Wire-bar coating of doped Nickle oxide thin films from metal organic compounds

This study discusses the significance of aliovalent cations, especially monovalent compared to trivalent, which provide controlled doping and increase in the conductivity of nickel oxide (NiO) thin films. This report is a first proof of concept involving simple and economical K-bar, wire-wound deposition of doped and undoped NiO films. As deposited films have similar optical and electrical properties compared to the most commonly used deposition techniques for the deposition of NiO thin films. Doping of NiO from three different metal salts that have a different valencies (Cu¹⁺, Zn^2+, and Ga³⁺) as dopants for NiO thin films is investigated. This will help us understand the effect of monovalent, bivalent and trivalent ions towards the doping in NiO. Change in the structural, optical and electrical properties of NiO are investigated and compared amongst different metals (dopants) with different valencies. Furthermore, these properties are investigated in-depth by varying the concentration of the dopants (between 0 at.% and 8 at.%) within the NiO film.