Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 February 2016
The present work accentuates the effect of UV laser irradiation on theconductivity of nickel oxide (NiO) thin films, deposited at various temperaturesby radio-frequency reactive sputtering of Ni in oxygen containing atmosphere.The effect of UV irradiation on zinc oxide – nickel oxideheterostructures, obtained by sputtering, was examined as well. It was foundthat the resistivity of NiO changes from 12 Ω-cm to 0.62Ω-cm, and the majority carrier concentration from3.95x1017 holes/cm3 to 4.22x1020electrons/cm3. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of theZnO/NiO heterostructure shows an improved p-n diode behavior with the forwardbias current increasing for the laser-irradiated ZnO/NiO compared to theas-deposited stack. The observed improvement in diode-like behavior suggeststhat laser irradiation can be an important technique to controllably change thestructural, electrical and optical properties of metal oxide thin films.