Structural and Optical Properties of Nickel-Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Film on Nickel Seed Layer Deposited by RF Magnetron Sputtering Technique

Abstract:

Nickel (Ni)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) layers were deposited simultaneously by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering from a Ni and ZnO target. A Ni seed layer was used as catalyst prior to the deposition of Ni-doped ZnO. The Ni seed layer was grown with 15 sccm of Ar flow rate while the Ni-doped ZnO was grown with mixture of Ar:O₂ at 25:5 sccm gas flow rate ratio. The deposition pressure is 5 mTorr for both Ni seed layer and Ni-doped ZnO layer. This paper studies the influence of deposition temperature to the Ni seed layer and Ni-doped ZnO layer at temperature range from room temperature (RT) until 500°C with an increment of every 100°C. The sample was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) to determine the structural, crystallinity and optical properties of the deposited layer. FESEM surface analysis shows that uniformity of the nanocolumns is improved when deposition temperature is increased. The transmittance of the deposited nanocolumns was improved when temperatures are increased to 500°C.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 895)
• Pages: 3-7
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.895.3
• Online since: February 2014
• Authors: M. Mazwan*, Ahmad Shuhaimi Abu Bakar, M. Sobri, K.M. Hakim, N. Ameera, S. Najwa, M.H. Mamat, M.Z. Musa, Mohamad Rusop
• Keywords: Nickel, RF Magnetron-Sputtering Technique, Zinc Oxide (ZnO)

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