Synthesis and characterization of DC magnetron sputtered nano structured molybdenum thin films

Abstract

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films were deposited on corning glass (#7059) substrates using DC magnetron sputtering system. The effect of substrate temperature on the structural, morphology and topological properties have been investigated. Films were characterized by variety of techniques such as low angle x-ray diffraction (low angle XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM). The low angle XRD analysis revealed that the synthesized Mo films are nanocrystalline having cubic crystal structure with (110) preferential orientation. The microstructure of the deposited Mo thin films observed with FE-SEM images indicated that films are homogeneous and uniform with randomly oriented leaf shape morphology. The AFM analysis shows that with increase in substrate temperature the rms roughness of Mo films increases. The obtained results suggest that the synthesized nanostructured Mo thin films have potential application as a back contact material for high efficiency solar cells like CdTe, CIGS, CZTS etc.