films is also presented. Moreover, the characterization of aluminum-doped ZnO films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis at 200°C is presented. Finally, applications of these ultrasonic spray-deposited films in electronic devices are presented.
Part of the book: Pyrolysis
The metal-semiconductor interface in thin-film transistors (TFTs) is one of the bottlenecks on the development of these devices. Although this interface does not play an active role in the transistor operation, a low-quality interface can be responsible for a low performance operation. In a-Si TFTs, a doped film can be used to improve this interface, however, in other TFT technologies, there is no doped film to be used. In this chapter, some alternatives to improve this interface are analysed. Also, the influence of this interface on the electrical stability of these devices is presented.
Part of the book: Different Types of Field-Effect Transistors
In this work, colloidal solutions with silicon nanoparticles using different solvents were synthetized. Structural, morphological and optical characterizations were realized, and these were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to measure the diffractograms of the colloidal solutions, which are composed of silicon nanocrystals (Si-ncs), with an average size of approximately 3 nm, and a preferential crystalline orientation (311). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images show that the morphology of silicon nanoparticles (Si-nps) is agglomerated in a big amount, which is corroborated by means of the roughness. On the other hand, high resolution transmission electronic microscopy (HRTEM) images show on average size of the Si-nc ranging from 1.5 to 10 nm, which depends on the solvent used. Also, different preferential crystalline orientations of the Si-nc such as (311), (220) and (111) were obtained. A correlation between the optical and structural properties was realized in colloidal solutions with silicon nanoparticles and different solvents.
Part of the book: Nanocrystals and Nanostructures