Effect of Sputtering Pressure on Structural, Optical and Electrochromic Properties of Tungsten Oxide Film Deposited By Sputtering
Author(s):
Vyomesh R Buch†, Sushant K Rawal‡, Amitkumar Chawla §
Affiliation(s):
‡McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute, Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L7, Canada
§Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Energy Acres, Dehradun -248 007, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, India
ABSTRACT: Tungsten oxide (WO3) films have been deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering method. The effect of varying the partial pressure of oxygen in argon and helium atmosphere was examined on the structural, optical and electrochromic properties of tungsten oxide films. By replacing helium gas with argon gas the deposited film results in decrease in particle sizes and which also affects the band gap values. The band gap values were obtained over the range of 2.64 to 3.17 eV. The decrease in grain size with increase in oxygen partial pressure shows oxidation of the film due to several factors such as nucleation and kinetics of atoms during deposition in helium instead of argon.
Keywords : rf sputtering; Cyclic Voltammetry; Tungsten oxide; Electrochromic; Optical