Materials Horizons: From Nature to Nanomaterials Sushil Kumar D. K. Aswal   Editors Recent Advances in Thin Films Materials Horizons: From Nature to Nanomaterials Series Editor Vijay Kumar Thakur, School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK Materialsareanindispensablepartofhumancivilizationsincetheinceptionoflife onearth.Withthepassageoftime,innumerablenewmaterialshavebeenexplored aswellasdevelopedandthesearchfornewinnovativematerialscontinuesbriskly. Keeping in mind the immense perspectives of various classes of materials, this series aimsatprovidingacomprehensivecollectionofworksacrossthebreadthof materials research at cutting-edge interface of materials science with physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. This series covers a galaxy of materials ranging from natural materials to nanomaterials. 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Aswal (cid:129) Editors Recent Advances in Thin Films 123 Editors Sushil Kumar D.K.Aswal CSIR-National Physical Laboratory CSIR-National Physical Laboratory NewDelhi, India NewDelhi, India ISSN 2524-5384 ISSN 2524-5392 (electronic) Materials Horizons:From Nature toNanomaterials ISBN978-981-15-6115-3 ISBN978-981-15-6116-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6116-0 ©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2020 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Preface Thin film is a two-dimensional layer of material deposited using controlled pro- cesses on some supporting surface. There are a variety of thin films based on its structures such as amorphous thin films, crystalline/polycrystalline/nanocrystalline thin films, nanostructured thin films, nanocomposite thin films, multilayer and supperlattice structures and monolayers. Advances in deposition processes and characterizationtoolsforthesethinfilmsduringlastfivedecadesorsohaveenabled a wide range of breakthroughs in technological applications such as optical coat- ings, magnetic recording media, electronic semiconductor devices, light emitting devices, hard coatings on cutting tools, thin-film solar cells and thin-film sensors. Noticeable advancements have taken place in already progressing field of thin films and related technology in recent past. Ultra-thin films, monolayers, nano- materials, hybrid thin films, organic and polymer thin films, etc. recently added to the inventory of class of thin-film materials have given new dimension in realiza- tionofexceptionalproperties.Thesethinfilmshavewell-determinedstructuresand functionalities which have further opened up the avenue for advancement of devices. The present book entitled Recent Advances in Thin Films is a collection of 22 review articles from experts who presented their recent R&D work in 17th InternationalConferenceonThinFilms(ICTF-17),workingspecificallyinthefield of surface engineering, hard coatings, epitaxial growth, magnetic materials, pho- tovoltaic and sensors. The book also covers an overview of recent advances in development of thin film based newer devices and applications such as hydro- electric cell, electrocaloric cooling devices and hybrid flexible sensors. All the chapters contain in-depth studies and analysis of recent aspects of thin films as material and its use for devices. The book is not only useful for researchers in the area under discussion invarious chaptersbutalso for Ph.D. students, graduate and undergraduate students specializing in condensed matter physics and material sci- ence.Particularly,thechapter“ThinFilmandSignificanceofItsThickness”willbe interesting to students for right understanding of thin film definition and signifi- cance of thin film thicknesses in various devices. v vi Preface The other chapters of the book deal with recent advancement in growth, char- acterization and device applications of thin films. Chapter “Ultra-Thin Films on Complex Metallic Alloy Surfaces: A Perspective” gives an overview of ultra-thin films on complex alloy surfaces. The nextfour chapters (“Growth Defects in PVD HardCoatings”–“Synthesis,StabilityandSelf-DiffusioninIronNitrideThinFilms: AReview”)aremainlyfocusedongrowthaspectofhardcoatings,epitaxialgallium nitride thin films, non-magnetic cobalt in cobalt thin films and iron nitride thin films. Chapter “Photoelectron Energy Loss Spectroscopy: A Versatile Tool for MaterialScience”discussednewinsightinphotoelectronenergylossspectroscopy tool for thin-film material characterization. Chapter “MoS - and MoO -Based 2 3 Ultrathin Layered Materials for Optoelectronic Applications” is about MoS - and 2 MaO - based ultra-thin layered materials for optoelectronic applications. The next 3 three chapters (“Optoelectronic Properties of Nanocrystalline Silicon-Based Superlattice Structures”–“Organic Thin Films: Langmuir Monolayers and Multilayers”) discussed about thin-film multilayer and superlattice structures. Chapters “Thin Films for Electrocaloric Cooling Devices”–“Conducting Polymers and Their Composites Adding New Dimensions to Advanced Thermoelectric Materials” are about overview of newer applications of thin films such as hydro- electric cell, electrocaloric cooling devices and polymer-based thermoelectric materials, respectively. The next four chapters (“HWCVD: A Potential Tool for Silicon-Based Thin Films and Nanostructures”–“Nanostructured Black Silicon for EfficientThinSiliconSolarCells:PotentialandChallenges”)areaboutphotovoltaic applications of various kinds of solar cells such as silicon, dye sensitized, per- ovskite and polymer. Particularly, chapter “Nanostructured Black Silicon for EfficientThinSiliconSolarCells:PotentialandChallenges”discussedaboutrecent advancement in the use of various thin-film layers in nanostructured black silicon solarcells.Thelastfourchapters(“ChemiresistiveSensorsforH SGas:Stateofthe 2 Art”–“Vanadium Oxide Thin Films for Optical and Gas Sensing Applications”) of the book cover recent development in a variety of thin film based sensors. We are thankful to all the eminent contributors who made extraordinary efforts in preparing their respective chapters. We hope this book will be an important reference book for a wide scientific community doing R&D work in thin film in universities, research institutions and industries. New Delhi, India Sushil Kumar December 2019 D. K. Aswal Contents Thin Film and Significance of Its Thickness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Sushil Kumar and D. K. Aswal Ultra-Thin Films on Complex Metallic Alloy Surfaces: A Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Vincent Fournée, Julian Ledieu, Émilie Gaudry, Hem-Raj Sharma, and Ronan McGrath Growth Defects in PVD Hard Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Miha Čekada, Peter Panjan, Aljaž Drnovšek, Matjaž Panjan, and Peter Gselman Growth Dynamics of Epitaxial Gallium Nitride Films Grown on c-Sapphire Substrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Shibin Krishna, Neha Aggarwal, Lalit Goswami, and Govind Gupta High-Density Non-magnetic Cobalt in Cobalt Thin Films . . . . . . . . . . . 103 B. N. Dev and Nasrin Banu Synthesis, Stability and Self-Diffusion in Iron Nitride Thin Films: A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Mukul Gupta Photoelectron Energy Loss Spectroscopy: A Versatile Tool for Material Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Christian Godet, Denis G. F. David, Victor Mancir da Silva Santana, Jailton Souza de Almeida, and Didier Sébilleau MoS - and MoO -Based Ultrathin Layered Materials 2 3 for Optoelectronic Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Hongfei Liu Optoelectronic Properties of Nanocrystalline Silicon-Based Superlattice Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Pratima Agarwal and Asha Yadav vii viii Contents Evolutionary Design, Deposition and Characterization Techniques for Interference Optical Thin-Film Multilayer Coatings and Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 S. Jena and N. K. Sahoo Organic Thin Films: Langmuir Monolayers and Multilayers. . . . . . . . . 345 Sarathi Kundu Thin Films for Electrocaloric Cooling Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 Gunnar Suchaneck and Gerald Gerlach Colossal Humidoresistance Inducement in Magnesium Ferrite Thin Film Led to Green Energy Device Invention: Hydroelectric Cell . . . . . . 389 Jyoti Shah, Rekha Gupta, and R. K. Kotnala ConductingPolymersandTheir CompositesAddingNewDimensions to Advanced Thermoelectric Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Meetu Bharti, Ajay Singh, K. P. Muthe, and D. K. Aswal HWCVD: A Potential Tool for Silicon-Based Thin Films and Nanostructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 Rajiv O. Dusane Role of Ultrathin Electron Transport Layers in Performance of Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 Vibha Saxena Optical Optimization of Thin-Film Polymer Solar Cells. . . . . . . . . . . . . 507 Sanjay Tiwari and Ralph Gebauer Nanostructured Black Silicon for Efficient Thin Silicon Solar Cells: Potential and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549 Sanjay K. Srivastava, Prashant Singh, Avritti Srivastava, P. Prathap, Sushil Kumar, C. M. S. Rauthan, and D. K. Aswal Chemiresistive Sensors for H S Gas: State of the Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625 2 Niranjan Ramgir, Ankita Pathak, K. R. Sinju, Bhagyashri Bhangare, A. K. Debnath, and K. P. Muthe Substituted Phthalocyanine-Based Nanostructured Materials for Room-Temperature Gas Sensing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665 Aman Mahajan, Rajan Saini, and R. K. Bedi Hybrid Flexible Sensor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685 V. B. Patil Vanadium Oxide Thin Films for Optical and Gas Sensing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703 Ravish Kumar Jain and Atul Khanna About the Editors Dr. Sushil Kumar ispresentlySeniorPrincipalScientistandHead–Photovoltaic MetrologyGroupatCSIR-NationalPhysicalLaboratory(NPL),NewDelhiandalso recognizedasProfessorofPhysicalSciencesatAcademyofScientific&Innovative Research (AcSIR). His research interests cover solar cells, thin film coatings and plasma processing and related instrumentation. He was a visiting fellow at Ecole Polytechnique–Palaiseau,Paris,Franceduring2002-2003.HereceivedhisPh.Din 1997fromtheInstituteofTechnology(nowIIT-BHU),BanarasHinduUniversity, Varanasi with research focusing on the stress relieved diamond like carbon thin films. He has significantly contributed over the years in process development for growth of nanostructured diamond like coatings, and silicon thin films and their related instrumentation. He has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed international journals and also holds three international patents on deposition of diamond-like carbon films (USA and European Patents) and nanos- tructured silicon films (USA patent). Some well recognized academic awards he received includes: BOYSCAST fellowship by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and Young Scientist Award, CSIR, INDIA. Recently, he has also developed a laboratory for organic solar cells testing and validation at CSIR-NPL. His current research focuses on the development of productsfor rural householdand recyclingof solar modules. Dr. D. K. Aswal is currently Director, CSIR- National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi, Director, Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI, Pilani) and Chairman, National Accreditation Board for Testing andCalibrationLaboratories(NABL),Indiaismaintaininglienwithhispositionas “OutstandingScientist”atBhabhaAtomicResearchCentre(BARC),Departmentof Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, Mumbai. Dr. Aswal, during 2012-2015,hasalsoservedasSecretary,AtomicEnergyEducationSociety(AEES), Mumbai,whichisanautonomousinstitutionunderDAE.Dr.AswaljoinedBARC throughthetrainingschoolbatchoftheyear1986aftercompletingM.Sc.inPhysics (Goldmedalist)fromGarhwalUniversityin1985.HeobtainedhisPh.D.inPhysics fromMumbaiUniversityandsubsequentlycarriedoutpost-doctoralresearchwork ix