Fabrication and Characterization of Nb₂O₅ Dopant Al Thin Films Prepared by DC Reactive Plasma Sputtering Technique

Abstract:

The development of niobium oxide (Nb₂O₅) thin films is an important work as a result of wide applications of this oxide in the field of material science and thin-film applications. In this study, thin-film microstructures of aluminum (Al)-doped Nb₂O₅ were prepared by DC plasma sputtering on glasses substrate. The ratio of doping was (0.5, 1, and 1.5) wt. % Al. The obtained samples were thermally treated at 450 °C. Characterized and analyzed the physical properties by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and UV-Visible spectroscopy for optical properties investigation. Results showed that the average crystalline size of Nb₂O₅:0.5%Al film was found at 26.47 nm and the structure was a monoclinic phase for all samples. The distribution of grain size was found lower than 36.3 nm and uninformed particles on the surface. The analyzed optical properties showed the absorption decreased from 0.46 to 0.05 with increasing the wavelength and Low energy gap values decreased from 3.10 eV for Nb2O5 samples to 2.84 eV for 1.5%Al samples. In general, the doping by aluminum improved the physical properties of Nb₂O₅ films.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 900)
• Pages: 143-154
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.900.143
• Online since: September 2021
• Authors: Souad G. Khalil, Mahdi M. Mutter*, Oras A. Jassim
• Keywords: DC Reactive Plasma, Nb₂O₅: Al Thin Films, Niobium Oxide, Structural Properties

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