Experimental Investigation of Molybdenum Oxide Coatings Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Molybdenum oxide films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) reactive magnetron sputtering. The study of surface structure and wettability with variations in deposition power and deposition time was carried out. The RF power was varied in the range of 125 W to 200 W, which led to evolution of (540), (001), (015), and (100) textures of molybdenum oxide. The X-ray diffractometer results show an increment of preferred orientation along the (001) plane for deposited molybdenum oxide films. The average crystallite size is within the range 17–18 nm with an increase of RF power from 125 W to 200 W and 19–31 nm with an increment in deposition time from 15 to 60 minutes. The outcome demonstrated that RF power and the time of deposition are the capacities that influence the static and dynamic contact angle framed by water and formamide. The surface roughness or unpleasantness increases in increments from 9.12 to 27.77 nm with an expansion in RF power from 125 W to 200 W and from 39.56 to 238.77 nm with increases in time of deposition from 15 min to an hour.