Metal oxide thin films have a broad range of uses in transistors, electrochromic coatings, and photovoltaics. Those applications requiring large areal coverage rely on the development of scalable, low-cost solution-processed film deposition methods to replace expensive and energy-intensive vacuum deposition techniques. The temperatures required to decompose solution precursors to metal oxides are often incompatible with temperature sensitive, flexible substrates and their electrical performance is typically only a fraction of what is achieved with sputtered films. The development and understanding of new chemical mechanisms to facilitate metal oxide formation from solution precursors is vital to the commercialization of solution-processed large-area electronics. Here, two potential techniques to lower metal oxide formation temperatures are investigated: combustion additives and photochemical treatments. The chemical interactions between several metal nitrate (M(NO3)x, where M = Al, In, Y, Mg and x = 2 or 3) and fuel model systems (acetylacetone, urea, and glycine) are examined. Comparisons are made between the chemical mechanisms of metal oxide formation in the bulk precursors and in their thin film form. Chemical and thermal analyses of bulk versus thin-film materials provide a new perspective on thin film chemical processes and elucidates important differences in their reactivity. The effects of ultraviolet light on the composition of metal nitrate-containing films are also explored. Data indicate, out of numerous metal nitrate systems analyzed, that nitrate ions in indium-containing films are highly susceptible to photochemical reduction. This work aims to uncover the chemical mechanism responsible for this phenomenon and demonstrate utility in low temperature film processing.

Insights into solution-processed metal oxide thin film formation mechanisms through investigations of non-thermal energy sources for annealing

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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