Growth and Surface Morphology of Textured NiO Thin Films Deposited by Off-Axis RF Magnetron Sputtering

Textured crystalline NiO thin films were grown on Si(100) substrates by off-axis RF magnetron sputtering without substrate heating using a NiO target. (100)-textured NiO films were obtained using pure Ar gas. On the other hand, (111)-textured NiO films were obtained using pure O 2 gas. Also, the surface morphology and roughness of the NiO thin films were closely related to the type of sputtering gas and RF power.