Influence of Thickness on Some Physical Characterization for Nanostructured MgO Thin Films

Abstract

MgO Nanostructured thin films with different thicknesses (200, 400, and 600 nm) have been deposited by the chemical spray pyrolysis technique. The results confirm that the structure, morphology, optical, and electrical properties were all affected by the thickness of the film. MgO films' physical properties were examined using (XRD), (FE-SEM), (EDX), (AFM), (UV-Vis spectrophotometer), and the Hall Effect. According to the structural analysis, the films have a cubic magnesium oxide polycrystalline structure, with a preferred orientation (002). The average Crystalline Size and optical band gap are found in the range (20.79-18.99) nm and (3.439-3.162) eV respectively with an increase in thickness. The surface morphology of the films reveals that they are free of crystal defects such as holes and voids, as well as homogeneous and uniform. The EDS patterns show that the as-grown films contain magnesium and oxygen. The Hall Effect shows that electrical conductivity decreases with thickness. The experimental results show that film thickness influences the physical properties of as-grown MgO thin films and that thicker films can be used as an absorber layer in solar cell applications.

Keywords

• MgO films
• Chemical spray pyrolysis
• Effect of thickness
• Structure
• Optical and electrical properties