Electron beam evaporated molybdenum oxide films: a study of elemental and surface morphological properties

Thin films of transition metal oxides are very important in electrochromic applications. Molybdenum oxide (MoO3) thin films were prepared by using one of the physical vapour depositions of the electron beam evaporation technique in a vacuum of the order of 10−6 mbar. The detailed elemental analysis of the films was performed by a particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) study and the nanosurface nature of the films was studied by using an atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time PIXE analysis has been used for the elemental studies of electron beam evaporated MoO3 films.