Evolution of the structural and optical properties of silver oxide films with different stoichiometries deposited by direct-current magnetron reactive sputtering

Nitrogen doping of silver oxide (Ag_xO) film is necessary for its application in transparent conductive film and diodes because intrinsic Ag_xO film is a p-type semiconductor with poor conductivity. In this work, a series of Ag_xO films is deposited on glass substrates by direct-current magnetron reactive sputtering at different flow ratios (FRs) of nitrogen to O₂. Evolutions of the structure, the reflectivity, and the transmissivity of the film are studied by X-ray diffractometry and sphectrophotometry, respectively. The specular transmissivity and the specular reflectivity of the film decreasing with FR increasing can be attributed to the evolution of the phase structure of the film. The nitrogen does not play the role of an acceptor dopant in the film deposition.