Investigation of Structural, Morphological and Optical Properties of Chromium Oxide Thin Films Prepared at Different Annealing Times

Chromium oxide (α-Cr2O3) thin films were prepared using thermal annealing of chromium (Cr) films deposited on quartz substrates by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. The annealing process of the films was performed for different times of 60, 120,180 and 240 min. The influence of annealing time on structural, morphological and optical properties of the prepared films was investigated by different analysis including X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectrophotometry. The XRD patterns showed that upon thermal annealing the Cr films transformed to (α-Cr2O3) and the annealing time has a profound effect on crystalline structure of chromium oxide films. According to AFM results, the films surface morphologies were strongly dependent on annealing time and an increase in annealing time led to an increase in the grain size as well as in the surface roughness. The transmittance of the as deposited film was found very low and it improved after annealing.