Showing 2 results for Rf Sputtering
Nadjet Aklouche, Mosbah Ammar,
Volume 20, Issue 1 (3-2023)
Abstract
This work aims to prepare and study amorphous carbon nitride (CNx) films. Films were deposited by reactive magnetron radiofrequency (RF) sputtering from graphite target in argon and nitrogen mixture discharge at room temperature. The ratio of the gas flow rate was varied from 0.1 to 1. Deposited films were found to be amorphous. Highest Nitrogen concentration achieved was 42 atomic percent which is very rare and therefore, the highest nitrogen to carbon atomic ratio was 0.76. The incorporation of nitrogen promotes the clustering of diamond-like sites at the expense of graphitic ones leading to the decrease of the disorder. The film surface becomes rough with increasing nitrogen concentration. Films are optically transparent in the 200-900 nm wavelength range with a wide gap varying between 3.59 and 3.63 eV. There is an increase in resistivity from 15 to 87.4 x10-3Ω.cm for a-CNx thin films for 0.1< RF < 0.8 and a less decrease for RF > 0.8. Pore size increases in the films, but has little influence on band gaps. On the other hand, increasing the pore size reduces electrical interaction between particles by increasing resistivity.
Zainab T Hussain, Wasna’a M Abdulridha, Murooj A Abood, Farqad Saeed,
Volume 23, Issue 1 (3-2026)
Abstract
In this study, RF magnetron sputtering was employed to create titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films doped with zirconium oxide (ZrO2) (TZO) onto quartz and silicon substrates at 100oC for the purpose of evaluating the effect of ZrO2 doping on the microstructural, electrical, optical and gas sensing properties of the TiO2 films. Different doping concentrations (0.0, 2.0 and 4.0 wt.%) were used to compare performances of the films with a thickness ranging between 147 nm to 178 nm. Structural and surface morphology characterizations of the prepared films were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The surface morphology of the prepared TZO films showed a gradual reduction in the grain size while the doping concentration increased. The optical characteristics of the films also exhibited an increasing trend in the optical band gap with the rising ZrO2 concentration. TiO2 films showed an n-type conductivity as confirmed by Hall's measurement. The results of the gas sensing experiments revealed that the sensitivity of the TZO films for the detection of ethanol vapor increased with an increase in the concentration of ZrO2 dopant. Therefore, TZO film with 4.0 wt.% of ZrO2 could be used as an effective sensor for detecting ethanol vapor.
