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

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 N-2 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 O-2 and Ar mixture atmosphere showed CuO and CuCr2O4 mixture phase. After post-annealed at 800 degrees C, the films deposited in O-2 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 P-O = 40% with thickness of 350 nm showed the lowest resistivity of 0.4 Omega cm and transmittance over 60% in visible light region. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.