Effect of silver thickness on structural, optical and morphological properties of nanocrystalline Ag/NiO thin films

Silver (Ag) nanolayers were deposited on nickel oxide (NiO) thin films by DC magnetron sputtering. The thickness of Ag layers was in range of 20–80 nm by variation of deposition time between 10 and 40 s. X-ray diffraction results showed that the crystalline properties of the Ag/NiO films improved by increasing the Ag film thickness. Also, atomic force microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy images demonstrated that the surface morphology of the films was highly affected by film thickness. The film thickness and the size of particles change by elevating the Ag deposition times. The composition of films was determined by Rutherford back scattering spectroscopy. The transmission of light was gradually reduced by augmentation of Ag films thickness. Furthermore; the optical band gap of the films was also calculated from the transmittance spectra.