Comparison of structural, morphological, linear and nonlinear optical properties of NiO thin films elaborated by Spin-Coating and Spray Pyrolysis

The paper reports on a comparative study of nickel oxide thin films prepared via two different elaboration methods spin-coating and spray pyrolysis. The structure and the surface topography of the NiO thin films have been studied by X-ray diffraction and the atomic force microscope. The optical properties of the deposited films were characterized with the analysis of the experimentally recorded optical transmittance data in the spectral wavelength range of 300-850 nm, via a JENWAY6715 UV-vis spectrophotometer. To complete the comparison, the third order nonlinear optical susceptibility was determined from the third harmonic generation experiment, which in turn were explored by the rotational Maker fringe technique using the beam of Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm in picoseconds regime. The present work is aimed to exhibit the influence of the elaboration method on the physical properties through analyzing the obtained experimental results.