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Effect of Ar, O 2 , and N 2 Plasma on the Growth and Composition of Vanadium Oxide Nanostructured Thin Films
Author(s) -
Singh Megha,
Kumar Prabhat,
Reddy Gade Brahmaiah
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.201800612
Subject(s) - x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , raman spectroscopy , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , sublimation (psychology) , vanadium , nanorod , oxide , thin film , vanadium oxide , nuclear chemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , chemical engineering , metallurgy , psychology , physics , optics , chromatography , engineering , psychotherapist
Vanadium oxide nanostructured thin films (NTFs) are synthesized using plasma assisted sublimation process (PASP) in different gases' Ar, O 2 , and N 2 plasma (AP, OP, and NP) and O 2 gas (OG) ambient. Morphological studies conducted via electron microscopy reveal nanostrips, nanoflakes, nanorods, and nanoparticles organized as clusters for OP, OG, AP, and NP respectively. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies show that samples OP and OG are composed of α‐V 2 O 5 , whereas AP and NP are composed of V 6 O 13 along with V 2 O 5 . The relative percentages calculated using XPS data show that in AP, V 6 O 13 , and V 2 O 5 are 38 and 62%, respectively. These percentages change to 48% for V 6 O 13 and 52% for V 2 O 5 in NP. The V 6 O 13 /V 2 O 5 ratio is lower in AP than NP. This increment of V 6 O 13 in NP is due to presence of more reductive species in N 2 plasma than Ar plasma. Since N 2 plasma contains species like N*,N 2 − , etc. it leads to the formation of NO 2 , N 2 O, etc. Raman spectra indicate the surface of the sample NP consisting of both V 6 O 13 and V 2 O 5 , agreeing with the X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and XPS results. Studies demonstrate that plasma ambient during synthesis process affects both morphology and composition of deposited vanadium oxide NTFs.