PVD techniques proffering avenues for fabrication of porous tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films: A review

• Published in: Materials science in semiconductor processing 2022-06, Vol.143, p.106534, Article 106534
• Main Authors: Gutpa, Jyothi, Shaik, Habibuddin, Naveen Kumar, K., Sattar, Sheik Abdul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrochromism; Physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques; Porosity; Process parameters; Thin film; Tungsten oxide (WO3)
• ISSN: 1369-8001; 1873-4081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2022.106534

Over the last decade thin film technology has made its root strong in the field of science and technology. Various applications demand refinement of different properties associated with thin film. One of the very susceptible properties associated with thin film of different materials to place it in various applications, is porosity. Porosity which accounts for volume of the void spaces over the entire volume of the thin film, is supporting in enhancing and refining many technological applications associated with thin film. Electrochromism is one such field in which porosity of thin film plays a major role. Tungsten oxide (WO3) is one of the versatile and frequently used electrochromic material which is majorly used in electrochromic device applications. Porous WO3 film can offer substantial upgradation in many applications specially in electrochromic device. In this view it becomes essential to find different means by which we can optimize the porosity of WO3 thin films under various deposition techniques. In this article we have tried to confine the various Physical Vapor Deposition techniques (PVD) for optimizing the porosity of WO3 thin films. Moreover, we have also tried to figure out the impact of various process parameters under different PVD techniques towards tailoring of porosity of WO3 thin films. Finally, we end up by listing few applications which are constantly at the verge of refinement by incorporating porous WO3 thin films with technological upswing. This manuscript has following highlights, which could relate it to the scope of the Journal.1.This featured article is attempting to pivot the path as how porous tungsten oxide (WO3) thin film is upgrading the novel electrochromic attributes to get scaled in different applications.2.An in-depth analysis of different PVD techniques toward optimization of porosity of WO3 thin films is attempted.3.Impact of different process parameters in various PVD techniques is analyzed deeply toward refinement of porosity of WO3 thin films.4.As WO3 is one of the most versatile electrochromic materials with properties similar to n-type semiconductor having optical band gap ranging between 2.6eV and 3eV, therefore we can say that present article can be found suitable in the regime of journal of Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing5.We try to analyze an appropriate fabrication method among different PVD technique for fabricating porous WO3 thin films by citing different work using various technique.6.We