2016, Stiller, M., Barzola-Quiquia, J., Esquinazi, P., Spemann, D., Meijer, J., Lorenz, M., Grundmann, M.

The temperature and field dependence of the magnetization of epitaxial, undoped anatase TiO2 thin films on SrTiO3 substrates was investigated. Low-energy ion irradiation was used to modify the surface of the films within a few nanometers, yet with high enough energy to produce oxygen and titanium vacancies. The as-prepared thin film shows ferromagnetism which increases after irradiation with low-energy ions. An optimal and clear magnetic anisotropy was observed after the first irradiation, opposite to the expected form anisotropy. Taking into account the experimental parameters, titanium vacancies as di-Frenkel pairs appear to be responsible for the enhanced ferromagnetism and the strong anisotropy observed in our films. The magnetic impurities concentrations was measured by particle-induced X-ray emission with ppm resolution. They are ruled out as a source of the observed ferromagnetism before and after irradiation.

2020, Seifert, M.

This paper reports on a significant further improvement of the high temperature stability of RuAl thin films (110 nm) on the piezoelectric Ca3TaGa3Si2O14 (CTGS) and La3Ga5SiO14 (LGS) substrates. RuAl thin films with AlN or SiO2 cover layers and barriers to the substrate (each 20 nm), as well as a combination of both were prepared on thermally oxidized Si substrates, which serve as a reference for fundamental studies, and the piezoelectric CTGS, as well as LGS substrates. In somefilms, additional Al layers were added. To study their high temperature stability, the samples were annealed in air and in high vacuum up to 900 °C, and subsequently their cross-sections, phase formation, film chemistry, and electrical resistivity were analyzed. It was shown that on thermally oxidized Si substrates, all films were stable after annealing in air up to 800 °C and in high vacuum up to 900 °C. The high temperature stability of RuAl thin films on CTGS substrates was improved up to 900 °C in high vacuum by the application of a combined AlN/SiO2 barrier layer and up to 800 °C in air using a SiO2 barrier. On LGS, the films were only stable up to 600 °C in air; however, a single SiO2 barrier layer was sufficient to prevent oxidation during annealing at 900 °C in high vacuum.

2014, Trommler, S., Hänisch, J., Iida, K., Kurth, F., Schultz, L., Holzapfel, B., Hühne, R.

The preparation of biaxially textured BaFe1.8Co0.2As2 thin films has been optimized on MgO single crystals and transfered to piezoelectric (001) Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.72Ti0.28O3 substrates. By utilizing the inverse piezoelectric effect the lattice parameter of these substrates can be controlled applying an electric field, leading to a induction of biaxial strain into the superconducting layer. High electric fields were used to achieve a total strain of up to 0.05% at low temperatures. A sharpening of the resistive transition and a shift of about 0.6 K to higher temperatures was found at a compressive strain of 0.035%.

2021, Knehr, Emanuel, Ziegler, Mario, Linzen, Sven, Ilin, Konstantin, Schanz, Patrick, Plentz, Jonathan, Diegel, Marco, Schmidt, Heidemarie, Il’iche, Evgeni, Siegel, Michael

Superconducting niobium nitride thin films are used for a variety of photon detectors, quantum devices, and superconducting electronics. Most of these applications require highly uniform films, for instance, when moving from single-pixel detectors to arrays with a large active area. Plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) of superconducting niobium nitride is a feasible option to produce high-quality, conformal thin films and has been demonstrated as a film deposition method to fabricate superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors before. Here, we explore the property spread of ALD-NbN across a 6-in. wafer area. Over the equivalent area of a 2-in. wafer, we measure a maximum deviation of 1% in critical temperature and 12% in switching current. Toward larger areas, structural characterizations indicate that changes in the crystal structure seem to be the limiting factor rather than film composition or impurities. The results show that ALD is suited to fabricate NbN thin films as a material for large-area detector arrays and for new detector designs and devices requiring uniform superconducting thin films with precise thickness control.

2014, von Wenckstern, H., Splith, D., Schmidt, F., Grundmann, M., Bierwagen, O., Speck, J.S.

n-type binary compound semiconductors such as InN, InAs, or In2O3 are especial because the branch-point energy or charge neutrality level lies within the conduction band. Their tendency to form a surface electron accumulation layer prevents the formation of rectifying Schottky contacts. Utilizing a reactive sputtering process in an oxygen-containing atmosphere, we demonstrate Schottky barrier diodes on indium oxide thin films with rectifying properties being sufficient for space charge layer spectroscopy. Conventional non-reactive sputtering resulted in ohmic contacts. We compare the rectification of Pt, Pd, and Au Schottky contacts on In2O3 and discuss temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics of Pt/In2O3 in detail. The results substantiate the picture of oxygen vacancies being the source of electrons accumulating at the surface, however, the position of the charge neutrality level and/or the prediction of Schottky barrier heights from it are questioned.

2020, Seifert, M., Lattner, E., Menzel, S.B., Oswald, S., Gemming, T.

Ti-Al thin films with a thickness of 200 nm were prepared either by co-sputtering from elemental Ti and Al targets or as Ti/Al multilayers with 10 and 20 nm individual layer thickness on thermally oxidized Si substrates. Some of the films were covered with a 20-nm-thick SiO2 layer, which was used as an oxidation protection against the ambient atmosphere. The films were annealed at up to 800 °C in high vacuum for 10 h, and the phase formation as well as the film architecture was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, cross section, and transmission electron microscopy, as well as Auger electron and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results reveal that the co-sputtered films remained amorphous after annealing at 600 °C independent on the presence of the SiO2 cover layer. In contrast to this, the γ-TiAl phase was formed in the multilayer films at this temperature. After annealing at 800 °C, all films were degraded completely despite the presence of the cover layer. In addition, a strong chemical reaction between the Ti and SiO2 of the cover layer and the substrate took place, resulting in the formation of Ti silicide. In the multilayer samples, this reaction already started at 600 °C.

2014, Bonavolontà, C., Parlato, L., De, Lisio, C., Valentino, M., Pepe, G.P., Kazumasa, I., Kurth, F., Bellingeri, E., Pallecchi, I., Putti, M., Ferdeghini, C., Ummarino, G.A., Laviano, F.

Femtosecond spectroscopy has been used to investigate the quasi-particle relaxation times in nearly optimally doped Fe-based superconductors FeSe 0.5Te0.5 and optimally doped Ba-122 thin films growth on a Fe buffer layer. Experimental results concerning the temperature dependence of the relaxation time of such pnictides both in the superconducting state are now presented and discussed. Modelling the T-dependence of relaxation times an estimation of both electron-phonon constant and superconducting energy gap in the excitation spectrum of both Fe(Se,Te) and Ba-122 compounds is obtained.

2020, Shipulin, I., Richter, S., Thomas, A.A., Nielsch, K., Hühne, R., Martovitsky, V.

We performed a detailed structural, magnetotransport, and superconducting analysis of thin epitaxial Ba(Fe1-xNix)2As2 films with Ni doping of x = 0.05 and 0.08, as prepared by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction studies demonstrate the high crystalline perfection of the films, which have a similar quality to single crystals. Furthermore, magnetotransport measurements of the films were performed in magnetic fields up to 9 T. The results we used to estimate the density of electronic states at the Fermi level, the coefficient of electronic heat capacity, and other electronic parameters for this compound, in their dependence on the dopant concentration within the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau-Abrikosov-Gorkov theory. The comparison of the determined parameters with measurement data on comparable Ba(Fe1-xNix)2As2 single crystals shows good agreement, which confirms the high quality of the obtained films.

2015, Robaschik, Peter, Fronk, Michael, Toader, Marius, Klyatskaya, Svetlana, Ganss, Fabian, Siles, Pablo F., Schmidt, Oliver G., Albrecht, Manfred, Hietschold, Michael, Ruben, Mario, Zahn, Dietrich R.T., Salvan, Georgeta

In this work, we investigated the magneto-optical response of thin films of TbPc2 on substrates which are relevant for (spin) organic field effect transistors (SiO2) or vertical spin valves (Co) in order to explore the possibility of implementing TbPc2 in magneto-electronic devices, the functionality of which includes optical reading. The optical and magneto-optical properties of TbPc2 thin films prepared by organic molecular beam deposition (OMBD) on silicon substrates covered with native oxide were investigated by variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) spectroscopy at room temperature. The magneto-optical activity of the TbPc2 films can be significantly enhanced by one to two orders of magnitude upon changing the molecular orientation (from nearly standing molecules on SiO2/Si substrates to nearly lying molecules on perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) templated SiO2/Si substrates) or by using metallic ferromagnetic substrates (Co).

2014, Asenova, I., Manova, D., Mändl, S.

In this paper we investigate the possibility of incorporating nitrogen into amorphous, photocatalytic TiO2 thin films, prepared at room temperature, during the growth process. The aim is to reduce the bandgap of the UV active thin films. Physical vapor deposition experiments employing a titanium vacuum arc with gas backfill ranging from pure oxygen to pure nitrogen, are carried out. The resulting films are characterized for chemical composition, phase composition, optical properties and hydrophilicity in order to determine a correlation between gas composition and thin film properties. The experimental results point that a visible change in the band structure of the deposited layers is achieved.