Study of I‐V characteristics of ZnO film on Si substrate with Ag buffer layer by C‐AFM

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the I-V characteristics of ZnO film on Si substrates with Ag buffer layer by conductive atomic force (C-AFM). Design/methodology/approach -An Ag buffer layer and Zn film was first deposited on silicon substrate by RF-sputtering deposition method from high pure Ag and Zn target, respectively. Then, the deposited film was sintered in air at 5008C for 1 h. Findings -The structures and morphologies of the prepared films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and C-AFM. The results show that the prepared ZnO films with Ag buffer layer have a good crystallinity and surface morphology. Interestingly, the I-V curve of ZnO film exhibited typical characteristics of semi-conductive oxide under the conductive Ag buffer layer. Originality/value -The paper demonstrates, by C-AFM, that the ZnO/Ag-buffer/Si exhibits excellent crystal structure, morphology and typical I-V characteristics.

Study of Schottky contact between Au and NiO nanowire by conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM): The case of surface states

“…Generally, C-AFM has been one of the most successful tools for both morphology and electronic property measurements [20,21]. The C-AFM probe is able to touch a nm-scale spot on the sample in which a bias voltage can be applied directly onto its surface, enabling us to investigate the electric properties of the sample.…”

“…The ideality factor was determined to be $ 6.8 and 8.1 under illumination and in the dark, respectively, according to the theoretical fitting of equation [20], as shown in Fig. 7.…”

Morphological and electrical characterization of Cu-doped PbS thin films with AFM

“…The above mentioned methods, KPFM and SSRM, have lately been applied by others to study photovoltaic thin films, for example the grain boundaries [17]; resistance and non-uniformity from defects [18,19]; the junction of a CdTe solar cell [20]; I-V characteristics of thin films [21,22]; dopant profiling and carrier concentration [23][24][25][26]. In this study we utilized these advanced AFM and HR-SEM methods to characterize the intrinsic PbS and Cudoped thin film surface properties.…”