The prospect of spray pyrolyzed pure, Mn-doped, and Zn-doped nickel oxide thin films as TCO material.

Nickel Oxide films with Manganese (Mn) and Zinc (Zn) doping (NiO, NiMnO, and NiZnO; where x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, and 0.06) were fabricated using the spray pyrolysis technique on the glass substrates at 400 °C (673K) temperature. The XRD spectra revealed a polycrystalline nature of the films with cubic crystal structure and a favored growth orientation towards the (111) plane. The SEM micrographs revealed a smooth, homogeneous, and uniform surface, while the EDS spectra confirmed the presence of Ni, O, Zn, and Mn elements in the films. Optical analysis using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy demonstrated high transparency of the films in the visible region (400 nm-900 nm), and the transparency increased with higher Zn doping, reaching ∼85 % in NiZnO films. Conversely, NiMnO films show a slight transmission decline with increasing Mn doping concentrations. The sheet resistance of the films was found to be decreased for low-concentration doping and again began to increase for highly doped NiZnO and NiMnO films. Among all the films, NiZnO exhibited the maximum figure of merit, showing the prospect for optoelectronic applications.