Hiromichi Ohta

Thermoelectric energy conversion technology to convert waste heat into electricity has received much attention. In addition, metal oxides have recently been considered as thermoelectric power generation materials that can operate at high temperatures on the basis of their potential advantages over heavy metallic alloys in chemical and thermal robustness. We have fabricated high-quality epitaxial films composed of oxide thermoelectric materials that are suitable for clarifying the intrinsic "real

This article reviews transparent oxide optoelectronic devices based on our efforts focusing on transparent thin-film transistors fabricated from single-crystalline films of InGaO3(ZnO)5 with a natural superlattice structure, near-ultraviolet (UV) emitting diodes composed of heteroepitaxially grown p-type SrCu2O2 and n-type ZnO, and single-crystalline NiO and ZnO pn-heterojunction diode UV detectors.

Transparent trilayered oxide films of ZnO/NiO/indium tin oxide were heteroepitaxially grown on a YSZ (111) substrate by pulsed-laser deposition combined with a solid-phase-epitaxy technique, and were processed to fabricate a p-NiO/n-ZnO diode. The diode exhibited a clear rectifying I–V characteristic with an ideality factor of ∼2 and a forward threshold voltage of ∼1 V. Although the photoresponsivity was fairly weak at the zero-bias voltage, it was enhanced up to ∼0.3 A W−1 through the applicati

Highly electrically conductive indium–tin–oxide thin films were epitaxially grown on an extremely flat (100) surface of yttria-stabilized zirconia single-crystal substrates at a substrate temperature of 600 °C by a pulsed-laser deposition technique. A resistivity down to 7.7×10−5 Ω cm was reproducibly obtained, maintaining optical transmission exceeding 85% at wavelengths from 340 to 780 nm. The carrier densities of the films were enhanced up to 1.9×1021 cm−3, while the Hall mobility showed a sl

Homologous compounds of (ZnO) m In 2 O 3 (m = integer) with layered structures were synthesized by reaction‐sintering a mixed powder of ZnO and In 2 O 3 at 1823 K for 2 h in air, and their thermoelectric properties, i.e., electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity, were measured at 500 to 1100 K. Their thermoelectric figure of merit depended on the composition, and an optimum value of m apparently existed giving the largest figure of merit.

Abstract Single‐crystalline thin films of the homologous series InGaO 3 (ZnO) m (where m is an integer) are fabricated by the reactive solid‐phase epitaxy (R‐SPE) method. Specifically, the role of ZnO as epitaxial initiator layer for the growth mechanism is clarified. High‐temperature annealing of bilayer films consisting of an amorphous InGaO 3 (ZnO) 5 layer deposited at room temperature and an epitaxial ZnO layer on yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrate allows for the growth of single‐cry

The wave dispersion relations in the fluid phase of Yukawa systems are obtained from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for a wide range of the parameters. The Yukawa system is a collection of particles interacting through Yukawa (i.e., screened Coulomb) potentials, which can serve as a simple model for dusty plasmas. Our simulations have clearly shown that the transverse wave dispersion has a cutoff at a long wavelength even in the case of weak screening. The MD simulation data are compared wi

Thermoelectric energy conversion technology is attracting great attention for the conversion of waste heat into electricity. For practical thermoelectric applications, the figure of merit for thermoelectric performance ZT needs to be >1. Although heavy-metal-based materials such as Bi2Te3 and PbTe exhibit ZT ∼ 1, they are not attractive for applications because they are mostly toxic and decomposition, vaporization, or melting of the constituents can easily occur at high temperatures. We review a

Self-diffusion coefficients of Yukawa systems in the fluid phase are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations in a wide range of the thermodynamical parameters. The Yukawa system is a collection of particles interacting through Yukawa (i.e., screened Coulomb) potentials, which may serve as a model for charged dust particles in a plasma or colloidal particles in electrolytes. The self-diffusion coefficients are found to follow a simple scaling law with respect to the system temperature, which

An ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) was realized using a p-n heterojunction composed of the transparent oxide semiconductors p-SrCu2O2 and n-ZnO. A Ni/SrCu2O2/ZnO/ITO multilayered film was epitaxially grown on an extremely flat YSZ (111) surface by a pulsed-laser deposition technique. SrCu2O2 (112) was preferentially grown on ZnO (0001) at 350°C, while the preferential plane was changed into the (100) when the temperature was increased to 600 °C. The grown films were processed by conven

A reactive solid-phase epitaxy technique was applied to fabricate all-oxide transparent p-n heterojunctions composed of p-ZnRh2O4 and n-ZnO thin layers. Polycrystalline ZnRh2O4 was deposited on a ZnO epitaxial layer at room temperature. Thermal annealing of the bilayer sample at 950 °C in air converts the polycrystalline ZnRh2O4 layer to an epitaxial single-crystalline layer. The resultant p-n heterojunctions have an abrupt interface and exhibit a distinct rectifying I–V characteristic. The thre

Highly electrically conductive (resistivity: 1×10−4 Ω cm) indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were grown heteroepitaxially on (111) and (100) surfaces of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) at a growth temperature of 900 °C using a pulsed-laser deposition technique, and their crystal quality and surface morphology were evaluated by using high-resolution x-ray diffraction and an atomic force microscope. Higher growth temperature, the use of a cleaved surface as a substrate, and an increase in oxygen p