Impact of Ar:O 2 gas flow ratios on microstructure and optical characteristics of CeO 2 -doped ZnO thin films by magnetron sputtering

• Published in: Europhysics letters 2021-09, Vol.135 (6), p.67003
• Main Authors: Sowjanya, M., Shariq, Mohammad, Pilli, S. R., Khan, M. Shakir, Alharbi, T., Chaudhary, Anis Ahmad, Pamu, D., Chowdharuy, R., Fathy, A. M., Slimani, Yassine, Imran, Mohd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0295-5075; 1286-4854
• DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/ac2d55

In this study, a radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique was applied to deposit eminently oriented ZnO thin films on stainless steel (SS316L). The effect of different ratios (Ar:O 2 ) of gas flow ((20:0), (15:5), (10:10), (5:15), (0:20)) on optical and structural properties of CeO 2 -doped ZnO thin films has been examined. The increase in grain size of thin films was observed with a partial increase in the Ar:O 2 sputtering gas at substrate temperature of 673 K. The average surface roughness of the thin films has increased with sputtering gas. The photoluminescence peak exhibited a broad green-yellow band spiked at 467 nm for all the samples of CeO 2 -doped ZnO thin films and a wide band of visible light focused in the 500–600 nm range. Intensity reduction of deep level emission peaks of ZnO films was observed. The refractive index of undoped and CeO 2 -doped ZnO thin films with various sputtering gas ratios (Ar:O 2 ) were also investigated. The optimized argon gas flow rate findings allow us to choose the deposition conditions for CeO 2 -doped ZnO thin films for solar thermal applications.