Structural Properties of Semiconducting Nanostructures Prepared by DC Plasma Reactive Sputtering Method

Abstract

In this work, semiconducting nickel oxide (NiO) nanostructures were prepared by reactive dc plasma sputtering method. Magnetron was employed at the cathode to prepare these nanostructures and show the advantage of such device in the production of highly pure nanostructures. The sputtered nickel atoms were sputtered and oxidized in presence of oxygen in the Ar:O2 gas mixture of 4:1 ratio. Employment of magnetron results in formation of NiO only in the final samples according to the XRD analysis, increase the roughness and hence surface area of the produced NiO nanostructures, and finally decrease the particle size of NiO nanoparticles lower than 100nm. These improvements in the structural properties of the produced NiO make these nanostructures good candidates for specific applications, such as photodetectors, solar cells and electrochromic smart windows.