Magnetic and optical properties of electrodeposited nanospherical copper doped nickel oxide thin films

Abstract

Copper doped nickel oxide (NiO:Cu) thin films were synthesized via electrodeposition technique. X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope, UV–visible spectroscopy, Vibrating Sample Magnetometer techniques and electrochemical analysis were utilized for the study of the structural, morphological, optical, magnetic and cyclic voltammogram properties respectively of both undoped and doped NiO thin films. The crystallographic studies of the undoped and doped NiO thin films showed that they are polycrystalline with cubic structure. Surface morphology of both the undoped and doped thin films showed nanocrystalline grains with spherical shaped particles. The optical studies showed a decrease in band gap energy from 3.34 eV to 3.32 eV and finally to 3.20 eV for the undoped, 2% and 3% respectively. The refractive index peaked between 2.60 and 2.65 while the calculated extinction coefficient values of the doped thin films have significant variation in the visible and NIR range. The studies of magnetization saturation values were found to be 1.52E-4 and 2.29E-4 for 2% and 3% doped respectively with low remanence values. Electrochemical studies revealed good cyclic voltammograms of the deposited films. These values indicate that the electrodeposited Cu doped NiO thin films are good candidates for magnetic applications.