Effect of deposition temperature on the physical properties of RF magnetron sputtered Ag–Cu–O films with various Cu to Ag ratios

Abstract

Thin films of Ag-Cu-O were deposited on glass substrates held at various temperatures in the 303-523 K range by RF magnetron sputtering of Ag 90 Cu 10 , Ag 80 Cu 20 and Ag 70 Cu 30 , and elemental copper and silver targets in an oxygen partial pressure of 2 Â 10 À2 Pa and sputtering pressure of 4 Pa. The deposited films were characterised by energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy, UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy and employing four-point probe method. The atomic ratio of Cu/Ag in the films formed at 303 K was in correlation with the composition of the starting sputter targets. The increase in substrate temperature induced the decomposition of the Ag-Cu-O films into a mixture of metallic silver and copper oxide. The electrical resistivities of silver oxide and copper oxide films formed at 303 K were 3 Â 10 À3 V cm and 29 V cm, respectively. The electrical resistivity of the films formed with Ag 70 Cu 30 target at 303 K was 8.2 V cm and it decreased to 2.4 V cm with increase in substrate temperature to 523 K due to structural changes in the films. The optical band gap of the Ag-Cu-O films formed at 303 K increased from 1.60 to 1.95 eV with the increase of copper to silver atomic ratio from 0.10 to 0.30 in the films. The optical band gap of the films formed with Ag 70 Cu 30 target increased from 1.95 to 2.15 eV with the increase in substrate temperature from 303 to 523 K, respectively.

Structural, Electrical, and Optical Properties of Reactively Sputtered Ag-Cu-O Films

“…The electrical resistivity of pure silver was 1.6 × 10 −6 Ωcm. The Ag 2 O films formed by RF magnetron sputtering at oxygen partial pressure of 2 × 10 −2 Pa was 3 × 10 −3 Ωcm [20]. Ravi Chandra Raju et al [21] reported that the electrical resistivity of pulsed laser deposited AgO films was close to 2 × 10 5 Ωcm.…”

Process-Parameter-Dependent Structural, Electrical, and Optical Properties of Reactive Magnetron Sputtered Ag-Cu-O Films

“…Petitjean et al [10,11] reported the effect of annealing temperature on the decomposition-and structurerelated properties of reactively sputtered Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 films deposited with Ag 50 Cu 50 and with Ag 60 Cu 40 sputter targets. Uthanna et al [12] reported the influence of deposition temperature on the structural and optical properties of Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 films formed by RF magnetron sputtering. Tseng et al [13] deposited Ag-doped Cu 2 O films (0-50 at.…”

Growth, electrical and optical behaviour of nanocrystalline Ag2Cu2O3 films produced by RF magnetron sputtering

“…Pititjean et al [10][11][12] studied the effect of oxygen flow rate on the structure and properties of pulsed DC sputtered Ag-Cu-O films deposited using Ag 60 Cu 40 target. The effect of deposition temperature on the structural and optical properties of RF magnetron sputtered Ag 70 Cu 30 target was systematically studied [13]. In this investigation, thin films of Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 films were formed on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering of mosaic Ag 70 Cu 30 target at different oxygen partial pressures.…”