Thin Films Laboratory (TFL)

• Pulsed Laser deposition of oxide films

  Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is an excellent technique to deposit oxide films, in particular, transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films. The third harmonic (355 nm) of a Nd:YAG laser is used to deposit some TCOs, such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO), ZnO:Al (AZO), or fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) on various substrates, also at low temperature. TCO films are electrically characterized in order to evaluate the carrier density and mobility. Characteristics of TCO films are expected to be strongly dependent on deposition parameters, such as substrate temperature, laser fluence, and oxygen pressure. We can optimize the process in order to find the best deposition conditions. In addition, we are investigating the properties of VO2, Nb2O5, and HfO2 films deposited by PLD.
  
  
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  Related Publications

  
  - A. Sacco, M. S. Di Bella, M. Gerosa, A. Chiodoni, S. Bianco, M. Mosca, R. Macaluso, C. Calì, C. F. Pirri: Enhancement of photoconversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells exploiting pulsed laser deposited niobium pentoxide blocking layers - Thin Solid Films, 574 (2015) 38–42.
  - M. Mosca, R. Macaluso, C. Calì, R. Butté, S. Nicolay, E. Feltin, D. Martin, N. Grandjean: Optical, structural, and morphological characterisation of epitaxial ZnO films grown by pulsed-laser deposition – Thin Solid Films 539 (2013) 55-59.
  - R. Macaluso, M. Mosca, C. Calì, F. Di Franco, M. Santamaria, F. Di Quarto, J.-L. Reverchon: Erroneous p-type assignment by Hall effect measurements in annealed ZnO films grown on InP - Journal of Applied Physics 113 (2013) 164508.
  - C. Calì, F. Cornacchia, A. Di Lieto, F. Marchetti, M. Tonelli: Nd:YVO4 crystalline film grown by pulsed laser deposition - Optical Materials 31 (2009) 1331-1333.
  - J. Olivier, B. Servet, M. Vergnolle, M. Mosca, G. Garry: Stability/instability of conductivity and work function changes of ITO thin films, UV-irradiated in air or vacuum. Measurements by the four-probe method and by Kelvin force microscopy - Synthetic Metals 122 (2001) 87-89.
  - C. Calì, R. Macaluso, M. Mosca: Effects of the process conditions on the plume of a laser-irradiated indium-tin-oxide target - Opt.Comm., 197 (2001) 341-354.
  - C. Calì, M. Mosca, G. Targia: A simple apparatus for the determination of the optical constants and thickness of absorbing thin films - Opt.Comm., 191 (2001) 295-298.
  - C. Calì, R. Macaluso, M. Mosca: In-Situ Monitoring of Pulsed Laser Indium-Tin-Oxide Film Deposition by Optical Emission Spectroscopy - Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, Vol. 56, pp. 743-751 (2001).
  - C. Calì, M. Mosca, G. Targia: Deposition of Indium Tin Oxide films by laser ablation: processing and characterization - Solid-State Electronics 42, 877 (1998).
  - C. Calì, F. La Rosa, G. Targia, D. Robba: Study of film growth from excimer laser-induced evaporation of CdS - J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 78 (10), pag. 6265, (1995).


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  Projects and Funding

  
  • Crescita mediante laser e caratterizzazione di ossidi drogati per applicazioni fotoniche ed optoelettroniche, Local University Project (Ex 60% 2006) - Coordinator: C. Calì
  • Fotodeposizione di ossidi drogati con terre rare per applicazioni fotoniche, Local University Project (Ex 60% 2004) - Coordinator: C. Calì
  • Fotoablazione laser finalizzata alla deposizione di materiali ottici non lineari, National Project (PRIN MIUR 2004) - Local Coordinator: C. Calì


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  Collaborations

  
  • University of Pisa
  • University of Siena
  • Laboratory of Advanced Semiconductors for Photonics and Electronics (LASPE), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne (Switzerland)


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  Related Theses

  
  • DI BELLA Maurizio, Incremento dell'efficienza di celle solari DSSC tramite strato bloccante (Supervisors: Dr. M. Mosca, Dr. R. Macaluso, Dr. A. Sacco) 2014
  • PAGANO Antonino, Fabbricazione e caratterizzazione di fotorivelatori UV solar-blind in ossido di zinco (Supervisors: Dr. M. Mosca, Prof. G.Lullo, Mr. F. Caruso) 2014
  • SPOSITO Alberto, Progettazione e realizzazione di un dispositivo elettro-ottico in ossido di zinco (Supervisors: Prof. C. Calì, Prof. A. Busacca) 2010
  • COMELLA Laura Maria, Realizzazione di un sistema low cost per la caratterizzazione elettrica di film sottili (Supervisor: Dr. M. Mosca) 2008
  • CALABRO' Placido, Gestione di un impianto di deposizione mediante laser a CO2 (Supervisor: Prof. C. Calì) 2007
  • GAZIA Rossana, Regolatore digitale di pressione per "pulsed laser deposition" e verifica sperimentale dell'intero sistema (Supervisors: Prof. C. Calì, Prof. C. Giaconia) 2005
  • SPALLINA Giulio, Acquisizione spettroscopica nel processo di fotoablazione laser (Supervisor: Prof. C. Calì) 2004
  • BONFIGLIO Sebastiano, Caratterizzazione completa di film sottili mediante spettrofotometro controllato da PC (Supervisor: Prof. C. Calì) 2003
  • D'ANGELO Giuseppe Maria, Film sottili di ITO: caratteristiche in funzione delle condizioni di deposizione (Supervisors: Prof. C. Calì, Dr. M. Mosca) 2001
  • SCAVUZZO Giorgio, Gestione di un sistema di fotodeposizione mediante LABVIEW (Supervisors: Prof. C. Calì, Dr. M. Mosca) 2000

Contacts

• TFL site:
  DEIM Block 9
  U312   3^rd floor
  Phone +39 091 23860220
  fax +39 091 488452
  tfl@deim.unipa.it

• Prof. Claudio Calì
  U218  2^nd floor
  Phone +39 091 23860231
  claudio.cali@unipa.it
• Dr. Mauro Mosca
  U314  3^rd floor
  Phone +39 091 23860212
  mauro.mosca@unipa.it
• Dr. Roberto Macaluso
  U314  3^rd floor
  Phone +39 091 23860279
  roberto.macaluso@unipa.it

Useful links

• 
  Jobs in Photonics
• Brightrecruits in Physics and Engineering
  
• Erasmus intern
  
• LEDs Magazine
  
• ElectroOptics Magazine
  
• Laser Focus World
  
• Compound Semiconductor
  
• Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technology @ UNIPA
  
• ScienceDirect (Elsevier Publications)
  
• IEEE Xplore Digital Library
  
• American Institute of Physics Publications