Impact of Ar:O₂ gas flow ratios on microstructure and optical characteristics of CeO₂-doped ZnO thin films by magnetron sputtering

¹ Centre of Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee - Roorkee 247667, India
² Department of Physics, Faculty of science, Jazan University - Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia
³ Department of chemical engineering, college of Applied Industrial Technology - Jazan 45971, Saudi Arabia
⁴ Department of Physics, College of Science, Al-Zulfi, Majmaah University - Al-Majmaah-11952, Saudi Arabia
⁵ Department of Biology, college of science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) Riyadh-11623, Saudi Arabia
⁶ Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati - Guwahati 781039, India
⁷ Department of Biophysics, Institute for Research and Medical Consultations (IRMC), Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University - P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
⁸ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jazan University - Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia

^(a) aligshariq@gmail.com (corresponding author)
^(b) ms.khan@mu.edu.sa

Received: 12 May 2021
Accepted: 5 October 2021

Abstract

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:O₂) of gas flow ((20:0), (15:5), (10:10), (5:15), (0:20)) on optical and structural properties of CeO₂-doped ZnO thin films has been examined. The increase in grain size of thin films was observed with a partial increase in the Ar:O₂ 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 CeO₂-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 CeO₂-doped ZnO thin films with various sputtering gas ratios (Ar:O₂) were also investigated. The optimized argon gas flow rate findings allow us to choose the deposition conditions for CeO₂-doped ZnO thin films for solar thermal applications.