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Special Issue "Thin Film Deposition: From Fundamental Research to Applications"

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A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "D：Materials and Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2023 | Viewed by 4473

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. José Guadalupe Quiñones-Galván

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Guest Editor

Departamento de Física, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guadalajara, Blvd. Marcelino García Barragán 1421, Guadalajara JAL 44430, Mexico
Interests: pulsed laser deposition; laser ablation; thin films

Dr. Laura Patricia Rivera Reséndiz

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Guest Editor

Departamento de Física, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guadalajara, Blvd. Marcelino García Barragán 1421, Guadalajara JAL 44430, Mexico
Interests: hard transparent thin films; pulsed laser deposition and surface nanostructuring with laser

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Development in thin film deposition technologies has allowed the accelerated increase in almost all areas of science and technology we see today. Thus, fundamental research and applications of thin films using a huge variety of deposition techniques is currently and is expected to remain an area of interest for the research community. The increasing demand for miniaturized devices and nanotechnology has motivated researchers to find new ways to synthesize or improve all kinds of thin film material systems using a great variety of physical and chemical thin film deposition techniques. This Special Issue is focused on publishing scientific research papers, and review articles that discuss fundamental thin film research, and more specifically:

Synthesis techniques: novel studies on thin film deposition techniques, such as advances in pulsed laser deposition, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, and sol–gel, among others;
Characterization: study of physical and chemical properties of different types of thin film materials;
Applications: Experiments applying thin films in different fields of science;
Simulation and theoretical calculations: studies on theory or simulation around specific properties or applications of thin films.

Prof. Dr. José Guadalupe Quiñones-Galván
Dr. Laura Patricia Rivera Reséndiz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

thin films
deposition techniques
2D materials
functional coatings
nanostructured thin films
nanocomposite coatings
chemical deposition techniques
physical vapor deposition

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessCommunication

Direct Synthesis of Mn₃[Fe(CN)₆]₂·nH₂O Nanosheets as Novel 2D Analog of Prussian Blue and Material for High-Performance Metal-Ion Batteries

and

Micromachines 2023, 14(5), 1083; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14051083 - 21 May 2023

Viewed by 471

Abstract

Rechargeable metal-ion batteries (RMIBs) are prospective highly effective and low-cost devices for energy storage. Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) have become a subject of significant interest for commercial applications owing to their exceptional specific capacity and broad operational potential window as cathode materials for rechargeable metal-ion batteries. However, the limiting factors for its widespread use are its poor electrical conductivity and stability. The present study describes the direct and simple synthesis of 2D nanosheets of MnFCN (Mn₃[Fe(CN)₆]₂·nH₂O) on nickel foam (NF) via a successive ionic layer deposition (SILD) method, which provided more ion diffusion and electrochemical conductivity. MnFCN/NF exhibited exceptional cathode performance for RMIBs, delivering a high specific capacity of 1032 F/g at 1 A/g in an aqueous 1M NaOH electrolyte. Additionally, the specific capacitance reached the remarkable levels of 327.5 F/g at 1 A/g and 230 F/g at 0.1 A/g in 1M Na₂SO₄ and 1M ZnSO₄ aqueous solutions, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Deposition: From Fundamental Research to Applications)

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Open AccessArticle

Effective Chemical Lift-Off for Air-Tunnel GaN on a Trapezoid-Patterned Sapphire Substrate

and

Micromachines 2023, 14(4), 753; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14040753 - 29 Mar 2023

Viewed by 429

Abstract

We fabricated an air-tunnel structure between a gallium nitride (GaN) layer and trapezoid-patterned sapphire substrate (TPSS) through the in situ carbonization of a photoresist layer to enable rapid chemical lift-off (CLO). A trapezoid-shaped PSS was used, which is advantageous for epitaxial growth on the upper c-plane when forming an air tunnel between the substrate and GaN layer. The upper c-plane of the TPSS was exposed during carbonization. This was followed by selective GaN epitaxial lateral overgrowth using a homemade metal organic chemical vapor deposition system. The air tunnel maintained its structure under the GaN layer, whereas the photoresist layer between the GaN layer and TPSS disappeared. The crystalline structures of GaN (0002) and (0004) were investigated using X-ray diffraction. The photoluminescence spectra of the GaN templates with and without the air tunnel showed an intense peak at 364 nm. The Raman spectroscopy results for the GaN templates with and without the air tunnel were redshifted relative to the results for free-standing GaN. The CLO process using potassium hydroxide solution neatly separated the GaN template with the air tunnel from the TPSS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Deposition: From Fundamental Research to Applications)

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Open AccessArticle

Bi₂Te₃ Thin Films Deposited by the Combination of Bi and Te Plasmas in a PLD Process

Laura A. Reyes-Verdugo

C. D. Gutiérrez-Lazos

J. Santos-Cruz

A. Chávez-Chávez

and

J. G. Quiñones-Galván

Micromachines 2023, 14(3), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14030590 - 28 Feb 2023

Viewed by 886

Abstract

Bismuth telluride thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition by implementing a novel method that combines both Te and Bi plasmas resulting from the laser ablation of individual Bi and Te targets. Furthermore, the mean kinetic ion energy and density of the plasmas, as estimated by TOF curves obtained from Langmuir probe measurements, were used as control parameters for the deposition process. The obtained thin films exhibit a metallic mirror-like appearance and present good adhesion to the substrate. Morphology of the thin films was observed by SEM, yielding smooth surfaces where particulates were also observed (splashing). Chemical composition analysis obtained by EDS showed that apparently the films have a Te-rich composition (ratio of Te/Bi of 3); however, Te excess arises from the splashing as revealed by the structural characterization (XRD and Raman spectroscopy). The XRD pattern indicated that depositions have the rhombohedral (

D_{3 d}^{5}

(

R \bar{3} m)

) structure of Bi₂Te₃. Likewise, Raman spectra exhibited the presence of signals that correspond to

E_{g}^{2}

A_{1 u}^{2}

and

A_{1 g}^{2}

(LO) vibrational modes of the same rhombohedral phase of Bi₂Te₃. Additionally, oxidation states, analyzed by XPS, resulted in signals associated to Bi³⁺ and Te^2- that correspond to the Bi₂Te₃ compound. Finally, surface topology and thickness profiles were obtained from AFM measurements, confirming a combination of a smooth surface with particulates on top of it and a film thickness of 400 nm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Deposition: From Fundamental Research to Applications)

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Open AccessArticle

Comparative Study on Microstructure of Mo/Si Multilayers Deposited on Large Curved Mirror with and without the Shadow Mask

and

Micromachines 2023, 14(3), 526; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14030526 - 24 Feb 2023

Viewed by 549

Abstract

The Mo/Si multilayer mirror has been widely used in EUV astronomy, lithography, microscopy and other fields because of its high reflectivity at the wavelength around 13.5 nm. During the fabrication of Mo/Si multilayers on large, curved mirrors, shadow mask was a common method to precisely control the period thickness distribution. To investigate the effect of shadow mask on the microstructure of Mo/Si multilayers, we deposited a set of Mo/Si multilayers with and without the shadow mask on a curved substrate with aperture of 200 mm by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering in this work. Grazing incidence X-ray reflectivity (GIXR), diffuse scattering, atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the multilayer structure and the EUV reflectivity were measured at the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) in China. By comparing the results, we found that the layer microstructure including interface width, surface roughness, layer crystallization and the reflectivity were barely affected by the mask and a high accuracy of the layer thickness gradient can be achieved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Deposition: From Fundamental Research to Applications)

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Open AccessArticle

Overview of Polyethylene Terephthalate Foils Patterned Using 10 MeV Carbon Ions for Realization of Micromembranes

and

Micromachines 2023, 14(2), 284; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14020284 - 22 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 702

Abstract

Polymer membranes are conventionally prepared using high-energy particles from radioactive decay or by the bombardment of hundreds of MeVs energy ions. In both circumstances, tracks of damage are produced by particles/ions passing through the polymer, and successively, the damaged material is removed by chemical etching to create narrow pores. This process ensures nanosized pore diameter but with random placement, leading to non-uniform local pore density and low membrane porosity, which is necessary to reduce the risk of their overlapping. The present study is focused on the use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foils irradiated by 10.0 MeV carbon ions, easily achievable with ordinary ion accelerators. The ion irradiation conditions and the chemical etching conditions were monitored to obtain customized pore locations without pore overlapping in PET. The quality, shape, and size of the pores generated in the micromembranes can have a large impact on their applicability. In this view, the Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy coupled with a computer code created in our laboratory was implemented to acquire new visual and quantitative insights on fabricated membranes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Deposition: From Fundamental Research to Applications)

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Open AccessArticle

The Microstructures and Characteristics of NiO Films: Effects of Substrate Temperature

and

Micromachines 2022, 13(11), 1940; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13111940 - 10 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 735

Abstract

The influence of the substrate temperature on the structural, surface morphological, optical and nanomechanical properties of NiO films deposited on glass substrates using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering was examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-Visible spectroscopy and nanoindentation, respectively. The results indicate that the substrate temperature exhibits significant influences on both the grain texturing orientation and surface morphology of the films. Namely, the dominant crystallographic orientation of the films switches from (111) to (200) accompanied by progressively roughening of the surface when the substrate temperature is increased from 300 °C to 500 °C. The average transmittance of the NiO films was also found to vary in the range of 60–85% in the visible wavelength region, depending on the substrate temperature and wavelength. In addition, the optical band gap calculated from the Tauc plot showed an increasing trend from 3.18 eV to 3.56 eV with increasing substrate temperature. Both the hardness and Young’s modulus of NiO films were obtained by means of the nanoindentation continuous contact stiffness measurements mode. Moreover, the contact angle between the water droplet and film surface also indicated an intimate correlation between the surface energy, hence the wettability, of the film and substrate temperature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Deposition: From Fundamental Research to Applications)

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