B. Sasi, K. Gopchandran, P. Manoj, P. Koshy, P. Rao and V. K. Vaidyan, “Preparation of Transparent and Semiconducting NiO Films,” Vacuum, Vol. 68, No. 2, 2003, pp. 149-154. doi:10.1016/S0042-207X(02)00299-3

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Effect of Annealing on Structural, Morphological, Electrical and Optical Studies of Nickel Oxide Thin Films

  AUTHORS: Vikas Patil Patil, Shailesh Pawar, Manik Chougule, Prasad Godse, Ratnakar Sakhare, Shashwati Sen, Pradeep Joshi

  KEYWORDS: Nickel Oxide, Sol Gel Method, Structural Properties, Optoelectronic Properties

  JOURNAL NAME: Journal of Surface Engineered Materials and Advanced Technology, Vol.1 No.2, July 21, 2011

  ABSTRACT: Sol gel spin coating method has been successfully employed for the deposition of nanocrystalline nickel oxide (NiO) thin films. The films were annealed at 400°C - 700°C for 1 h in an air and changes in the structural, morphological, electrical and optical properties were studied. The structural properties of nickel oxide films were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD analysis shows that all the films are crystallized in the cubic phase and present a random orientation. Surface morphology of the nickel oxide film consists of nanocrystalline grains with uniform coverage of the substrate surface with randomly oriented morphology. The electrical conductivity showed the semiconducting nature with room temperature electrical conductivity increased from 10-4 to 10-2(Ωcm)-1 after annealing. The decrease in the band gap energy from 3.86 to 3.47 eV was observed after annealing NiO films from 400oC - 700oC. These mean that the optical quality of NiO films is improved by annealing.