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Design, implementation, and characterization of an automated SILAR system: validation with ZnO thin film deposition

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Abstract

The control of thin film deposition is an important issue in a wide range of applications, ranging from optoelectronic devices to active components in energy storage technologies. In this sense, the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) technique has gained increasing interest from the scientific community for its simplicity, efficiency, and versatility in depositing several types of thin film materials of great technological interest over a variety of substrates, with tunable properties depending on the deposition parameters. Regarding the limitations and problems induced by using the conventional manual SILAR process, we present the design and implementation of a new automatic low-cost SILAR system for further developing and improving thin film deposition quality and reproducibility while avoiding operator fatigue. Our designed system relies on a motorized mobile platform with 1.8 degrees of freedom equipped with a multiple substrate holder, a control board in order to regulate the horizontal and vertical axis speed, and finally, an improved graphical user interface for controlling and monitoring the main parameters such as displacement speed in \(x\) and \(y\) directions, growth cycles, immersion, and rise time for each beaker. More particularly, the present study aims to improve the system’s programming in order to allow the motor to reach its maximum speed at start-up, reduce the cycle time, make it more controllable, and overcome the problem of time delay between cycles. The performance of the system was assessed by depositing crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy demonstrated a good correlation between the evolution of the number of deposition cycles with the crystallite/grain size and film thickness. Moreover, controlling the instrument allows obtaining thin films with good adhesion and homogeneity. All these advantages make this technology promising at the industrial scale.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

ED:

Electrodeposition

SPT:

Spray pyrolysis technology

FWHM:

Full-width half maximum

ZnO:

Zinc oxide

CVD:

Chemical vapor deposition

SILAR:

Successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction

CBD:

Chemical bath deposition

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

UV-Vis:

Ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

LED:

Light-emitting diode

IDE:

Integrated development environment

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Acknowledgements

A special acknowledge is dedicated to Mr. Khalid Cherifi and Mr. Amin Ajdour for their availability and assistance in the different stages of this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Electronics-, Signal Processing and Physical Modeling, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, 80000, Morocco

    Brahim Ydir, Dris Ben Hmamou, Mohamed Bousseta & Houda Lahlou

  2. Laboratory of Materials and Renewable Energy, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, 80000, Agadir, Morocco

    Youssef Ait-Wahmane & Ahmed Ihlal

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  1. Brahim Ydir
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  2. Dris Ben Hmamou
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Contributions

Brahim Ydir: conceptualization, methodology, validation, writing – original draft, visualization, software, formal analysis. Dris Ben Hmamou: investigation, writing, formal analysis. Youssef Ait-Wahmane: investigation, writing, formal analysis. Ahmed Ihlal: resources, investigation. Mohamed Bousseta: methodology, supervision, project administration. Houda Lahlou: resources, methodology, writing – review and editing, supervision, project administration, conceptualization.

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Correspondence to Brahim Ydir.

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Ydir, B., Ben Hmamou, D., Ait-Wahmane, Y. et al. Design, implementation, and characterization of an automated SILAR system: validation with ZnO thin film deposition. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 123, 1189–1201 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10207-1

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