TY - JOUR

T1 - Highly conductive RuO2 thin films from novel facile aqueous chemical solution deposition

AU - Angermann, Martina

AU - Jakopic, Georg

AU - Prietl, Christine

AU - Griesser, Thomas

AU - Reichmann, Klaus

AU - Deluca, Marco

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023/9/16

Y1 - 2023/9/16

N2 - Ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) thin films were synthesized by Chemical Solution Deposition (CSD) on silicon substrates using only water and acetic acid as solvents. The microstructure, phase purity, electrical and optical properties as well as the thermal stability of the thin films have been characterized. The microstructure of the thin films strongly depends on the annealing temperature: A smooth thin film was achieved at an annealing temperature of 600 °C. Higher annealing temperatures (800 °C) led to radial grain growth and an inhomogeneous thin film. A very low resistivity of 0.89 µΩm was measured for a 220 nm-thick thin film prepared at 600 °C. The resistivity of the thin films increases with temperature, which indicates metallic behavior. Phase purity of the thin films was confirmed with X-ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. Transmission and reflectivity measurements indicate that RuO2 efficiently blocks the UV-VIS and IR wavelengths. The optical constants determined via spectroscopic ellipsometry show high absorption in the near-IR region as well as a lower one in the UV-VIS region. The thermal stability was investigated by post-annealing, confirming that the thin films are stable up to 750 °C in synthetic air. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

AB - Ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) thin films were synthesized by Chemical Solution Deposition (CSD) on silicon substrates using only water and acetic acid as solvents. The microstructure, phase purity, electrical and optical properties as well as the thermal stability of the thin films have been characterized. The microstructure of the thin films strongly depends on the annealing temperature: A smooth thin film was achieved at an annealing temperature of 600 °C. Higher annealing temperatures (800 °C) led to radial grain growth and an inhomogeneous thin film. A very low resistivity of 0.89 µΩm was measured for a 220 nm-thick thin film prepared at 600 °C. The resistivity of the thin films increases with temperature, which indicates metallic behavior. Phase purity of the thin films was confirmed with X-ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. Transmission and reflectivity measurements indicate that RuO2 efficiently blocks the UV-VIS and IR wavelengths. The optical constants determined via spectroscopic ellipsometry show high absorption in the near-IR region as well as a lower one in the UV-VIS region. The thermal stability was investigated by post-annealing, confirming that the thin films are stable up to 750 °C in synthetic air. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

KW - Chemical solution deposition

KW - Conductive metal oxides

KW - Ruthenium dioxide

KW - Thin film

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171365965&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10971-023-06221-8

DO - 10.1007/s10971-023-06221-8

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85171365965

VL - 108.2023

SP - 575

EP - 587

JO - Journal of sol-gel science and technology

JF - Journal of sol-gel science and technology

SN - 0928-0707

IS - December

ER -