title: Note: a simple thermal gradient annealing unit for the treatment of thin films.
abstract: A gradient annealing cell has been developed for the high-throughput study of thermal annealing effects on thin-film libraries in different environments. The inexpensive gradient annealing unit permits temperature gradients as large as 28 °C∕mm and can accommodate samples ranging in length from 13 mm to 51 mm. The system was validated by investigating the effects of annealing temperature on the crystallinity, resistivity, and transparency of tin-doped indium oxide deposited on a glass substrate by magnetron sputtering. The unit developed in this work will permit the rapid optimization of materials properties such as crystallinity, homogeneity, and conductivity across a variety of applications.
authors.affiliation: SmartState Center for Strategic Approaches to the Generation of Electricity, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Metting
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Bunn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fadimba
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Underwood
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koley
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hattrick-Simpers