PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF COBALT OXIDE THIN' FILMS

Abstract

Uniform and adherent cobalt oxide thin films have been deposited on glass substrates using spray pyrolysis technique. Their structural and optical properties were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron micrograph (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical absorption measurements. The structural analysis from XRD showed the growth of films with cubic structure and oriented growth was possible at optimized temperature 350°C. The surface morphological studies revealed the formation of smooth and dense film at the optimized temperature. Optical properties of the films formed at 300°C and 350°C, studied by UV-visible spectrophotometry, show clearly the presence of direct and indirect band gaps of 2.2 & 1.5eV at 300°C and 2.0eV & 1.4eV at 350°C respectively.