The escalating interest in 2D nanoflakes‐based group‐IVA metal chalcogenides is attributed to their noteworthy properties, such as high electron mobility, exceptional chemical stability, and applicability across diverse scientific disciplines such as sensing, energy storage applications, supercapacitors, and lithium‐ion batteries. This study introduces an innovative self‐powered photodetector based on 2D metal chalcogenide nanoflakes (SnS₂ and SnSe₂) formed into nanoflowers on a silicon substrate through the hydrothermal method. The amalgamation of the light‐induced pyroelectric effect into the SnS₂ photodetector achieves impressive enhancement ratios of 353%, 425%, 351%, 662%, and 153% in photoresponsivity and detectivity compared to the photovoltaic effect at 365, 456, 532, 632, and 850 nm, respectively, at zero bias. The SnSe₂ photodetector achieved responsivity values of 14, 82, 36, 4, and 28 mA W⁻¹ at the corresponding wavelengths in self‐powered mode. The SnSe₂ device exhibits superior photosensitivity of 30792%, 55692%, 28803%, 9678%, and 68587% at the corresponding wavelengths, under zero bias. In addition, the photocurrent response caused by the photovoltaic‐pyroelectric effect is thoroughly defined, and the impacts of light wavelength, power intensity, and bias voltage are studied. This study presents a cutting‐edge self‐powered broadband photodetector utilizing pyroelectric materials and opens possibilities for designing high‐performance, fast photodetectors based on the pyro‐phototronic effect.

Solar light is a renewable source of energy that can be used and transformed into electricity using clean energy technology. In this study, we used direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) to sputter p-type cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) films with different oxygen flow rates (f_O2) as hole-transport layers (HTLs) for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The PSC device with the structure of ITO/Cu₂O/perovskite/[6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₆₁BM)/bathocuproine (BCP)/Ag showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.91%. Subsequently, a high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) Cu₂O film was embedded and promoted the device performance to 10.29%. As HiPIMS has a high ionization rate, it can create higher density films with low surface roughness, which passivates surface/interface defects and reduces the leakage current of PSCs. We further applied the superimposed high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (superimposed HiPIMS) derived Cu₂O as the HTL, and we observed PCEs of 15.20% under one sun (AM1.5G, 1000 Wm⁻²) and 25.09% under indoor illumination (TL-84, 1000 lux). In addition, this PSC device outperformed by demonstrating remarkable long-term stability via retaining 97.6% (dark, Ar) of its performance for over 2000 h.

High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) has generated a great deal of interest by offering significant advantages such as high target ionization rate, high plasma density, and the smooth surface of the sputtered films. This study discusses the deposition of copper nitride thin films via HiPIMS at different deposition pressures and then examines the impact of the deposition pressure on the structural and electrical properties of Cu₃N films. At low deposition pressure, Cu-rich Cu₃N films were obtained, which results in the n-type semiconductor behavior of the films. When the deposition pressure is increased to above 15 mtorr, Cu₃N phase forms, leading to a change in the conductivity type of the film from n-type to p-type. According to our analysis, the Cu₃N film deposited at 15 mtorr shows p-type conduction with the lowest resistivity of 0.024 Ω·cm and the highest carrier concentration of 1.43 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³. Furthermore, compared to the properties of Cu₃N films deposited via conventional direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS), the films deposited via HiPIMS show better conductivity due to the higher ionization rate of HiPIMS. These results enhance the potential of Cu₃N films’ use in smart futuristic devices such as photodetection, photovoltaic absorbers, lithium-ion batteries, etc.

Nitrogen-doped indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO:N) thin film transistors (TFTs) were deposited on SiO ₂ (200 nm)/p-Si〈1 0 0〉 substrates by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The structural, chemical compositions, surface morphology, optical and electrical properties as a function of the active layer thickness were investigated. As the active layer thickness increases, Zn content decreases and In content increases gradually. Meanwhile, Sn content is almost unchanged. When the thickness of the active layer is more than 45 nm, the ITZO:N films become crystallized and present a crystal orientation along InN(0 0 2) plan. No matter what the thickness is, ITZO:N films always display a high transmittance above 80% in the visible region. Their optical band gaps fluctuate between 3.4 eV and 3.62 eV. Due to the dominance of low interface trap density and high carrier concentration, ITZO:N TFT shows enhanced electrical properties as the active layer thickness is 35 nm. Its field-effect mobility, on/off radio and sub-threshold swing are 17.53 cm ² V ⁻¹ · s ⁻¹ , 10 ⁶ and 0.36 V/dec, respectively. These results indicate that the suitable thickness of the active layer can enhance the quality of ITZO:N films and decrease the defects density of ITZO:N TFT. Thus, the properties of ITZO:N TFT can be optimized by adjusting the thickness of the active layer.

The corrosion resistances of various Ag-alloy wires for the interconnection of integrated circuit and light-emitting diode packages were compared with those of traditional Au, Al, Cu, and pure Ag bonding wires through potentiodynamic polarization tests in 3.5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution. The results indicated that alloying the Ag bonding wires with Pd and Au elements decreases their thermodynamics corrosion tendency. However, the kinetics analyses of the corrosion rates from polarization curves showed that the corrosion current density of Ag-alloy wires decreases with increasing Pd and Au contents. The beneficial effects of Pd and Au alloying similarly occur in the passive region and passive current density. The results indicated that adding Pd and Au can effectively reduce the corrosion of Ag-alloy wires. Aging treatment at 600 °C for 3 h in ambient air increased the corrosion tendencies and corrosion rates of both Ag-3Pd and Ag-8Au-3Pd wires. In comparison to the corrosion of traditional Au, Al, and Cu wires, the experimental results showed that the corrosion potential of Ag-8Au-3Pd alloy wire was near that of Pd-coated Cu wire, and more noble than those of Cu wire and Al wire. The corrosion current densities increased on the order: Au wire < Ag-8Au-3Pd wire < Pd-coated Cu wire < Cu wire < Al wire. The sequence of pitting corrosion potentials was: Al wire < Cu wire < Pd-coated Cu wire < Ag-8Au-3Pd wire < Au. After corrosion tests, CuCl₂ appeared on the surfaces of Cu wire and Pd-coated Cu wire, while AlCl₃ was found on the corroded Al wire. The corrosion product of Ag-alloy wires was found to be AgCl, which was reported to possess high ohm resistance and could inhibit the further dissolution of Ag wire.