Influence of Conditions of NiO DС Magnetron Sputtering on Its Structural Properties

This study considers the growth characteristics of nickel oxide NiO films using DC magnetron sputtering. The hysteresis transition process between sputtering from poisoned and clean Ni target as a function of discharge power was determined. The structure, atomic composition, and optical and electrical properties of NiO films for two modes of sputtering (with low and high discharge power, respectively) have been investigated. It is demonstrated that sputtering parameters have a fundamental effect on both the formation of structure and atomic composition and on the trend of their modification using temperature annealing. The results obtained for each of the sputtering modes can be applied to the development of devices based on catalytic reactions as well as on their semiconductor properties.