Development of structural and optical properties of WOx films upon increasing oxygen partial pressure during reactive sputtering

WOx films were prepared by reactive dc magnetron sputtering using tungsten target. Sputtering was carried out at a total pressure of 1.2 Pa using a mixture of argon plus oxygen in an effort to determine the influence of the oxygen partial pressure on structural and optical properties of the films. The deposition rate decreases significantly as the surface of the target is oxidized. X-Ray diffraction revealed the amorphous nature of all the films prepared at oxygen partial pressures higher than 1.71×103 Pa. For higher oxygen partial pressures, fully transparent films were deposited, which showed a slight increase in optical band gap with increasing oxygen partial pressure, while the refractive index was simultaneously decreased