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Multilayer stack structural designing of titania and zinc white using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique and study of thermally governed dielectric dispersion and conduction under alternating electric fields

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Abstract

The a.c. conduction and the dielectric response were performed on bi-layers and quadri-layers of transparent Titania and Zinc white (i.e., TiO2/ZnO) thin film oxides of 100 nm thickness, deposited using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) system at 200 °C on silicon (100) substrates. The results show that Jonscher’s power law obeys a.c. conductivity (σac) with respect to the frequency dependence. The behavior of (σac) and the change of the frequency exponent (s) with temperature confirm the usage of correlated barrier hopping (CBH) mechanism for conduction. The dielectric response of the dielectric constant (ε′) and the dielectric loss (ε″) with increasing temperature as well as frequency are also analyzed. The consequences of the rise in the number of layers in the designed multilayer stacks are also investigated. Further, the presence of Meyer–Neldel relation in thermally triggered a.c. conduction in both thin-film samples are also reported. The results are explained using the cBΩ model and in terms of applicability for the corresponding relaxation time.

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Data availability

The data underlying this article are available in the article. The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the department of solid-state physics in the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Debrecen for providing the preparation and structural characterization facilities. Also sincere thanks to the Physics department in the Faculty of Education at Ain Shams University for providing all the experimental facilities for the optical measurements, according to the agreement between the coordinator Prof. Suzan Fouad (Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University), and the coordinator Prof. Zoltán Erdélyi (Faculty of Science and Technology, Debrecen University) through the project number TKP2021-NKTA-34 has been implemented with the support provided by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Fund of Hungary, financed under the TKP2021-NKTA funding scheme.

Funding

This study was supported by National Research, Development, and Innovation Fund of Hungary (Grant No. TKP2021-NKTA-34).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

    Neeraj Mehta & S. K. Pal

  2. Department of Physics, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    S. S. Fouad & H. E. Atyia

  3. Department of Environmental Physics, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    E. Baradács

  4. Department of Solid State Physics, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    E. Baradács, B. Parditka & Z. Erdélyi

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  1. Neeraj Mehta
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Contributions

BP, EB, and ZE synthesized thin-film samples and contributed to the formal analysis. SSF and HEA produced experimental data. NM contributed to the conceptualization and writing of the original draft, review and editing. SKP performed data analysis and plotted graphs.

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Correspondence to Neeraj Mehta.

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Mehta, N., Fouad, S.S., Baradács, E. et al. Multilayer stack structural designing of titania and zinc white using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique and study of thermally governed dielectric dispersion and conduction under alternating electric fields. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 708 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10068-8

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