Effect of deposition atmosphere on the structure and properties of Mg doped CuCrO2 thin films prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering

Publication date: 30 November 2015
Source:Thin Solid Films, Volume 595, Part A
Author(s): Suzhen Wu, Zanhong Deng, Weiwei Dong, Jingzhen Shao, Xiaodong Fang
CuCr0.97Mg0.03O2 thin films were prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering under various percentage of oxygen flow rate (PO) followed by post-annealed in N2 atmosphere. The microstructures, optical and electrical properties of the films were investigated. The film deposited in pure Ar atmosphere showed pure CuCrO2 phase, while the films deposited in O2 and Ar mixture atmosphere showed CuO and CuCr2O4 mixture phase. After post-annealed at 800°C, the films deposited in O2 and Ar mixture atmosphere turned into c-axis oriented single-phase CuCrO2 which showed much better transparency and electrical conductivity than the film deposited in pure Ar. The film deposited in PO =40% with thickness of 350nm showed the lowest resistivity of 0.4Ωcm and transmittance over 60% in visible light region.