Award Date

8-2010

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Committee Member

Biswajit Das, Chair

Second Committee Member

Yingtao Jiang

Third Committee Member

Mei Yang

Graduate Faculty Representative

Hui Zhao

Number of Pages

109

Abstract

In recent years nanoparticles fabricated by nonlithographic techniques have shown a very promising alternative implementation to make novel electronic and photonic devices. However, the size control of these nanoparticles has been a great challenge. In this dissertation we used a custom designed ultrahigh vacuum nanocluster deposition system to investigate the size control of nanoparticles by varying different process parameters. The experimental values are compared with existing models and results are found to be in good agreement.

Silicon thin films are very important for the fabrication of a variety of devices including flat panel displays and solar cells. However, the Si thin films used in most of these devices today are amorphous in nature, which limits their performances and functionalities. In this dissertation we investigated the crystallization of amorphous Si thin films using aluminum and other metals as a seed layer. We achieved a temperature of 500 oC to crystallize the amorphous Si thin films, which is much below softening point of glass. In addition, we also investigated the crystallization of amorphous Si thin films using Al nanofilms. Our results show an average 70% increase of transmission coefficient in visible spectrum after Si is crystallized by Al nanofilms.

Keywords

Aluminum oxide; Amorphous silicon thin films; Amorphous substances; Metal induced crystallization; Nanoparticles; Nanosilicon; Nanostructures; Nonlithographic method to fabricate nanoparticles; Silicon crystals; Thin films

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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