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At last, a thermal evaporation method that modifies the surface of ZnO nanorods and forms core shell structure is developed, which structure constitutes the photoelectrode for solar energy application. Single crystal ZnO nanorods are uniformly covered by wurtzite polycrystalline CdxZn1-x SySe1-y layer. The band gap of the shell can be systematically tuned from 2.5 to 1.7 eV by varying its composition, as suggested by the optical extinction measured of the samples. The type II band alignment between the ZnO core and the alloy shell enables effective photo-generated charge carrier separation, and the single crystalline ZnO nanorod array provides a direct electrical pathway for the photo-injected electron transport. The nanocable solar cells exhibited short-circuit current ∼0.2 mA/cm 2 and open-circuit voltages of 0.45 V when illuminated with 100 mW/cm 2 simulated AM 1.5 spectrum. / Green emission is observed from the ZnO nanorods synthesized by both methods, which is commonly attributed to the surface defect emission from the nanostructure. We modify surface of the nanorods with SiO 2 and investigate the relation between green emission and the surface defect. However, the surface passivation fails to reduce the green emission significantly, suggesting that surface defects of ZnO are not necessarily responsible for the green emission, but the interior structure quality of the ZnO nanorods decides the luminescence behavior. / In this study, a solution chemistry based method to grow aligned ZnO nanorod arrays on Zn foil is developed at first. Effects of various growth parameters, including the temperature, solution composition and the concentration of individual components on the morphology, structural quality, and properties of the ZnO nanorods are studied. The average diameter of the nanorods in the array can be tuned from ∼20 nm to ∼150 nm by systematically changing the growth conditions. Nanorods with larger diameters are found to be of better structural quality as compared to the smaller diametered ones, as suggested by the cathodoluminescence measurement. Following similar logic, a vapor transport deposition route on controllable fabricating of the ZnO nanorod arrays is investigated. The average diameter of the ZnO nanorods can be tuned from less than 40 nm to larger than submicron, by controlling the fabrication conditions. Larger-diametered nanorods that grow on higher temperature zone are found to possess higher band edge to defect emission ratio. / One dimensional (1D) ZnO nanostructure becomes a research focus in recent years. On the one hand, ZnO itself possesses structural, electrical and optical properties that make it useful for a diverse range of technological applications. On the other hand, semiconductor nanowire owns many advantages, such as superiority in electron transport and its high surface to volume ratio. Aligned ZnO 1D nanostructures on conducting substrates are of special interests, as they are easy to be integrated into devices, directly working as functional unit. / Jiao, Yang. / Adviser: Li Quan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-04, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-109). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Jiao, Yang.

Advances in experimental techniques such as nanofabrication, characterization and synthesis have resulted in the development of many novel and interesting materials and devices. Surfaces and interfaces play an indispensible role for nanoelectronics development. ZnO and graphene have drawn tremendous research interests in recent years, due to their exceptional merits in electrical, optical and magnetic applications. This thesis attempts to ferret out the current experimental research progress, particularly, the frontiers of ZnO and graphene based surfaces and interfaces, and employs first principles to explore their electronic structures, to acquire mechanistic understanding of experimental findings, and to shed light on rational design of functional devices. / Finally, the magnetic properties of graphene by organic molecule modification are investigated by first principles method. For the first time, we demonstrate that methoxyphenyl group can introduce a delocalized p-type ferromagnetism into graphene sheet, with the Curie temperature (T c) above room temperature. Each aryl group can totally induce 1 muB into molecule/graphene system. Moreover, an around 1.1 eV direct band gap is introduced into both majority and minority spin bands of graphene by methoxyphenyl group modification. Zigzag graphene nanoribbon (GNR) shows strong site-specific magnetism by aryl group adsorption near the edge. At specific site of GNR, each molecule could totally induce 3∼4 mu B into molecule/GNR hybrid system. / First, we study the controllable modulation of the electronic structures of ZnO(10 1¯ 10) surface functionalized by various types of carboxylic acids. The calculated structural results are consistent with the experimental ones attained by the Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FT-IR-ATR). Mercapto-acetic acid molecules are found to contribute an abundance of band gap states into ZnO. Mercapto-acetic monolayer functionalized ZnO (10 1¯ 10) is on the verge of metal-to-insulator transition, which is consistent with the experimental finding of an conductivity increase by 6 orders of magnitude. Mercapto-acetic acid functionalized ZnO (10 1¯ 10) surface shows a strong configuration-dependence for both electronic structure and adsorption energy. Moreover, mercapto-acetic acid molecule functionalized ZnO also shows facet-dependent characteristic in which the monolayer functionalized ZnO (2 1¯ 1¯ 0) does not show metal-to-insulator transition. Acetic acid does not contribute to the band gap states of ZnO (10 1¯ 10), whereas benzoic acid and 9-anthracenecarboxylic acid do contribute an abundance of band gap states to ZnO(10 1¯ 10). / Second, we study the band gap opening of graphene bilayer by F4-TCNQ doping and externally applied electric filed effects. With F4-TCNQ concentration of 8.0x1013 molecules/cm2, the electrostatic charge transfer between each F4-TCNQ molecule and graphene is 0.45 e, and the built-in electric field Ebi between the graphene layers could achieve 0.070 V/A. The charge transfer and band gap opening of the F4-TCNQ doped bilayer graphene can be further modulated by externally applied electric field (Eext ). At 0.077 eV/A, the gap opening at the Dirac point ( K) DeltaEK = 306 meV and the band gap Eg 253 meV are around 71% and 49% larger than those of the pristine bilayer under the same Eext. By combining F4-TCNQ molecular doping and Eext, the p-type semiconductor bilayer graphene are attained, with the band gap and hole concentration varied in a wide range. / These four theoretical sub-topics stem from the experimental advances in ZnO and graphene based surfaces and interfaces. They form the mechanistic understanding of the respective surfaces and interfaces down to the molecular level. / Third, the self-assembly mechanism of PTCDA ultrathin films on graphene with the coverage in a range of 0.3∼3 monolayers (MLs) are interrogated by first principles method. For alpha modification mode, with critical thickness of 1 ML, the growth of PTCDA on graphene follows the Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth mode. In contrast, for beta modification mode, the PTCDA can form two complete MLs on graphene substrate. From the thermodynamical viewpoint, alpha modification mode is more stable than beta modification mode. At 1 ML, the PTCDA follows a continuous and planar˙ packing arrangement on graphene, which is almost unperturbed by typical defects in graphene substrate. This is in consistentcy with the experimental findings. For alpha modification mode with 2 and 3 ML coverage, the bulk-like phases appear. At the same time, the total charge transfer between PTCDA and graphene per 5✓3x5 super cell at 2 MLs saturates with 0.42e, which is larger than those of 1 or 3 ML coverage. / Tian, Xiaoqing. / Adviser: Jianbin Xu. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Rao, Yangyan = 氧化鋅的納米結構以及准一維氧化鋅稀磁半導體的合成及研究 / 饒洋燕. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Rao, Yangyan = Yang hua xin de na mi jie gou yi ji zhun yi wei yang hua xin xi ci ban dao ti de he cheng ji yan jiu / Rao Yangyan. / Abstract --- p.1 / 摘要 --- p.3 / Acknowledgments --- p.4 / Table of contents --- p.5 / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.7 / Chapter 1.1 --- Zinc oxide --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2 --- Mn doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductors --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Motivations --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4 --- Our Work --- p.10 / Chapter 1.5 --- Overview of the thesis --- p.11 / References --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Experimental set-up and conditions --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1 --- Chemical Vapor Deposition --- p.15 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Key Steps in Chemical Vapor Deposition --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2 --- Experiments on the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Set-up --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Growth mechanism --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Experimental conditions --- p.20 / References --- p.23 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Characterization of pure ZnO --- p.25 / Chapter 3.1 --- Morphology of ZnO nanowires --- p.25 / Chapter 3.2 --- Lattice structure --- p.30 / Chapter 3.3 --- Photoluminescence property (PL) --- p.32 / Chapter 3.4 --- Lattice dynamics´ؤRaman spectra --- p.33 / References --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Properties of Mn doped ZnO nanowires --- p.37 / Chapter 4.1 --- Morphology and composition --- p.37 / Chapter 4.2 --- Lattice structure of Mn-doped ZnO --- p.40 / Chapter 4.3 --- Lattice dynamics´ؤRaman study of Mn-doped ZnO nanowires --- p.46 / References --- p.48 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Magnetic properties of Mn doped ZnO nanowires --- p.50 / Chapter 5.1 --- Theory of DMS --- p.50 / Chapter 5.2 --- Magnetic results of Mn doped ZnO nanowires --- p.52 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Paramagnetism of Mn doped ZnO --- p.52 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Ferromagnetism of Mn doped ZnO --- p.58 / References --- p.65 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusions --- p.67

Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) and polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-films are very promising for application in photovoltaics. It is extremely challenging to develop cheap TCOs and poly-Si films to make photovoltaic devices. The aim of this thesis is to study sputtered aluminum-doped ZnO TCO and poly-Si films by solid-phase crystallization (SPC) for application in low-cost photovoltaics. The investigated aspects have been (i) to develop and characterize sputtered aluminum-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films that can be used as a TCO material on crystalline silicon solar cells, (ii) to explore the potential of the developed ZnO:Al films for application in ZnO:Al/c-Si heterojunction solar cells, (iii) to make and characterize poly-Si thin-films on different kinds of glass substrates by SPC using electron-beam evaporated amorphous silicon (a-Si) [referred to as EVA poly-Si material (SPC of evaporated a-Si)], and (iv) to fabricate EVA poly-Si thin-film solar cells on glass and improve the energy conversion efficiency of these cells by post-crystallization treatments. The ZnO:Al work in this thesis is focused on the correlation between film characteristics and deposition parameters, such as rf sputter power (Prf), working gas pressure (Pw), and substrate temperature (Tsub), to get a clear picture of film properties in the optimized conditions for application in photovoltaic devices. Especially the laterally non-uniform film properties resulting from the laterally inhomogeneous erosion of the target material are investigated in detail. The influence of Prf, Pw and Tsub on the structural, electrical, optical and surface morphology properties of ZnO:Al films is discussed. It is found that the lateral variations of the parameters of ZnO:Al films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering can be reduced to acceptable levels by optimising the deposition parameters. ZnO:Al/c-Si heterojunction solar cells are fabricated and characterized to demonstrate the feasibility of the fabricated ZnO:Al films for application in heterojunction solar cells. In this application, expensive indium-tin oxide (ITO) is usually used. Under the standard AM1.5G spectrum (100 mW/cm2, 25 ??C), the best fabricated cell shows an open-circuit voltage of 411 mV, a short-circuit current density of 30.0 mA/cm2, a fill factor of 66.7 %, and a conversion efficiency of 8.2 %. This is believed to be the highest stable efficiency ever reported for this type of cell. By means of dark forward current density-voltage-temperature (J-V-T) measurements, it is shown that the dominant current transport mechanism in the ZnO:Al/c-Si solar cells, in the intermediate forward bias voltage region, is trap-assisted multistep tunneling. EVA poly-Si thin-films are prepared on four types of glass substrates (planar and textured glass, both either bare or SiN-coated) based on evaporated Si, which is a cheaper Si deposition method than the existing technologies. The textured glass is realized by the UNSW-developed AIT process (AIT = aluminium-induced texture). The investigation is concentrated on finding optimized process parameters and evaluating film crystallization quality. It is found that EVA poly-Si films have a grain size in the range 0.8-1.5 ??m, and a preferential (111) orientation. UV reflectance and Raman spectroscopy measurements reveal a high crystalline material quality, both at the air-side surface and in the bulk. EVA cells are fabricated in both substrate and superstrate configuration. Special attention is paid to improving the Voc of the solar cells. For this purpose, after the SPC process, the samples receive the two post-crystallization treatments: (i) a rapid thermal anneal (RTA), and (ii) a plasma hydrogenation. It is found that two post-crystallization treatments more than double the 1-Sun Voc of the substrate-type cells. It is demonstrated that RTA improves the structural material quality of the cells. Furthermore, a hydrogenation step is shown to significantly improve the electronic material quality of the cells. Based on the RTA???d and hydrogenated EVA poly-Si material, the first mesa-type EVA cells are fabricated in substrate configuration, by using sputtered Al-doped ZnO as the transparent front contact. The investigation is focused on addressing the correlation between the type of the substrate and cell performance. Optical, electrical and photovoltaic properties of the devices are characterized. It is found that the performance of EVA cells depends on the glass substrate topography. For cells on textured glass, the AIT texture is shown to have a beneficial effect on the optical absorption of EVA films. It is demonstrated that a SiN barrier layer on the AIT-textured glass improves significantly both the crystalline quality of the poly-Si films and the energy conversion efficiency of the resulting solar cells. For cells on planar glass, a SiN film between the planar glass and the poly-Si film has no obvious effect on the cell properties. The investigations in this thesis clearly show that EVA poly-Si films are very promising for poly-Si thin-film solar cells on glass.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, December 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-130).

Aluminum and Zinc oxide powder were blended by friction stir processing (FSP) with threaded pin of 6mm in diameter under conditions of traverse speed, 1mm/sec and rotation speed, 1500rpm. Different thermal analysis (DTA) was conducted to reveal that the melting point of the stir zone decreased to 592oC from 660oC of the green compact specimen containing 20wt%ZnO. X-ray diffraction (XRD) identified that Zn from ZnO dissolved into Al matrix, and did not resolve redox products, alomina. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with filed emission gun was employed with EDS analysis. It is interesting to note that many redoxed products with oxygen concentration higher than that of the matrix can be seen as dark and gray phases in BSE images. Evidently, a chemical reaction in Al/ZnO system is possible during FSP and results of the reduced Zn dissolving into the Al matrix and the expected but not detectable nanoscale alumina uniformly being dispersed into the matrix can be attributed to the excellent 22% elongation, and 350 MPa tensile strength in the stir zone from stirred Al-25wt% ZnO.

Aluminum Doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) produced by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering is thought to be the prospective replacement of the de facto standard indium tin oxide (ITO) anode in organic solar cells. In order to achieve a proper resistivity and transmittance of AZO thin film compared to ITO, a systematic study was done to optimize the sputtering conditions. In this work, two primary parameters: target-substrate distance and sputtering power, were optimized, and a optimized film thickness was determined. A poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) bulk-heterojunction organic solar cell was fabricated based on the optimized parameters and the power conversion efficiency reached 0.83%. A theoretical analysis is given to explain the optimization process. This work provides a clear pathway to substitute AZO for ITO in organic solar cells for future mass production.

Aluminum Doped Zinc Oxide (AZO) produced by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering is thought to be the prospective replacement of the de facto standard indium tin oxide (ITO) anode in organic solar cells. In order to achieve a proper resistivity and transmittance of AZO thin film compared to ITO, a systematic study was done to optimize the sputtering conditions. In this work, two primary parameters: target-substrate distance and sputtering power, were optimized, and a optimized film thickness was determined. A poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) bulk-heterojunction organic solar cell was fabricated based on the optimized parameters and the power conversion efficiency reached 0.83%. A theoretical analysis is given to explain the optimization process. This work provides a clear pathway to substitute AZO for ITO in organic solar cells for future mass production.