Thin film devices

Table 3. Magnetic Metals Investigated For Thin-Film Devices...

The cost of a PV device is determined by several factors. These include the kind of materials used and the amount of materials requited, choice of substrates, device design, and fabrication processes. Crystalline devices ate generally mote efficient, but thin-film devices ate anticipated to cost less in flat-plate configurations. The use of concentrated light permits retention of efficiency with simultaneous reduction in cost. 

Ferroelectric Thin-Film Devices. Since 1989, the study of ferroelectric thin films has been an area of increasing growth. The compositions studied most extensively are in the PZT/PLZT family, although BaTiO, KNbO, and relaxor ferroelectric materials, such as PMN and PZN, have also been investigated. Solution deposition is the most frequentiy utilized fabrication process, because of the lower initial capital investment cost, ease of film fabrication, and the excellent dielectric and ferroelectric properties that result. 

The physical structures of microchip assemblies usually contain a number of thin films in contact, each of which plays a separate role in the performance of the device. As an example, in one structure a silicon thin film would be contacted on one face by a copper rod which conducts away die heat generated during computer operations, and on the other face by an aluminium thin film which acts as a connector to other silicon films. This aluminium film is in turn in contact with a ceramic layer containing other thin film devices, and widr copper pins which plug into the circuit board. 

For smart cards, micro-robots and small precision instruments, thin laminated micro-cells are being developed. Some of these developmental thin-film devices—using an electrolyte of lithium, a copper cathode, and lithium again for the electrode—can charge and discharge up to 3 volts, and can be expected to tolerate up to 1,000 charge-and-discharge cycles. 

Most experts consider tlnn-film technology to be the future of the PV industiy because of the reduced material rec uirements, the reduced energy required to manufacture thin film devices, and the ability to manufacture thin films on a mass-production basis. 

R. P. Raffaelle, J. G. Mantovani, and R. Friedfeld, Electrodeposited CuInSe2 thin film devices, Anaheim, CA, 1997. 

Sometimes molecules are used as layers in other devices. For example, molecules can act as capacitors, and this relatively new field is promising for applications in energy storage as well as providing typical capacitance behavior in thin film devices [121, 122]. 

Ahrenkiel, R. K. 1989. The effect of deep states on the photovoltaic performance of CdZnS/CuInSe2 thin film devices. Solar Cells 16 549-565. 

RN Marks, The Optical and Electronic Response of Poly(p-Phenylene Vinylene) Thin Film Devices. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, 1993. 

Another common location for creep failures of encapsulated assemblies is at sharp corners or edges. Many encapsulants such as polyimides must be applied in thin coats, and coverage of points, edges, or corners is difficult or impossible. Sharp corners, characteristic of most thin-film devices provide ideal conditions for the initiation of creep failures due to the resulting irregularity of the encapsulant coverage. 

Title Polymer Compound, Polymer Thin-Film and Polymer Thin-Film Device Using the Same... 

Additional polymer thin films, (I), and polymer thin-film devices were prepared by the authors (1) and used as organic solar batteries. 

X. Li, P. Sheldon, H. Moutinho, and R. Matson. Enhanced Performance of CdS/CdTe Thin-Film Devices Through Temperature Profiling Techniques Applied to Closed-Space Sublimination Deposition. In 35th Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, volume 25, pages 933-936,1996. 

H. Sevian, S. Miiller, H. Rudmann, and M. F. Rubner, Using Organic Light-Emitting Electrochemical Thin-Film Devices to Teach Materials Science, ... 

TABLE 6. MAGNETIC METALS INVESTIGATED FOR THIN-FILM DEVICES... 

The applications for this approach are in thin film devices for SHG and electrooptic (EO) modulation. 

Another type of thin film device consists of four 0.5 x 0.5 mm2 platinum working electrodes and a Ag/AgCl reference electrode made on a 0.3 mm glass carrier. The enzymes were immobilized onto the working electrodes in a photo crosslinked pHEMA membrane and additionally covered by a diffusion limiting and a catalase containing top layer [77]. 

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