Aluminium oxide formation via atomic layer deposition using a polymer brush mediated selective infiltration approach

Area selective deposition (ASD) is an emerging method for the patterning of electronic devices as it can significantly reduce processing steps in the industry. A potential ASD methodology uses infiltration of metal precursors into patterned polymer materials. The work presented within demonstrates this potential by examining hydroxy terminated poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP-OH) as the ‘receiving’ polymer and trimethylaluminium (TMA) and H2O as the material precursors in a conventional atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. Fundamental understanding of the surface process was achieved using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) mapping via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The resulting analysis confirms aluminium inclusion within the polymer film. Spectroscopic and microscopic characterisation show metal infiltration throughout the polymer to the underlying silicon dioxide interface. Exposing the infiltrated film to an oxygen plasma results in the removal of the organic component and resultant fabrication of a sub 5 nm aluminium oxide layer.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Anodic oxidation of ultra-thin Ti layers on ITO substrates and their application in organic electronic memory elements

In this work, controlled anodic oxidation is reported for ultra-thin (3 nm thick) titanium layers on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates. A physical explanation is also provided for the origin of the delamination process of the Ti during the anodic oxidation. The properties of the fabricated layers are studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, one intriguing application is demonstrated for the anodized layers: their use as an interfacial barrier in organic diodes. Diodes containing an electrochemically fabricated TiO 2 barrier layer exhibit clear room temperature negative differential resistance (NDR) and a peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) of 3.6. The reference diodes without the TiO2 layer show normal diode characteristics with no observable NDR. The NDR diodes have potential applications as memory elements for large-area electronics

Highly efficient charge separation in model Z-scheme TiO2/TiSi2/Si photoanode by micropatterned titanium silicide interlayer

Atomic layer deposited (ALD) TiO2 is an attractive material for improving the photoactivity and chemical stability of semiconductor electrodes in artificial photosynthesis. Using photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements, we show that an interfacial, topographically microstructured TiSi2 layer inside the TiO2/Si heterojunction improves the charge carrier separation and shifts the water dissociation onset potential to more negative values. These observations are correlated with the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurements, which reveal an increased band bending due to the TiSi2 interlayer. Combined with the UV–Vis absorption results, the photoelectron spectroscopy measurements allow the reconstruction of the complete energy band diagram for the TiO2/TiSi2/Si heterojunction and the calculation of the valence and conduction band offsets. The energy band alignment and improvements in PEC results reveal that the charge transfer across the heterojunction follows a Z-scheme model, where the metal-like TiSi2 islands act as recombination centers at the interface.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Fabrication of topographically microstructured titanium silicide interface for advanced photonic applications

We present a widely scalable, high temperature post-growth annealing method for converting ultra-thin films of TiO2 grown by atomic layer deposition to topographically microstructured titanium silicide (TiSi). The photoemission electron microscopy results reveal that the transformation from TiO2 to TiSi at 950 °C proceeds via island formation. Inside the islands, TiO2 reduction and Si diffusion play important roles in the formation of the highly topographically microstructured TiSi interface with laterally nonuniform barrier height contact. This is advantageous for efficient charge transfer in Si-based heterostructures for photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical applications