This contribution investigates the impact of adding transition metal of Ti to CeOy samples at various concentrations referring to 0, 15.84, 24.46, 34.46, 36.23, 38.46, 45.38% and pure TiOy, correspondingly. The samples were fabricated by the magnetron sputtering technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) configurations demonstrate the presence of α-Ce2O3 and Ce2O3 phases with increased Ti contents in the systems. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experimentation confirms the purity of the S1-sample (CeO2) and the purity of the S8-sample (TiO2). Further XPS analysis reveals that Ti incorporation in the doped systems functions as a reducing agent because of the existence of α-Ce2O3 and Ce2O3 phases. Moreover, based on UV–vis spectroscopy results, the studied samples exhibit indirect optical energy band-gaps reduced from 2.6 to 2.35 eV with the increase of Ti concentrations of 0–45.38% in (S1-S7), respectively. In reference to bandgap 2.35 eV, a slight rise in band gaps was detected for S3 sample. However, an observable increase in the band gap of 2.9 eV occurred for S8 (pure TiO2). Optical analysis of the calculated energy loss parameters demonstrates that all the studied samples reveal small amounts of energy loss. Our results suggest that the improved optical properties of Ti-doped CeOy films could serve for various optical applications.
Thin films of (CdO)x (CuO)1-x (where x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were prepared by the pulsed laser deposition. The CuO addition caused an increase in diffraction peaks intensity at (111) and a decrease in diffraction peaks intensity at (200). As CuO content increases, the band gap increases to a maximum of 3.51 eV, maximum resistivity of 8.251x 104 Ω.cm with mobility of 199.5 cm2 / V.s, when x= 0.5. The results show that the conductivity is ntype when x value was changed in the range (0 to 0.4) but further addition of CuO converted the samples to p-type.
The goal of this investigation is to prepare zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-thin films by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique through Q-switching double frequency Nd:YAG laser (532 nm) wavelength, pulse frequency 6 Hz, and 300 mJ energy under vacuum conditions (10-3 torr) at room temperature. (ZnO) nano-thin films were deposited on glass substrates with different thickness of 300, 600 and 900 nm. ZnO films, were then annealed in air at a temperature of 500 °C for one hour. The results were compared with the researchers' previous theoretical study. The XRD analysis of ZnO nano-thin films indicated a hexagonal multi-crystalline wurtzite structure with preferential growth lines (100), (002), (101) for ZnO nano-thin films with different thi
... Show MoreIn this work, metal oxides nanostructures, mainly, copper oxide (CuO), nickel oxide (NiO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and multilayer structure were synthesized by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The structural purity and nanoparticle size of the prepared nanostructures were determined. The individual metal oxide samples (CuO, NiO and TiO2) showed high structural purity and minimum particle sizes of 34, 44, 61 nm, respectively. As well, the multilayer structure showed high structural purity as no elements or compounds other than the three oxides were founds in the final sample while the minimum particle size was 18 nm. This reduction in nanoparticle size can be considered as an advantage for the dc reactive magnetron sputtering tec
... Show MoreIn this work, a novel design for the NiO/TiO2 heterojunction solar cells is presented. Highly-pure nanopowders prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique were used to form the heterojunctions. The electrical characteristics of the proposed design were compared to those of a conventional thin film heterojunction design prepared by the same technique. A higher efficiency of 300% was achieved by the proposed design. This attempt can be considered as the first to fabricate solar cells from highly-pure nanopowders of two different semiconductors.
In this work, multilayer nanostructures were prepared from two metal oxide thin films by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. These metal oxide were nickel oxide (NiO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2). The prepared nanostructures showed high structural purity as confirmed by the spectroscopic and structural characterization tests, mainly FTIR, XRD and EDX. This feature may be attributed to the fine control of operation parameters of dc reactive magnetron sputtering system as well as the preparation conditions using the same system. The nanostructures prepared in this work can be successfully used for the fabrication of nanodevices for photonics and optoelectronics requiring highly-pure nanomaterials.