Studies on the structural, electrical and optical properties of thermally oxidized copper nickel oxide thin films

Thin films of copper nickel oxide (CuNiO 2 ) were prepared by thermal oxidation of metallic copper nickel film formed by DC magnetron sputtering of quimolar Cu 50 Ni 50 target. The as-deposited copper nickel films were thermally oxidized in oxygen atmosphere at different temperatures in the range 250-350 o C. The asdeposited and oxidized films were characterized for their chemical composition, structure and surface morphology, electrical and optical properties. The films oxidized at 350 o C were of CuNiO 2 with polycrystalline nature and crystallite size of 38 nm. The influence of oxidation temperature on the physical properties was systematically investigated. The films oxidized at temperature of 350 o C were CuNiO 2 with electrical resistivity of 7 cm and optical band gap of 2.50 eV.