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dc.contributor.advisorRichards, Ryan
dc.contributor.authorCaskey, Christopher Michael
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T07:17:14Z
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-09T09:04:26Z
dc.date.available2015-03-01T04:18:44Z
dc.date.available2022-02-09T09:04:26Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.date.submitted2014
dc.identifierT 7627
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11124/10642
dc.description2014 Fall.
dc.descriptionIncludes illustrations (some color).
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.
dc.description.abstractThis thesis explores some of the lesser-studied materials in the metal nitride family, copper nitride (Cu3N), two tin nitrides (Sn3N4 and SnN) and antimony oxynitride, via high-throughput combinatorial methods. Copper nitride was investigated as a potential photovoltaic absorber material. Stable, phase pure Cu3N thin films were grown on glass substrates at temperatures between 150 and 200°C, depending on the target-substrate distance. The analysis of the synthetic results provides insights into the thermodynamic origins of the growth of metastable Cu3N, and sets a nitrogen chemical potential of +1 eV/atom as a lower limit of the anion activity that can be achieved in non-equilibrium thin film growth of metastable materials. The semiconducting properties of tin nitride are explored by thin-film experiments and first-principles theory to evaluate the efficacy of this material for optoelectronic technologies. A computational study of related group IV nitride polymorphs provides additional insight into the properties and challenges associated with this class of semiconductors. We report the first binary crystalline nitride containing Sn(II), a semiconductor having composition near SnN. The material has a band gap between 1.5 and 2 eV, and n-type conductivity arising from 10^20 carriers/cm^3 with mobility of 2 cm^2/Vs. Finally, we report the relatively unknown antimony oxynitride, which we prepare by reactive sputtering and measure its bulk stoichiometry for the first time. The oxynitride thin films have approximate composition Sb3O3xN5-2x, where x is near 0.4. The films are resistive, have an optical absorption onset near 2 eV, and have low long-range order. The stability of the films was found to be dependent on the growth temperature, with films grown at ambient temperature being shelf-stable while films grown at elevated temperatures converted to the oxide.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado School of Mines. Arthur Lakes Library
dc.relation.ispartof2010-2019 - Mines Theses & Dissertations
dc.rightsCopyright of the original work is retained by the author.
dc.subjectsputtering
dc.subjectabsorber
dc.subjectmetastable
dc.subjectnitride
dc.subjectthin film
dc.subject.lcshNitrides
dc.subject.lcshThin films
dc.subject.lcshSemiconductors
dc.subject.lcshOptoelectronics
dc.subject.lcshSolar energy
dc.titleOn metastable nitrides with potential renewable energy applications
dc.typeText
dc.contributor.committeememberYang, Yongan
dc.contributor.committeememberWilliams, S. Kim R.
dc.contributor.committeememberYang, Yuan
dc.contributor.committeememberGinley, D. S. (David S.)
dc.contributor.committeememberCiobanu, Cristian V.
dcterms.embargo.terms2015-03-01
dcterms.embargo.expires2015-03-01
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.disciplineChemistry and Geochemistry
thesis.degree.grantorColorado School of Mines
dc.rights.access6-month embargo


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