Drop–Dry Deposition of Ni(OH)₂ Precursors for Fabrication of NiO Thin Films

Abstract

Drop–dry deposition (DDD) is a method of depositing thin films by heating and drying the deposition solution dropped on a substrate. We prepared Ni(OH)2 precursor thin films by DDD and annealed them in air to prepare NiO thin films. The appropriate deposition conditions were found by changing the number of drop–dry cycles and the concentrations of chemicals in the solution, and the Ni(OH)2 precursor film with a thickness of 0.3 μm and optical transmittance of more than 95% was successfully deposited. Raman and X-ray diffraction measurements were performed, and it was found that the NiO film was successfully fabricated after annealing at 400 °C. The p-type conductivity of the annealed film was confirmed by photoelectrochemical measurements. In addition, we prepared n-type ZnO by electrochemical deposition on NiO thin films. The current–voltage measurement results show that the ZnO/NiO heterojunction had rectification properties.

Keywords

• drop–dry deposition
• Ni(OH)₂
• NiO
• heterojunction