Photoluminescence of combinatorically sputtered Al₂O₃–Y₂O₃ thin films with a Cr³⁺ and Nd³⁺ co-doping concentration gradient

The characterization of a wide range of luminescent thin films can be a long and tedious endeavor. With reactive combinatorial sputtering of multiple metal targets, it possible to fabricate thin films with a gradient in composition simply by not rotating the substrate. In this work, combinatorically sputtered thin films of Cr³⁺ and...

Microstructure, mechanical, and corrosion properties of Zr_1-xCr_xB_y diboride alloy thin films grown by hybrid high power impulse/DC magnetron co-sputtering

We study microstructure, mechanical, and corrosion properties of Zr_1-xCr_xB_y coatings deposited by hybrid high-power impulse/DC magnetron co-sputtering (CrB₂-HiPIMS/ZrB₂-DCMS). Cr/(Zr + Cr) ratio, x, increases from 0.13 to 0.9, while B/(Zr + Cr) ratio, y, decreases from 2.92 to 1.81. As...

Multifunctional ZrB₂-rich Zr_1-xCr_xB_y thin films with enhanced mechanical, oxidation, and corrosion properties

Refractory transition-metal (TM) diborides have high melting points, excellent hardness, and good chemical stability. However, these properties are not sufficient for applications involving extreme environments that require high mechanical strength as well as oxidation and corrosion resistance. Here, we study the effect of Cr addition on the...

Effect of the addition of zirconium on the photochromic properties of yttrium oxy-hydride

Thin films of yttrium oxy-hydride have interesting, reversible photochromic properties, the origin of which is poorly understood. To investigate the role of point defect mobility, we probed the effect of lattice contraction as induced by the addition of zirconium. Interestingly, we find no loss of photochromic contrast for Y _1-z...

Electronic structure and vacancy formation in photochromic yttrium oxy-hydride thin films studied by positron annihilation

In order to investigate the mechanism of the photochromic effect in yttrium oxy-hydride (YO_xH_y) thin films, Doppler broadening positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) was applied to probe the electronic structure and the presence of vacancies in YO_xH_y and related materials as a function of...

Quenching Mo optical losses in CIGS solar cells by a point contacted dual-layer dielectric spacer: A 3-D optical study

A 3-D optical modelling was calibrated to calculate the light absorption and the total reflection of fabricated CIGS solar cells. Absorption losses at molybdenum (Mo) / CIGS interface were explained in terms of plasmonic waves. To quench these losses, we assumed the insertion of a lossless dielectric spacer between Mo and CIGS, whose optical...

Minimizing optical losses in monolithic perovskite/c-Si tandem solar cells with a flat top cell

In a monolithic perovskite/c-Si tandem device, the perovskite top cell has to be deposited onto a flat c-Si bottom cell without anti-reflective front side texture, to avoid fabrication issues. We use optical simulations to analyze the reflection losses that this induces. We then systematically minimize these losses by introducing surface...

Mott-Schottky analysis of nanometer-scale thin-film anatase TiO2