We have already reported AC-drive CdSe/ZnS quantum dot (QD) inorganic electroluminescent (EL) devices from colloidal solution. The EL spectra of the devices reproduced photoluminescent spectra of the source QD solutions. Furthermore, the observation of time resolved luminescent properties in ambient atmosphere at room temperature, are analyzed for improvements and projection of brightness and efficiency. The results suggest that the lifetimes of excited states in quantum dots are affected by the electric field in the electroluminescent devices.

Several Cu(I)-containing layered oxysulfides were selected as candidates for wide-gap p-type semiconductors by extending a concept of a materials design for transparent p-type conducting oxides. The electrical and optical properties of the selected oxysulfides were investigated, and their electronic structures were analyzed by energy band calculations. LaCuOS, Sr2Cu2ZnO2S2 and Sr2CuGaO3S were found to be wide-gap p-type semiconductors, and LaCuOS showed the largest energy gap (Eg=3.1eV) among these layered oxysulfides. It was also found that LaCuOS shows band edge emission under uv excitation at room temperature, which is consistent with the results of the energy band calculations that LaCuOS has a direct-allowed-type energy gap at Γ point. In further materials research, analogous layered oxychalcogenides such as LaCuOSe and LnCuOS (Ln=Pr, Nd) were found to show similar optical and electrical properties to those of LaCuOS. Therefore, it is considered that the layered crystal structure and the electronic structure are responsible for the wide-gap p-type conductive properties in these materials.

Materials design for transparent p-type conducting oxides was extended to oxysulfide system. LaCuOS was selected as a candidate for a transparent p-type semiconductor. It was found that the electrical conductivity of LaCuOS was p-type and controllable from semiconducting to semi-metallic states by substituting Sr2+ for La3+. LaCuOS films showed high transparency in the visible region, and the bandgap estimated was approximately 3.1 eV. Moreover, it was revealed that LaCuOS showed sharp excitonic absorption and emission at the bandgap edge, which is advantageous for optical applications. A layered oxysulfide, LaCuOS, was proposed to be a promising material for optoelectronic devices.

Inorganic solids with wide bandgaps are usually classified as electrical insulators and are used in industry as insulators, dielectrics, and optical materials. Many metallic oxides have wide bandgaps because of the significant contribution of ionic character to the chemical bonds between metallic cations and oxide ions. Their ionic nature simultaneously suppresses the formation of easily ionizable shallow donors or acceptors and enhances the localization of electrons and positive holes. Thus it is understandable that interest in these wide-gap oxides as conductive materials has not been strong.

High quality ITO thin films were grown hetero-epitaxially on extremely flat substrate of (001) YSZ by a pulsed laser deposition technique at a substrate temperature of 600°C. The crystal orientation relationship between the film and YSZ were confirmed as ITO (001) // YSZ (001) and ITO (010) // YSZ (010), respectively, by HR-XRD and HR-TEM. The carrier densities of the films were almost equal to Sn02 concentration in the films. That is, almost all the doped Sn4+ ions were activated to release electrons to the conduction band. The carrier densities of the films were enhanced up to 1.9×1021cm−3, while the Hall mobility showed a slight, almost linear, decrease from 55 to 40cm2V−1s−1 with increasing SnO2 concentration. The low resistivity is due to larger electron mobility, which most likely resulted from good crystal quality of the films. The optical transmissivity of the film exceeded 85% at wavelengths from 340 to 780nm.

Thin films of CuAlO2, CuGaO2 and AglnO2 with delafossite structure were prepared on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition method. The resulting CuA102 thin films exhibited p-type conduction and the electrical conductivity at room temperature was 0.3 Scm−1. CuGaO2 thin films were grown epitaxially on μ-Al2O3 (001) surface and showed p-type conduction (conductivity at room temperature = 0.06 S cm−1). The optical band gap was estimated to be ∼3.5 eV for CuAlO2 or ∼3.6 eV for CuGaO2. On the other hand, the thin film of Sn doped AglnO2 exhibited n-type conduction. The optical band gap and electrical conductivity at room temperature were ∼4.1 eV and 70 S cm−1, respectively. The recent work demonstrates the validity of our chemical design concept for p- and n-type transparent conducting oxides, providing an opportunity for realization of transparent p-n junction using delafossite-type oxides.

Heteroepitaxial ZnO films were grown on (111) surface of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and (0001) surface of sapphire by PLD method, using KrF eximer laser (248nm) in an ultra-high-vacuum chamber. ZnO grown on YSZ (111) at the substrate temperature of 800°C had an epitaxial relationship at the ZnO/YSZ interface of ZnO [1120]//YSZ [110]. Hexagonalshaped grains were observed whose surfaces were atomically flat. The grain size of ZnO increased and the Hall mobility rose toward 1400nm and 75cm2/Vs. respectively as film thickness increased from 10 nm to 800 nm.

Oxygen or chlorine was incorporated into silica glasses by sintering porous soot rods under 02/He or C12/He atmosphere. In case of oxygen, the Schumann-Runge band of 02 molecule was found in VUV region. An absorption band at 4. 8eV having 1. 9eV emission was generated with irradiation of excimer laser. We proposed that such optical properties were due to 02 molecule trapped in glass because they were similar to photochemistry of 02 molecule in the gas phase which could be shown as:

When silica glasses were fabricated under chlorine ambient, a minor fraction was found to be present as Cl2 molecule trapped in the glass, which gives the absorption band at 3.8eV.

Molecular dynamic calculations have been made on glasses in the ZnCl2–KBr system in order to estimate the infrared (IR) absorption of these glasses. Oxygen-free glass was estimated to be transparent up to 25 μm. Glasses containing oxygen impurities were estimated to be transparent only up to 16 μm, with a weak absorption band around 10.4 μm. This agrees with experimental results of glasses in the ZnCl2–KBr–PbBr2 system.