Current Research

    Research is involved with the deposition and study of semiconductor films. Thin films of amorphous silicon, germanium, and a silicon-germanium alloy are deposited and studied. The films have been characterized using light to dark conductivity ratios, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for hydrogen content and bonding type, Ultraviolet/visible absorption measurements to determine band gap, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Under certain deposition conditions, device quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon films can be grown. This work is supported by NRI and NREL.
This work was initiated by the collaboration with scientists at the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The Czechs have been using the supersonic plasma jet to deposit metallic and insulating films and to etch materials for some time. This technique is just starting to be used for the deposition of semiconductor materials and is unique to this laboratory.
A new project using the supersonic plasma jet to deposit a new material, GeC, is supported by NSF. This work is in collaboration with Colleagues at Iowa State University and UNK and is just getting started.
Additional funding from the Army Research Laboratories is expected to start in April and will be on thin films of BaSrTiO₃. The people involved in this project are from UNL, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.

Recent Key Publications

N. J. Ianno, R. J. Soukup, G.Pribil and Z. Hubicka, “Deposition of High Quality Silicon, Germanium and Silicon-Germanium Thin Films by a Hollow Cathode Reactive Sputtering System”, Surface and Coatings Technol. 177-178, 676 (2004).

Z. Hubicka, G. Pribil, R. J. Soukup, and N. J. Ianno, “Investigations of the RF and DC Hollow Cathode Plasma-Jet Sputtering Systems for the Deposition of Amorphous Silicon Thin Films”, Surface and Coatings Technol. 160, 114 (2002).

G. Pribil, Z. Hubicka, R. J. Soukup, and N. J. Ianno, “Deposition of Electronic Quality Amorphous Silicon, a-Si:H, Thin Films by a Hollow Cathode Plasma-Jet Reactive Sputtering System”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 19, 1571 (2001).

Recent Graduates and Current Affliations

· D. R. Konz is employed at Boeing in St. Louis.
· G. Pribil is employed at J.A. Woollam Co. in Lincoln.