Combinatorial synthesis of Li-doped NiO thin films and their transparent conducting properties

Transparent and conductive oxide (TCO) thin films of Li-doped NiO were prepared by combinatorial pulsed laser deposition technique. Composition spread approach was applied to optimize the Li concentration for achieving high conductivity and transparency in the film. Conductivity of the composition spread film was found to increase almost linearly from nearly insulating to as high as 1.41 Ω−1 cm−1 with increasing Li content along a 9 mm long film. Optical transparency was found to decrease in an equal proportion across the 40 nm thick film with a slight shift in the absorption edge.