Title: Effect of microwave power on morphology of AgO thin film grown using microwave plasma CVD

Authors: Akhalakur Rahman Ansari; Mohd Imran; I.S. Yahia; Mohamed Shaaban Abdel-Wahab; Ahmed Alshahrie; Afzal Husain Khan; Chandan Sharma

Addresses: Center of Nanotechnology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jazan University, P.O. Box 114, Jazan, Saudi Arabia ' Nuclear Lab., Nano-Science and Semiconductor Labs, Department of Physics, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Roxy, 11757 Cairo, Egypt; Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, Saudi Arabia ' Center of Nanotechnology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ' Center of Nanotechnology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ' Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Jazan University, P.O. Box 114, Jazan, Saudi Arabia ' Chemical Engineering Department, School of Civil and Chemical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore, Tamilnadu – 632 014, India

Abstract: In this study, pure silver (Ag) thin film of 8 nm was deposited onto glass substrate by using radio frequency (RF) sputtering technique and was then exposed to microwave assisted oxygen plasma generated by microwave plasma CVD. The oxidation of Ag into AgO thin film was studied using varying microwave power. The influence of microwave power on morphology and size of oxide film was investigated. The crystal structure, crystal size, chemical composition, morphologies and optical properties of oxidised silver thin film (AgO) was characterised by using x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Raman spectroscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. Morphological characterisation of these films reveals a systematic change from metallic silver (Ag) to silver oxide (AgO). The size of AgO thin film was calculated using Scherrer equation and was observed to be 11 nm, 12 nm and 13.5 nm at 400 W, 800 W and 1200 W respectively. A considerable change in UV-vis spectra was observed with increase in annealing temperature.

Keywords: AgO; thin film; oxygen plasma; microwave CVD; radio frequency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSURFSE.2018.090051

International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering, 2018 Vol.12 No.1, pp.1 - 12

Received: 16 Jun 2017
Accepted: 29 Aug 2017
Published online: 27 Feb 2018 *

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